Page:CTRL0000034609 - Transcribed Interview of Kashyap Pramod Patel, (December 9, 2021).pdf/18

18 might have had contact directly on those flights.

Got it. And how long did you have this position where you were a little bit closer to the President than the other—than the positions that preceded it?

So I'm not entirely sure. I didn't—I didn't check those dates before coming in today, but I would—it—my best guess would be for most of 2020 or the bulk of 2020—

Got it.

—I think, is a fair way to put it.

So would you say—would you estimate you had daily contact with Robert O'Brien and you might have daily contact with the President himself?

It honestly just depended on the day.

Did you feel that you—it's been described that you were a trusted ally of the President. Do you think that's accurate?

I'm not sure who said that, but I was told to do a job, and that was to run the counterterrorism portfolio and assist the President on national security matters as they arose during his travels, and I tried to fulfill that to the best of my ability.

Did you advise him on issues other than just national security issues?

As I sit here today, not having looked at any of my work from the National Security Council, emails or logs or anything, I don't believe so. I think he and I probably talked about sports was a common topic. When you're stuck in an airplane for 6, 10, 17 hours, other matters come up.

Both New York guys?

We're both from Queens.

Did you work with Chris Miller before the DOD appointment?

Yes. Former Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller and I have known