Page:CTRL0000034609 - Transcribed Interview of Kashyap Pramod Patel, (December 9, 2021).pdf/77

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What led to the dismissal?

I'd have to speculate, but I believe or I guess the President lost faith in his Secretary of Defense.

Well, you were in the room when that dismissal happened. It was a firing, right?

Termination, firing, whatever you want to call it.

On November 9th, correct?

If that's the date, yeah.

President-elect Biden was declared by most major networks on November 7th, correct?

I don't know. I don't have a timeline of when he was declared a victor or not.

According to the court (ph) notice, it was November 7th.

So, on those dates following, did you have discussions with the President about the basis for his firing of Secretary Esper?

My discussions with the President about Secretary Esper involve classified information and communications that I'm not able to get into in this setting.

Did you have any unclassified communications with President Trump about his dismissal of Secretary Esper and what his frustrations were?

Other than being there, I don't recall any specific unclassified conversations about Dr. Esper.

What do you mean "being there"?

In the Oval Office.

So did you observe any frayed relationship between Dr. Esper and—