Page:CTRL0000034600 - Transcribed Interview of Richard Peter Donoghue, (Oct. 1, 2021).pdf/63

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63

corrupt election, when your investigation suggested just the opposite.

A And I should say too that, in responding to some of these criticisms or observations, you know, DAG Rosen and I did sometimes make the point that, look, elections—or, any investigation takes time, and you can't just do this overnight, and so on and so forth. So this idea of, "Well, you ought to make a public statement in the meantime" made more sense in the context of the conversation than the notes might at first reflect.

Q I see. Okay.

And then when he mentions Jeff Clark, had Mr. Clark's name come up with him or with others with respect to allegations of election fraud, or is this the first time that you hear his name associated with this topic?

A This was the very first time I heard Jeff Clark mentioned in connection with election matters.

Q All right. What was Mr. Clark's job at the Department at this time, on December 27th, when you're on the phone with the President?

A He was the Acting Attorney General in charge of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division. That was his Senate-confirmed position. But, when the Acting Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division left a couple of months before, he was moved over to be the Acting Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division, and his deputy was running the Environmental Division.

So he was in an acting position over the Civil Division, which has very little responsibility with regard to election matters. So it was odd that he was being mentioned in connection with election matters.

Q All right. So you hadn't had any personal conversation with Mr. Clark or even heard about him being involved in any of the election-related matters with which