Segments Record

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of publicity around the fact that he might be pushed out of the administration. I may have expressed commiseration with him that he was facing that kind of public challenge, but I didn't discuss the investigation. Q What was your understanding of the reason that he was pushed out of the administration? A I don't know. I don't -- I think he -- I think he resigned. I think he resigned, so he -- my understanding was he resigned so he didn't -- so this didn't continue -- this issue didn't continue to hound the administration. That was my recollection of what happened. Q And to your understanding, did he resign on his own initiative, or was it under pressure from the White House? A I don't know. I think it was explained as him stepping down to avoid the continued problem, but I don't know what happened behind the scenes. Q With respect to the report that OPR issued, you mentioned that you took issue with, as I understood it, Mr. Acosta's failure to involve the victims in the process. A Well, my recollection -- and I haven't looked at this -- but my recollection is that part of it ended up not allowing the victims to have their say, which is under Federal statute they have the right to do. That's my recollection of the issue. And so I thought that -- I think it's wrong not to let the victims have their say. And here I also thought it was a legal vulnerability. But that was just me as a private citizen saying, "Well, gee, wow." Q I'll represent to you the report also concluded that Mr. Acosta's decision to resolve the Federal investigation through the MPA constituted poor judgment, in OPR's words, among other things, by resolving the Federal investigation before significant investigative steps were completed. Is that consistent with your understanding? A Right now, I don't have a recollection of that.