Page:House-Intel-Glenn-Simpson-Transcript.pdf/8

Rh Essentially, we don't usually allow clients to tell us what to look at and what not to look at, because we don't think that's a smart way of trying to understand a subject. So, generally speaking, we just do an open-ended look at everything we can find.

So it starts with literature review. We obtain all the books we can on a subject and order them all, you know, used from Amazon, and all the newspaper articles, all the court records, all the public records you can lay your hands on. And only after you've digested all that information do you start to figure out, you know, where to focus your inquiries.

MR. GOWDY: Were you asked to write a report or just accumulate information?

MR. SIMPSON: Again, I need to steer clear of specific communications I had with my clients, but I can tell you that as a business practice, generally speaking, we do engagements on a 30-day basis, and at the end of the 30 days we write a report about what we found. And if there's specific things that are interesting, a particular lawsuit or a dispute or a business deal or something like that, you know, we will write a separate treatment of that issue.

But, generally speaking, for most of our clients, particularly in the beginning of an engagement, it's a 30-day assignment, and at the end of 30 days you get a report. And if you think what we told you was interesting and you want more, we can sign up again.

MR. GOWDY: Well, I really am trying to limit the number of times your lawyer has to lean over there and give you counsel, so I'm trying to stay within the parameters of what I think you feel like you're able to answer.

But are you asked to write what some of our friends may refer to as a fair UNCLASSIFIED, COMMITTEE SENSITIVE