Page:CTRL0000034609 - Transcribed Interview of Kashyap Pramod Patel, (December 9, 2021).pdf/17

17 And, in the NSC role, were you an advisor to the—to the President himself, or was there a layer of—in between you and the President?

I think if you could help me the navigate what timeline you're referring to because, as I stated in my opening, I served as a couple of roles—

Sure.

—while I—

Right before DOD.

Right before DOD. Thank you. So I think that's about the summer, fall-ish of 2020, my best estimation. I was the deputy assistant to the President, which means I was a credentialed, designated officer of the President of the United States; and I was the senior director for counterterrorism, which meant I was the individual responsible for the entire counterterrorism directorate, where we had approximately anywhere from, ballpark, 8 to 16 directors under me working on various portfolios. And they reported through me. And depending on the topic, I reported to the—what's called the APNSA, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, which was Robert O'Brien, Ambassador O'Brien, and then he would report to the President. But, again, depending on what topic, sometimes that system varies.

Were there times when you reported directly to the President depending upon what the topic was?

Yes. Thank you for that clarification. Depending on the topic, and also I was one of the few individuals who were charged with the—as the what we call national security rep. So I took numerous trips with the President

On a lot of those trips, the ambassador was not present. It was usually myself, him, or another one of the few individuals who were read into those programs. So I