Page:CTRL0000034609 - Transcribed Interview of Kashyap Pramod Patel, (December 9, 2021).pdf/78

78 Sorry. I should clarify. Dr. Esper was not in the Oval Office on that day. I believe it was the day after the election. It was myself and the President. So he wasn't there.

Understood.

So I didn't see anything, obviously, on that day between the President and the former Secretary of Defense.

So my question is, what unclassified conversations did you have with President Trump about the basis of his firing of Secretary Esper?

And what I'm saying is, I don't believe I had any unclassified conversations that related to the termination of former Secretary of Defense Esper.

Did President Trump discuss with you his frustrations with how Secretary Esper responded to what his request was of DOD for the summer of 2020?

The summer of—I don't—

The response to the civil unrest.

Lafayette Park?

Correct.

Okay. No, I don't believe we discussed about—we discussed that.

Do you have any insight as to what—when you said he no longer trusted Secretary Esper—I forget what phrase you used what led to that?

Well, I speculated, if you want me to guess, I said, I believe Dr. Esper was terminated, from President Trump's perspective, because I'm speculating he lost faith in his ability to do the job.

But you don't have any insight into what—

I—

—what that lost faith was because of?