at Murphy's inaugural ball on Jan. 16, 2018. She told Garg she wanted to "discuss a matter of serious wrongdoing by a senior administration official," he said.

Garg relayed that conversation to his boss, Chief Counsel Matt Platkin, and said neither of them knew what she wanted to discuss. Two days later, Garg spoke with Brennan on the phone and told her that although he was her friend and a lawyer, he was not her lawyer and could not commit to keeping their conversation privileged. Brennan decided not to speak to him further, he said.

Michael Critchley, an attorney for the committee, questioned why Garg did not demand that Brennan tell him about the wrongdoing, since it had the potential to affect the administration.

"Doesn’t your judgment tell you you shouldtake some action on this?" Critchley said. "You have explosive words — serious wrongdoing. That could involve a lot of things."

Garg said he did not have the authority to demand the information from Brennan. And he said that "because Katie was my friend," he "wanted her to make an informed decision" about the potential ramifications of disclosing the matter to him.

Two months later, on March 18, Brennan called Garg, he said. They met in Princeton on March 22 and she told him that she had been raped by Alvarez.

"I was shocked. I was heartbroken for my friend and I offered her my support," Garg said.

By that time, Brennan had already told Platkin about the allegation, but, Garg said, "she wanted to tell me anyway."

Alvarez was told twice by