Page:CTRL0000034609 - Transcribed Interview of Kashyap Pramod Patel, (December 9, 2021).pdf/65

65 Who did you speak to, if you remember?

So the conversations were coming in. It would be, generally speaking, myself, the Acting Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

We wanted to make sure we spoke to the Gang of Eight. So, from the best of my memory, we spoke to Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, Senator McConnell, Majority Leader McCarthy, Chairman Schiff, and I know I'm forgetting one or two. But I believe the instructions were to make contact with the Gang of Eight. And, also, they were making contact with us, amongst other Members of Congress as well, heads of the Armed Services Committees and whatnot.

And that was set up through DOD to have those conversations, correct, with the Speaker in particular?

Either we called them or they called us. There were multiple calls happening. So, yeah, it was set up through DOD cables, congressional cables, WHSR, what have you, whoever and however we could get those.

Did any Members reach out to you specifically from your past relationships, in terms of calling you at DOD during the crisis?

I don't remember a conversation where it was just me—just a Member calling me. I don't recall that.

I recall speaking to Leader McConnell's—or Senator McConnell's, I think, chief of staff or national security advisor for a brief period of time on the day.

And then I may have, later in the day, called other people we were not able to get a hold of that I had previous relationships with, but I just don't really recall.

Now, we spoke a little bit about the timelines and dealing with the different timelines that occurred.

Uh-huh.