This is an FBI investigation document from the Epstein Files collection (FBI VOL00009). Text has been machine-extracted from the original PDF file. Search more documents →
FBI VOL00009
EFTA00601154
179 pages
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41 1 Q. Ashe? 10:14:57 2 A. Thomas Ashe is not a lawyer. He was one 10:14:58 3 of the first people I called on the day I was 4 informed of the lies being spread by your clients. 5 Because he could help me gather all the information 6 necessary to prove that the only time I was ever in 7 New Mexico was visiting him and his wife, who is a 8 prominent film person, and his daughter, who is a 9 sex offender prosecutor in the Brooklyn District 10 Attorney's Office who specializes in sex 11 trafficking. 12 I needed to call them to prove what I knew 10:15:49 13 immediately, that the only time I was ever at 14 Jeffrey Epstein's ranch was when I went to visit the 15 Ashes in New Mexico. I spoke to their daughter, the 16 prosecutor's, class. She was then in high school, 17 and took a day trip to Santa Fe. 18 Ashe had known -- had heard that Jeffrey 10:16:15 19 Epstein had bought a ranch, a very large ranch in 20 New Mexico and Ashe was very interested in the 21 outdoors and asked me if I would do him a favor and 22 call to see if we could just take a look at what the 23 ranch looked like. And I did that. 24 And we spent about an hour looking around 10:16:35 25 the house that was under construction. And I needed EFTA00601194
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42 1 Ashe to gather all the evidence for me, including 2 journal entries in his daughter's journal, 3 photographs, other evidence and proof of our visit 4 to the ranch, which your client encouraged 5 to include in an affidavit -- perjurious 6 affidavit, that she submitted with details, false 7 and mendacious details that could not have occurred 8 about an alleged sexual encounter between her and me 9 at the ranch in New Mexico. 10 Q. Which of my clients are you swearing under 10:17:30 11 oath encouraged to include 12 allegations of an encounter with you at the 13 New Mexico ranch? 14 A. Both of them, both of your clients, both 10:17:49 15 Judge Cassell and Mr. Edwards were both involved in 16 encouraging your client to file a perjurious 17 affidavit that they knew or should have known was 18 perjurious and did know was perjurious recently when 19 they sought to file another defamatory allegation in 20 the federal proceeding. 21 Q. Was the encouragement such that what you 10:18:21 22 are charging Bradley Edwards and Professor Paul 23 Cassell with doing was suborning perjury? 24 A. Absolutely. 10:18:34 25 MR. SCOTT: Objection, form. 10:18:35 EFTA00601195
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43 1 Go ahead. 10:18:36 2 A. Absolutely. If you ask me the question, I 10:18:37 3 am directly charging Judge Cassell and Bradley 4 Edwards with suborning perjury. I have been advised 5 that did not want to mention me, 6 told her friends that she did not want to mention 7 me. And was, quote, pressured by her lawyers into 8 including me and including these totally false 9 allegations against me. Yes, your clients are 10 guilty of suborning perjury. 11 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:19:06 12 Q. Who told you that Bradley Edwards 10:19:06 13 pressured into falsely identifying 14 you? 15 A. A friend of who called 10:19:17 16 me out of the blue, and told me that she was 17 horrified by what was happening to me, and that she 18 recently had meetings with and 19 had told her that she never 20 mentioned me previously. That the lawyers pressured 21 her into mentioning me. And mentioning me over her 22 desire not to mention me, yes. 23 Q. Do you remember what the question is? 10:19:55 24 A. Yes, and I answered it. 10:19:57 25 Q. What do you understand the question to be 10:19:59 EFTA00601196
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44 1 that you were answering? 2 MR. SCOTT: Object to form. 10:20:01 3 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:20:01 4 Q. Based upon your superb memory, what is it 10:20:02 5 that I asked you? 6 A. I think you asked me to tell me how I 10:20:07 7 found out who told me that your clients had suborned 8 perjury. 9 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:20:14 10 Q. No, sir. What I asked you was to give me 10:20:14 11 a name. Who? 12 MR. SCOTT: Objection. 10:20:17 13 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:20:18 14 Q. Who? What's the name of the person? 10:20:18 15 A. Her name is -- her first name is Rebecca. 10:20:20 16 Q. Yes. 10:20:25 17 A. I don't know her last name. 10:20:26 18 Q. Did you attempt to find out her last name? 10:20:28 19 A. I have her last name written down but -- 10:20:30 20 Q. Where? 10:20:32 21 A. It's in my -- in my notes. And I could 10:20:34 22 get it for you. 23 Q. When did you -- 10:20:40 24 A. I have told -- 10:20:41 25 Q. When did you write Rebecca's name down? 10:20:43 EFTA00601197
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45 1 A. When she -- when she first called me 10:20:45 2 let me be very clear since you've asked me the 3 question. 4 At first her husband and she called me on 10:20:50 5 the phone. They would not give me their names. 6 They did not want to disclose their names. But they 7 told me the story. We had a series of phone 8 conversations in which I asked them, please, to tell 9 me their names. And after a period of time, after 10 she told me the story in great detail, she was 11 willing to give me her name. She asked me to 12 promise that I would not disclose her identity 13 without her permission. I have been trying to call 14 her. Called her as recently as this morning and 15 last night. 16 I want to recall -- I don't think I called 10:21:35 17 her this morning. I called her twice last night to 18 try to get her permission to reveal her complete 19 name and identity. But I have the name and I will 20 be happy to give it to you. I just don't have it on 21 off the top of my head. 22 Q. You obviously had her telephone number 10:21:52 23 also? 24 A. No. She called me and she wouldn't give 10:21:54 25 me a phone number, initially. And she said and her EFTA00601198
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46 1 2 3 husband said she would call me back. They were being quite circumspect about this. Ultimately I got her phone number. Yes, I have her phone number. 4 Q. I'm a little bit confused. 10:22:10 5 A. There's no reason -- 10:22:12 6 Q. Is the answer -- 10:22:12 7 A. There's no reason for you to be confused. 10:22:12 8 Q. Well, I am. Is the answer to the question 10:22:14 9 10 you do have her phone number or MR. SCOTT: Counsel, you're arguing with 10:22:19 11 12 the witness. BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:22:19 13 Q. -- you do have her phone number or you 10:22:19 14 don't have her phone number? 15 A. I don't have the phone number in my head. 10:22:21 16 I have the phone number written down, yes. 17 Q. And the last time you called her was -- 10:22:27 18 A. Last night. 10:22:29 19 Q. -- last night? 10:22:29 20 A. That's right. Left a message. 10:22:30 21 Q. From where? 10:22:32 22 A. From my apartment in Miami Beach. 10:22:33 23 24 Q. landline? Did you call her from a cell phone or a 10:22:41 25 A. Cell phone. 10:22:44 EFTA00601199
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47 1 Q. Is it the cell phone that you have with 10:22:49 2 you right now? 3 A. It is a cell phone that I have with me 10:22:54 4 right now. 5 Q. Would you take out your cell phone and 10:22:56 6 tell us what that number is, please. 7 MR. SCOTT: We'll do -- I'm not going to 10:23:00 8 have him do that. At a break I'll speak to him 9 and we'll provide you the number, as he's 10 indicated. 11 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:23:07 12 Q. How many phone conversations did you have 10:23:12 13 with this person Rebecca? 14 A. More than six. Probably between six and 10:23:21 15 ten, maybe closer to ten. The first few she called 16 me and after I got their number I called her a 17 number of times. 18 Q. What is her husband's name? 10:23:43 19 A. Michael. Different last name from hers, 10:23:44 20 but again. . 21 Q. Where do they live? 10:23:50 22 A. Palm Beach. Or West Palm Beach, in the 10:23:51 23 Palm Beach area. They have been friends of 24 since she was a young child. 25 Q. Were there any witnesses to any of these 10:24:03 EFTA00601200
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48 1 phone conversations other than Rebecca, Michael and 2 you? 3 A. Yes. 10:24:10 4 Q. Who? 10:24:11 5 A. My wife. 10:24:11 6 Q. When did the first conversation occur? 10:24:14 7 A. I can probably get you specific 10:24:17 8 information about that. But it was months ago. 9 When the story was in the newspapers, she called and 10 related the entire story to me and related to me 11 that this was part of a massive extortion plot. 12 MR. SCOTT: When you're ready to take a 10:24:39 13 break, let's take break. You've been going 14 about an hour. 15 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:24:43 16 Q. How long after the filing of the Crime 10:24:44 17 Act pleading in which you were 18 referenced did you receive the phone call, the first 19 phone call from Rebecca? 20 A. I would be speculating, but it would 10:24:58 21 probably be about a month or two after that. 22 MR. SCOTT: Don't speculate, sir. If you 10:25:03 23 know the facts. 24 A. I -- I don't recall. 10:25:06 25 EFTA00601201
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49 1 BY MR. SCAROLA: 2 Q. Your best estimate as you sit here today 3 is? 4 5 6 beginning of March, but I can get you those specific 7 dates. There's no secret about that. 8 9 10 11 12 Q. Did you take contemporaneous notes of 13 those phone conversations? 14 15 notes of the substance, no. 16 Q. Have you ever made notes with regard to 17 18 19 20 conversations. I had these conversations. And I 21 22 23 24 25 10:25:06 10:25:06 A. Two -- two months, probably. So let's say 10:25:08 January, February -- probably end of February, MR. SCOTT: Want to take a break? MR. SCAROLA: In just a moment. MR. SCOTT: Certainly. BY MR. SCAROLA: the substance of any communication that you allegedly had with Rebecca and/or Michael? A. I didn't allegedly have these don't recall taking any notes of these conversations. MR. SCOTT: Let's take a break. MR. SCAROLA: Yes. VIDEOGRAPHER: Going off the record. The 10:25:22 10:25:24 10:25:26 10:25:26 10:25:30 A. No. I took notes of names, but not really 10:25:36 10:25:48 10:25:58 10:26:09 10:26:10 10:26:12 EFTA00601202
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50 1 time is approximately 10:26 a.m. 2 (Recess was held from 10:26 a.m. until 10:44 a.m.) 10:26:16 3 VIDEOGRAPHER: Going back on the record. 10:44:08 4 The time is approximately 10:44 a.m. 5 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:44:11 6 Q. How many phone calls did you have with 10:44:13 7 this person Rebecca before she informed you as to 8 the reason why she was calling you? 9 A. She informed me the first time. 10:44:29 10 Q. The very first conversation? 10:44:31 11 A. Yes. 10:44:32 12 Q. How many phone calls was it before she 10:44:34 13 asked you for money? 14 A. Never asked me for money. 10:44:38 15 Q. How many phone calls was it before her 10:44:40 16 husband asked you for money? 17 MR. SCOTT: Objection, form. 10:44:43 18 A. I was never asked for money, ever. 10:44:43 19 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:44:45 20 Q. Do you know how it is that these people 10:44:47 21 knew how to contact you? 22 A. They told me they went on my website and 10:44:54 23 got my number and left a message for me to call. 24 Yeah, that's what happened. Oh, no, they sent me 25 they went on my website and sent me an e-mail and EFTA00601203
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51 1 asked me -- and the e-mail had a blank name but a 2 way to respond. And so I responded to the e-mail 3 with my phone number and then they called, is my 4 recollection. That's my best recollection. 5 Q. Is that an e-mail that you produced in 10:45:26 6 discovery? 7 A. I have no idea. 10:45:28 8 MR. SIMPSON: The attorneys have handled 10:45:30 9 discovery. 10 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:45:33 11 Q. Have you ever seen that e-mail since it 10:45:34 12 was received? 13 A. I have no recollection. 10:45:39 14 Q. Certainly you recognized the significance 10:45:40 15 of preserving that e-mail? 16 A. I'm sure I have it. 10:45:46 17 Q. You sure you have it? 10:45:47 18 A. I'm positive, of course. 10:45:48 19 Q. So from the very first conversation that 10:45:55 20 you had with this person, you had information 21 indicating that this person was informing you that 22 Bradley Edwards had engaged in unethical conduct, 23 correct? 24 MR. SCOTT: Objection, form. 10:46:19 25 A. Let me just be very clear what -- what she 10:46:20 EFTA00601204
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52 1 said to me. She said to me that she had been told 2 directly by her friend, , who stayed 3 with her overnight for a period of time, that she 4 never wanted to mention me in any of the pleadings. 5 And that her two lawyers in the pleadings, or her 6 lawyers who filed the pleadings, pressured her in to 7 including my name and the details. 8 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:46:52 9 Q. Did Rebecca ever suggest to you that the 10:46:53 10 details sworn to by with regard to 11 you were false? 12 MR. SCOTT: Objection, form. Go ahead. 10:47:08 13 A. She certainly suggested that, yes. She 10:47:09 14 mentioned to me that had never, 15 ever mentioned to her me, among any of the people 16 that she had had any contact with until she -- until 17 she was pressured into doing so by her lawyers, yes. 18 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:47:28 19 Q. So, from the very first conversation, the 10:47:29 20 impression you had was that this was a witness who 21 could provide information that Bradley Edwards and 22 Paul Cassell had acted unethically and dishonestly, 23 correct? 24 A. I wasn't sure she could provide the 10:47:48 25 information because she was very reluctant to come EFTA00601205
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53 1 forward. She didn't want to be involved. She 2 didn't want her name involved. But I knew she had 3 provided me with information, yes, but I didn't 4 know, and still don't know, whether she is prepared 5 to be a witness. I don't know the answer to that 6 question. 7 Q. Well, there is a difference, is there not, 10:48:09 8 sir, between what she could do and what she would 9 do? 10 MR. SCOTT: Objection, form. 10:48:16 11 Argumentative. 12 A. I don't understand. 10:48:18 13 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:48:18 14 Q. You don't understand that? 10:48:19 15 A. I don't understand that. She could do or 10:48:19 16 would do. 17 Q. She was telling you that she had the 10:48:22 18 ability to impeach ' assertions 19 against you? 20 MR. SCOTT: Same objection. 10:48:31 21 A. What she told me was the truth, is that 10:48:32 22 never wanted to mention me, but 23 that she was pressured by her lawyer into mentioning 24 me. And that was the truth. 25 EFTA00601206
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54 1 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:48:46 2 Q. Well, you also have told us that not only 10:48:47 3 did she suggest to you that didn't 4 want to mention you, but that had 5 not had the sexual encounters with you that she has 6 sworn under oath she did have, correct? 7 MR. SCOTT: Objection. Go ahead. 10:49:07 8 A. What she told me was that she didn't 10:49:09 9 believe -- that is, this woman didn't believe that 10 there had been any contact between me and 11 because had never mentioned 12 me previously until her lawyers pressured her 13 into -- into allowing my name to be included in the 14 pleading, that's what she told me. 15 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:49:31 16 Q. Did you have the impression that there was 10:49:32 17 improper pressure that had been exerted on 18 based upon what you were being told by this 19 woman? 20 MR. SCOTT: Objection, form. 10:49:47 21 A. Absolutely. Of course. 10:49:48 22 BY MR. SCAROLA: 23 Q. So this was based upon what this woman was 10:49:50 24 telling you, evidence of unethical, unprofessional 25 dishonest conduct on the part of Bradley Edwards and EFTA00601207
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55 1 Paul Cassell, right? 2 A. That was certainly the impression I got 10:50:04 3 and certainly an impression that confirmed what I 4 already believed. I mean, I've known from day one 5 that they were engaged in unethical, unprofessional, 6 in my view and my opinion, disbarrable conduct. 7 This simply confirmed that. 8 Q. Yes, sir. We're going to get to that 10:50:20 9 shortly, but I want to stay focused right now on 10 these communications that you claim to have had -- 11 A. Not claimed to have had. 10:50:28 12 Q. -- with Rebecca. 10:50:29 13 A. Communications that I had. Let's be 10:50:30 14 clear. Communications that I had. No claim. I had 15 them. 16 Q. Let's first try, if we could, to pinpoint 10:50:39 17 a little better when the first of these 18 conversations occurred. Do you recall having been 19 propounded interrogatories in this case that asked 20 you to identify all persons with knowledge of any 21 circumstance in which it is alleged that Bradley 22 Edwards engaged in unethical conduct, unprofessional 23 conduct or dishonest conduct? 24 MR. SCOTT: Objection, form. 10:51:13 25 A. I have no recollection as to the sequence 10:51:14 EFTA00601208
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56 1 or chronology. 2 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:51:17 3 Q. Well, let me hand you for purposes of 10:51:18 4 refreshing your recollection the answers to 5 interrogatories that were filed as of February 23, 6 2015. 7 A. What was the date again? I missed that. 10:51:55 8 MR. SCOTT: He's going to show you the 10:51:58 9 exhibit. 10 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:52:00 11 Q. The answers to interrogatories bear a 10:52:01 12 certificate of service dated February 23, 2015 and a 13 verification -- 14 MR. SCOTT: Are you going to mark that as 10:52:15 15 an exhibit, please? 16 MR. SCAROLA: I will in just a moment. 10:52:17 17 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:52:18 18 Q. And a verification that appears to be your 10:52:19 19 signature. 20 A. It is. 10:52:22 21 Q. Is that, in fact, your signature? 10:52:23 22 A. It is, in fact, my signature. 10:52:24 23 Q. Were you verifying those answers intending 10:52:25 24 them to be your sworn responses to those 25 interrogatories? EFTA00601209
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57 1 A. I was verifying my lawyer's responses, 10:52:30 2 yes. 3 Q. Well, were they your responses or were 10:52:35 4 they your lawyer's responses? 5 A. My lawyers 10:52:38 6 MR. SCOTT: Objection, argumentative. 10:52:40 7 You can answer it. 10:52:42 8 A. My lawyers drafted the responses. I was 10:52:42 9 asked to look over them. I looked over them and I 10 signed, yes. 11 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:52:47 12 Q. You signed them -- 10:52:48 13 A. Yes. 10:52:48 14 Q. -- and swore to their truthfulness, 10:52:49 15 correct? 16 A. Let me just read what it says. 10:52:51 17 Yes, they were true to the best of my 10:52:57 18 knowledge and belief, yes. 19 Q. Since there is no reference in those 10:53:05 20 answers to interrogatories to Rebecca or Michael, 21 can we assume that the first of your phone calls 22 must have occurred some time after February 23 when 23 you verified the answers to those interrogatories? 24 MR. SCOTT: Objection, form, asked and 10:53:26 25 answered. EFTA00601210
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58 1 A. I don't have a specific recollection as to 10:53:28 2 the exact date of when the call came. 3 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:53:32 4 Q. Well, you certainly would not have sworn 10:53:32 5 to the accuracy of those answers which ask you to 6 identify every person with knowledge of any 7 unethical, unprofessional, or dishonest conduct on 8 the part of Bradley Edwards, and omitted the name of 9 Rebecca and Michael -- 10 MR. SCOTT: Objection, argumentative. 10:53:57 11 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:53:58 12 Q. -- if they already called you? 10:53:58 13 MR. SCOTT: Argumentative and compound. 10:54:01 14 A. I don't recall when Rebecca and Michael 10:54:03 15 called me, but I do recall that they made me promise 16 that I would not disclose the information that they 17 had revealed until they gave me permission to do so. 18 They also did not give me their names, initially, 19 and I only learned both the names over time and the 20 information. 21 The information came out gradually. But 10:54:23 22 there was a time when I did have the information 23 that the two clients pressured -- that was her word, 24 "pressured" -- into naming me, 25 right. EFTA00601211
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59 1 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:54:43 2 Q. You certainly considered the communication 10:54:53 3 that you were having with these individuals to be a 4 matter of significance from the timing of the first 5 phone call, correct, since it was in the first phone 6 call that they disclosed to you the essence of what 7 you are saying they said? 8 MR. SCOTT: Objection, compound. 10:55:10 9 A. I wasn't sure whether it would be 10:55:11 10 significant or not because I didn't know at the time 11 whether I would be free to reveal it or to use it. 12 I'm still -- I just wasn't sure whether I 10:55:24 13 would be free to reveal it. It would not be 14 particularly significant except to my own 15 confirmation of what I knew to be true; namely, that 16 your clients had engaged in unethical and 17 unprofessional conduct. I knew that to be true. 18 But this provided me with some confirmation of that. 19 But I didn't know whether I was going to 10:55:42 20 be able to use that confirmation because I had made 21 a promise that was elicited from me by them that I 22 would not disclose this information without their 23 permission. 24 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:55:55 25 Q. All right. Permission that you swore to a 10:55:56 EFTA00601212
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60 1 little while ago you still haven't received, 2 correct? 3 A. I have not received the permission to 10:56:01 4 identify them by name, that's right. 5 By the way, in the recess oh, no, 10:56:10 6 that's enough. Okay. 7 Q. What happened in the recess? 10:56:15 8 MR. SCOTT: Objection -- 10:56:17 9 A. I spoke to my lawyers. 10:56:18 10 MR. SCOTT: -- don't answer that. It's 10:56:19 11 conversations with counsel. 12 BY MR. SCAROLA: 10:56:20 13 Q. You spoke to whom? 10:56:20 14 A. I spoke to my lawyers. 10:56:21 15 Q. Was your promise to these people that you 10:56:29 16 wouldn't disclose their last name? 17 A. My promise to the people was that I would 10:56:36 18 not identify them so that they would not be hassled 19 and harassed and any pressure put on them. That was 20 their concern, that they didn't want to be receiving 21 phone calls and they didn't want to be part of what 22 they regarded as a media circus. 23 Q. Well, you know you have broken that 10:56:57 24 promise at this point, haven't -- 25 A. No, I haven't -- 10:57:01 EFTA00601213