Page:CTRL0000034609 - Transcribed Interview of Kashyap Pramod Patel, (December 9, 2021).pdf/10

10 to additional records. Without such access, my recollection may be particularly limited.

As you know, I have a deep background in national security matters. My priority has always been the national security of the United States. I believe that many of the communications, records, and facts related to certain lines of inquiry are classified. Specifically, many matters relating to defense, intelligence, and foreign policy, including communications with and among senior White House officials about such matters are classified.

To date, neither I nor my attorneys have been cleared to review or provided with access to any classified information related to this inquiry. Indeed, to the extent that I have knowledge of classified information relevant to this inquiry, I am unable to share or discuss it with my attorneys. As I'm sure you will understand, I must err on the side of protecting classified information, and thus not may be able to answer certain questions that appear to call for a classified answer.

The select committee was authorized by House Resolution 503. Pursuant to section 4 thereof, the committee's functions are to, quote, "investigate the facts, circumstances, and causes relating to the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol; identify, review, and evaluate the causes of and the lessons learned from the domestic terror attack on the Capitol; and issue a final report to the House containing finding, conclusion, and recommendation for corrective measures," end quote.

Given the legislative purpose set forth in H.R. 503, I was therefore astounded by some of the potential lines of inquiry, many expressly derived, according to staff, from books such as Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's "Peril," that were shared with my attorneys before today's deposition. These topics include but are not limited to personnel changes at DOD in November 2020, 2 months before January 6th; my potential appointments to CIA and/or FBI; a purported directive about withdrawal from Somalia