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FBI VOL00009
EFTA00179399
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Page 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA IN RE: OPERATION LEAP YEAR Federal Grand Jury, 07-103 West Palm Beach, Florida May 8, 2007 APPEARANCES: a ESQUIRE Assistant United States Attorney Foreperson TESTIMONY OF EFTA00179399
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Page 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 The sworn testimony of was taken before the Federal Grand Jury, West Palm Beach Division, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, State of Florida, on the 8th day of May, 2007. Philip w. May, Court Reporter, was authorized to and did report the sworn testimony. EFTA00179400
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Page 3 (The witness entered the grand jury room.) having been duly sworn by the grand jury foreperson, was examined and testified on her oath as follows: 5 6 7 BY Q EXAMINATION Could you start by reminding us of your name and 8 where you're employed. 9 A 10 . I work for the FBI here in West 11 Palm Beach on their violent crimes squad. 12 Q And you are one of the case agents in Operation 13 Leap Year? 14 A Yes, I am. 15 Q Did you recently participate in an interview of 16 ? 17 A Yes. 18 Q Can you tell us date of birth? 19 A was born on July 26, 1988. 20 Q And you spoke with her recently? 21 A Yes, we did. 22 Q So she was 18 at the time of the interview? 23 A Yes, I believe she was. 24 Q Who is 25 A was identified by the Palm Beach EFTA00179401
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Page 4 1 Police Department as one of the girls who had frequented 2 Mr. Epstein's house. 3 Q How exactly did the Palm Beach Police Department 4 determine that she was one of those girls? 5 A When they did their search warrant at 6 Mr. Epstein's residence, some message pads were obtained 7 at his residence, and they had several calls from a girl 8 named , and phone numbers. So they were able to 9 track back those messages back to 10 Q Did the Palm Beach Police Department try to 11 interview 7 12 A They did. 13 Q Did she agree to speak with them? 14 15 and that she would not say anything positive or negative 16 about what occurred. 17 Q After the FBI became involved in this 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A No. She stated that she loved Jeffrey Epstein, investigation, did you try to interview A We did, as well, with no such luck, as well. Q How long ago was it that you first made contact with A It was back in November of '06. Q Did you try to serve her with a subpoena issued on behalf of this grand jury? A Yes, we did. EFTA00179402
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Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q What happened? A She refused service of the grand jury subpoena. But she was notified of when her appearance was expected here, and a subpoena was left with her. Q After that, did she obtain an attorney? A Yes, she did. Q Who was that? A Jim Eisenberg. He's a well-known defense attorney here in West Palm Beach. Q Who paid for that attorney? A Mr. Epstein is paying for attorney. Q Now once secured the attorney, did she agree to be interviewed? A Yes, she did, after she was granted 6001 immunity. She requested immunity. Q Did the justice department authorize that grant of immunity? A Yes, they did. Q After that, did she agree to be interviewed? A Yeah. It was only after she was given that immunity that she would talk with us. Q When did the interview take place? A It took place at the end of April of this year, so just a few weeks ago. Q Who was present at that interview? EFTA00179403
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Page 6 A Myself; my partner, agent ; the AUSA, 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 was told that Mr. Epstein preferred them to be topless, 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and she agreed to go to his house to give him a massage. Q How old did tell you she was at that time? A She stated she was 16 when she first started giving Mr. Epstein massages. Q Based upon your review of the evidence, is that correct? A No. We have phone records where (phonetic), Mr. Epstein's assistant, is contacting on her cell phone, or using her cell phone to call cell phone starting in April of 2004, which makes 15. Q So she said that she was 16, but your evidence shows that she was 15, and she said that she was told she could make a few bucks giving a topless massage? A Yes. her attorney, Jim Eisenberg, and his investigator; as well as Q What did tell you about Jeffrey Epstein? A She stated that she had met an individual by the name of at a party who had asked her if she II wanted to make a -few bucks by giving a man a massage. She 1 EFTA00179404
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Page 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q What else did tell you? A That she went to Mr. Epstein's residence, that took her there the first time, that when she went upstairs she was paid $200 when she first got there by Then she goes upstairs, and Mr. Epstein comes in, he disrobes, puts on a towel, lays down on the massage table and she begins to massage him. She tells Epstein that she heard he likes topless massages, and he told her that he did. And she said, "Who wouldn't?" And she ended up taking off her top during the first massage. But is clear that Mr. Epstein did not at any point touch her during the massage. Q But does she admit that he touched himself? A Yes. On the second massage, Mr. Epstein asked her to leave her phone number with . Her phone number was left there. On the second massage, she returned the very next day and gave him another massage. This time, Mr. Epstein masturbated in front of her. Q Did admit that he masturbated on more than one occasion in her presence? A Yes, masturbated. And I think her term was that he "released," meaning that he ejaculated. Q How long of a period of time did tell you that she performed massages? A She wasn't able to give us a number of massages, F EFTA00179405
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1 Page 8 but just said that it was a lot, and that she had been giving him massages for a year. Q You mentioned to the grand jury that 4 said that Mr. Epstein never touched her, correct? A Yes. 6 Q And she was very adamant about that? 7 A Yes, she was. 8 Q Were there other things that she was adamant 9 about in her interview with you? 10 A Well, she talked about what she would tell the 11 girls that -- and that she told Mr. Epstein that she was 12 18. I'm sorry, I take that back. She was told to say 13 that she was 18, and she told us that she had a fake I.D. 14 showing that she was 18. 15 So she passed that information along to the 16 other girls when she brought -- eventually she brought 17 other girls to perform massages, and that was one of the 18 things that she told -- she told us first that she. brought 19 18- to 20-year old girls. And then she stated that if the 20 girls lied, and they were underage, she told them that 21 they needed to tell Epstein that they were 18. 22 Q Have you been able to identify some of the girls 23 that brought to Mr. Epstein's home? 24 A Yes. 25 Q Were any of those girls over 18? EFTA00179406
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Page 9 1 A No, not that we found so far. 2 Q Have any of the girls told investigators about 3 what Mr. Epstein knew about their ages? 4 A I'm sorry, say that again. 5 Q Have any of the girls who came through 6 been interviewed about what Mr. Epstein knew about 7 their ages? 8 A We did interview them regarding that, and I'm 9 not sure if he asked them. They were all told to say they 10 were 18, but not on every occasion would Mr. Epstein 11 inquire about their age. 12 Q Do you want to check your records on that? 13 A Yes, could I do that? 14 Q Yes, please do. 15 A I can tell you that one of the girls that she 16 brought -- this girl told Mr. Epstein that she was in high 17 school, and actually told him her true age, which was 18 under 18. 19 Q So what 20 really the case? 21 A No, that wasn't. Sorry. 22 Q That's all right, I just wanted to make sure 23 it's clear. 24 So told you that she had been told 25 to say she was 18, and she also told you that she had a told you about, that wasn't EFTA00179407
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Page 10 1 fake I.D.? 2 A Yes. 3 Q Did she ever say that Mr. Epstein either asked 4 for her age or asked to see her I.D.? 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 when she was already here? 13 14 Q Were you made aware that Epstein's counsel was 15 informed that he was being investigated for traveling to 16 engage in prostitution, which means that the appointments 17 would have been made before the traveling? 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A No, the topic never came up. Q Did you also ask her about how appointments were made? A Yes. She was very clear in the fact that would call her to arrange the appointments, but that would call her once Jeffrey was in town. Q So she was adamant that the calls only happened A Yes. A age and sounded coached or that she was especially adamant about? A No, I wouldn't say coached. I mean, we talked about the preferences that Jeffrey discussed, as far as which girls he would like to bring. Yes. Was there anything else, besides the issue of the issue of when the appointments were made, that Once started giving massages to Epstein, EFTA00179408
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 11 told us that he liked different faces, so he would ask her to bring other girls. We asked her if he ever gave any preferences of what he preferred, and her response was that Epstein liked girls like her, which is thin and blond and attractive. • And how old was she at the time? A She was 15. • So thin, blonde, attractive and -- A Young, girls like her. I guess we asked if she ever made a mistake, or ever brought somebody that Mr. Epstein didn't take to. She said that she had screwed up and that she had brought a black girl to Mr. Epstein, and that Epstein was not interested in black girls. But he did pay her, and said that he wasn't a racist. He paid her the $200 for her time, but did not want her to perform a massage for him. Q And he didn't allow that girl to perform a massage? A No. Q Was there anything else that talked about in the interview that you want to share with the grand jury? A I did ask her at the end of the interview if she was in love with Mr. Epstein. She looked into the camera and said that she loved him like a friend. But then she EFTA00179409
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 12 kind of looked into the camera and gave a wink and a smile and said, "But with your money, I'd marry you any time, Jeffrey." Q Did she also say that she considered him to be an "awesome guy"? A Several times she referred to him as an "awesome guy". She said that the girls begged her to come and that the girls didn't have a complaint, and the girls would share with her everything that happened after the massage, and that Jeffrey never touched any of the girls. But as I informed you, we did interview some of the girls that she took, and he has touched them. Q In preparation for your testimony today, did you also speak with someone who is considered to be an expert in these cases? A Yes. Q And what is that person's name? A Ken Lanning. Q Has Mr. Lanning been qualified to testify as an expert in federal and state courts in cases that involve what he calls "compliant victims"? A Yes. Q What does he mean by the term "compliant victims"? A A compliant victim is when a victim is not EFTA00179410
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 13 necessarily forced into the conduct that the offender wants them to engage into, that they actually consent to that kind of activity. Q So that would include minors who are subjected to sexual activity but weren't necessarily kidnapped or forced at gunpoint, or something like that? A Exactly. Q Did he discuss with you the difficulties that exist when you interview those types of victims? A Yes. He stated that a compliant victim is often times embarrassed that they went along with the behavior. They are also likely to deny the behavior, especially when being interviewed by investigators, that they'll deny it or they'll minimize it. Sometimes it takes two, three or multiple interviews to get compliant victims to either trust their interviewer or realize that their interviewer is not going to be judgemental. Q In this case, have you found that to be the case with some of the interviews? A Yes, I have. Q In addition to being embarrassed, sometimes these victims feel guilty about the fact that they were involved in this type of activity? A Oh, yes. Q Does Mr. Lanning also have expertise in sexual EFTA00179411
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Page 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 preference of offenders? A Yes, he does. Q Did he explain why an offender would select the types of victims that are involved in this case, girls between 14 and 17-years-old? A This type of offender, the sexual preference he has is for post-pubescent females that are physically developed but not necessarily mentally matured. The girls ranging in this age are sometimes inexperienced, they are possibly naive, not as worldly. An offender of this type could also maybe not feel sexually adequate or feel competent dealing with his own age group. So knowing that these girls are less experienced, may focus on them as well. Q In addition to their emotional immaturity, did Mr. Lanning talk about whether or not younger girls are easier to manipulate than grown women? A Yes. • Did he talk to you about "grooming"? A Yeah. That's what an offender will use with a compliant victim. He told us that grooming is a technique where you gain the cooperation of those victims by focusing on their interests and playing up to those interests. It's a type of seduction, he called it. That was his words for it. And we actually see this in this EFTA00179412
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 15 case. Q Can you give us an example of some of the types of grooming that Mr. Epstein used? A With one of the girls we're going to talk about today, ., it's very apparent interviewing her how Epstein groomed her. She only went to three or four massages at this time, that she's admitted to. We feel that due to her phone conversations, the multiple calls, that there may be more there. At this point she has stated to us that she has performed three or four massages for Mr. Epstein. What he did is when she first went there he played upon -- she was very shy, and he would play upon that shyness. He told her that she was pretty. He asked her to remove her clothing, and she would not. So he kind of kidded around with her shyness and complimented her, showed interest in her, talked about her boyfriend and different interests she had. At the end of that interview, because she did not take off her clothes, he tells her that if she's willing to do more, she will make more. He also tells her that he would pay her if she would bring other girls. As the massages increased, you can see that the next time she comes he plays again to that shyness, but he gets a little bit more -- I guess he sees that it's not working. This EFTA00179413
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Page 16 1 2 disrobe on the second massage. She takes off her blouse, 3 but she refuses to take off the bra after Mr. Epstein 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 time she does comply and takes off her -- he asked her to asked her to. So you can see that he tries through showing interest. And then he actually -- when he sees that this isn't working, he takes a more authoritative role with her in the last massage. She said that throughout all of these massages he was very nice, and then at the end he was much more frustrated and irritated. She does get down to her bra and panties on that one, he's just much more authoritative. So he started with the grooming process, tried to get her interest, tried to use that to get her to comply with removing her clothes. But as often happens, at the end of this, he took over and was much more forceful with his requests. Have other girls described that same situation where every time they went back, he tried to push it one step further and one step further? A Yes. Several of the girls have said that he would always push for more and more. Q Did Mr. Lanning explain why it is that a compliant child victim cannot legally consent to the sexual conduct? EFTA00179414
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1 2 3 4 S 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 17 A Yeah. He stated that -- you know, we talked about how the law protects children, and stated that we hold adults accountable. When it comes to adolescents, they go through normal tendencies that mature offenders may try to take advantage of. But the law is in place for that reason, to protect -- in the federal law, to protect those individuals under the age of 18. Q And that's because of the different maturity levels of the -- A The offender versus the victims, exactly. Q Did you put together the photographs of the defendants in this case? A Yes, i did. Q Are these photographs of the four human defendants who are named in the proposed indictment? A Yes. Q With their names underneath them? A Yes. Q Agent, who is in the top left-hand corner? A That's Jeffrey Epstein. Q When was this photograph taken? A Recently. There was an article that just came out regarding Mr. Epstein and his connection, or his personal relationship with Prince Andrew, and that was a picture that was in that article. 1 EFTA00179415
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Page 18 0 Who is in the top right-hand corner? A That's Q Again, this is a relatively recent photograph? 4 A Yes, that's his personal assistant. 5 Q And the bottom left-hand corner? 6 A Again, that is one of Mr. Epstein's personal 7 assistants, that's (phonetic). 8 Q Has Miss since gotten married? 9 A Yes, her name now is 10 Q And the bottom right-hand corner? 11 A That is She is, again, a 12 personal assistant to Mr. Epstein. There has been some 13 talk that she is also romantically -- or I should say 14 sexually involved with Mr. Epstein. 15 Q How old are the defendants? 16 A Jeffrey is in his mid-fifties, and the three 17 girls are in their early twenties. 18 Q Do you have a copy of the draft indictment in 19 front of you? 20 A Yes, I do. 21 Q You mentioned when we were looking at the 22 photographs that the three females work as personal 23 assistants for Mr. Epstein, is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q So he is their employer? EFTA00179416
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Page 19 1 2 3 358 El Brillo Way in Palm Beach? 4 A That's Mr. Epstein residence. 5 Q And he owns that residence? 6 A Yes, he does. 7 Q Are you familiar with Defendant J.E.G.E., Inc.? 8 A Yes. J.E.G.E., Inc. is owned by Jeffrey 9 Epstein. He is the president, the owner, the sole 10 director. It's a business that is solely used for the 11 activities of one of Mr. Epstein's airplanes, which is his 12 Boeing 727. Its tail number is N908JE. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 That company solely does business with his other aircraft, 21 which is a Gulf Stream G-1159B. It bears a tail number 22 N909JE. 23 Q Is that a smaller aircraft than the Boeing? 24 25 A Yes. Q Are you familiar with the property located at Q And you mentioned that he is the president and the sole director. Is he also the sole shareholder? A Yes, he is. Q Are you familiar with Hyperion Air, Inc.? A Yes. Hyperion Air, Inc. is also a business owned by Mr. Epstein. He is also the president, the director and the sole shareholder of that company as well. A Yes. • Just to briefly remind the grand jury about EFTA00179417
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Page 20 1 where the evidence has been collected in this case, was 2 the start of your investigation information that you 3 received from the Palm Beach Police Department? 4 A Yes, it was. 5 6 search of Mr. Epstein's home at El Brillo way? 7 8 9 Department placed? 10 11 12 Palm Beach Police Department? 13 Q And that included evidence seized during a A Yes. Q Also controlled calls that the Palm Beach Police A Yes. Q And interviews of girls and other people by the A Yes, as well as trash pulls that the Palm Beach 14 15 16 17 18 Police Department conducted on Mr. Epstein's residence. Q Then when the FBI became involved, the FBI did additional interviews of girls and of recruiters? A Yes. Q They obtained phone records? 19 A Yes, we have. 20 Q And records of payments? 21 A Yes. 22 Q Did this grand jury also subpoena travel 23 records? 24 A Yes. 25 Q Including the flight manifests of the planes EFTA00179418
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