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
EFTA00607219
76 pages
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21 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. So is it accurate that after you filed what's Exhibit 2, that the dean of the law school asked you to file a corrected version with the footnote? A. No. That misunderstands what I said. Early on, just in talking -- I do a lot pro bono litigation for crime victims all over the country, and I do that, that's one of the reasons I'm at the University of Utah. They have been very supportive of my pro bono work in this case as well as in other cases, and so the dean said, well , one of the things just might be helpful is to drop a footnote. I don't think it was required that I drop the footnote, nobody suggested it would be useful to drop the footnote, and so I agreed to do that in this case and in other cases as well, but somehow in this particular pleading, the -- as I say, the signature block possibly was a cut-and-paste from an earlier pleading in the case, possibly it was some issue involving that section feature of the word processing program. The star footnote had dropped off. And so once I realized that without anyone calling that to my attention when I looked at the brief a couple of days after we filed it, and said, oh, I need to fix that and did, indeed, fix that as quickly as I could. Q. What was the context in which the dean asked ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607239
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22 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 you as a practice to drop the footnote; was it in connection with this case or some other circumstance? A. It was -- as I recall, it was several years earlier. I don't know. Maybe a year or two earlier than this particular litigation, from what I remember. If I looked at some of my other pro bono cases around the country, we might be able to get a sharper time frame on that. I've done pro bono crime victims in a lot of cases. And the dean just thought it might be useful to have that kind of a footnote to avoid any misunderstanding. Q. Would you agree with me that in order to allow your name to be listed as counsel on this pleading, that you were required to have a sufficient basis for the allegations based on what you knew as of December 30th, 2014? A. Sure. I think that's fair. Obviously, I imagine one of the issues we are going to discuss here today is what is a sufficient basis for filing a pleading like that. So, yeah, in general, of course, we had to have a sufficient basis for filing something like this and I firmly believe that we did. Q. And to put a point on my question, the way in which to measure the knowledge is as of December 30th, 2014, so the facts that came to your attention after ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607240
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23 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 that date, by definition, could have been part of what you were relying on to allow your name to be listed as counsel on this document, correct? A. That's right. With regard to this document, we would be looking at knowledge on or before December 30th, 2014. Q. Would you turn to page 4 of the document, first full paragraph on the page, the second sentence. Actually, third sentence, you say: In addition to being a participant in the abuse of Jane Doe Number 3 and other minors, Dershowitz was an eye witness to the sexual abuse, et cetera. Do you see that? A. Yes. Q. Who were the other minors? A. Well, one of the ways -- you want some documentation of that? Q. I want to know: You made an allegation here, you first make an allegation that Professor Epstein abused -- Jane Doe Number 3 -- Dershowitz. I'm sorry? A. Right. Q. Jane Doe Number 3 who is no longer anonymous, Miss , correct? A. Right. I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question please. Q. I just want to clarify that your pleading is ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607241
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24 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 alleging that Professor Dershowitz engaged in this sexual misconduct with Miss ; she's Jane Doe Number 3, correct? A. That's right. Jane Doe Number 3 is Miss A (ph) . Q. And I will ask you questions about that. But my question now is: You also allege that Professor Dershowitz was a participant in the abuse of other minors besides Miss Do you see that? A. Yes, I see that. Q. Who are the other minors? A. So I don't know the exact name of the other minors who were involved, but I do have an 89 page police report from the Palm Beach Police Department which lists, if I recall correctly, about 23 or 24 names of minors who went to the Jeffrey Epstein mansion in Palm Beach during a period of time that extends from -- let's see -- it would have been roughly, I don't know, from probably about a six-month period in 2005 -- there are a series of names. I don't think in this particular case because of confidentiality reasons, we can put into the record the names of those girls, but what I would propose doing is putting into the record the 89 page police report from the Palm Beach Police Department, which has page after page after page after page of young ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607242
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25 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 girls going to the Epstein Palm Beach mansion and then being sexually abused in some cases, at least one case, forcibly raped. That is the basis for that particular allegation. Q. Mr. Cassell , does the police report you're referring to at any point say Professor Dershowitz abused any of these particular minors -- not were they abused at the mansion -- but did it say anywhere that Professor Dershowitz did that? A. The police report itself does not refer to Professor Dershowitz abusing these girls. However, when you look at the police report, what it shows is a pattern of egregious sexual abuse of approximately 23 to 24 young girls over an extended period of time at a mansion that was owned by Jeffrey Epstein who was one of the closest personal friends, from what I could gather, of Mr. Dershowitz. And so that was -- there's other information. I don't want to filibuster you on that. I would be happy to elaborate on that, but that is the first piece of evidence that I would begin referring to. If you want a more -- if you want -- just so the record is clear, if you want to know all the bases, all the grounds for which that allegation appears, then I would like to make a more extended presentation. ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607243
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26 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. We will get there. But my -- I want to make sure we are clear about this. Am I correct that the report itself never says, Alan Dershowitz abused anyone? A. That is a correct statement, I believe. Q. And we won't -- and the report does reflect -- the conclusion of -- it reflects abuse of minors by Jeffrey Epstein, correct? A. Oh yes, oh yea. What it shows is forcible rape of underage girls, and not a, shall we say, one off situation, but on something that is happening over, let's say, this is roughly a six-month period, 180 days -- I mean, I think you know, they document roughly speaking at least 180 sexual encounters give or take, and in fact, on some days, what they document in that police report is abuse that is taking place not once, not twice, but three times during the day in this mansion. And so I certainly agree with you, if it's possible, maybe my math is off here, 200 percent, that this report documents repeated sexual abuse including forcible rape by one of the closest friends of Mr. Dershowitz, Jeffrey Epstein. Q. So it's your testimony that Mr. Epstein was one of Professor Dershowitz's closest friends? ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607244
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27 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 A. Yes. Q. We will come back to your basis for that. I want to go back to the police report. We've clarified it never says Professor Dershowitz abused anyone, correct? A. It doesn't say that directly, but the police report is part of a larger package of information that I had available to me since you asked on December 30th that suggested that Mr. Dershowitz was involved in the abuse of minors. I'm sorry. Let me correct that. In the sexual abuse of minors, in particularly, minor girls. Q. Would it be your position that anyone who was a friend, or a friend of Mr. Epstein who visited his house on more than a few occasions, that that's sufficient to conclude that -- to allege that they engaged in sexual abuse of minors? A. No. Q. Are we talking about guilt by association here? A. No. And that question requires a more extended answer, which I would be happy to provide for you, if you would like an extended answer. Q. Let me ask you this question: You referred to the police report, correct? ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607245
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28 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 A. Correct. Q. And focusing now, not -- not on , we are focusing on the other minors, correct? I just have that in mind, right? A. I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question? Q. I want to make sure you're focusing on the allegation in this pleading that Professor Dershowitz abused other minors; do you have that in mind? A. I do. Q. Okay. First of all, I want to know, and for this question you don't have to give the names, do you have specific minors who you, at this point, contend were abused? A. I believe that the pool of people came from, among other young girls, roughly 23 to 24 minors identified in the Palm Beach Police Department report, or other similarly-situated girls in either New York, in the airplanes, or on -- in the Palm Beach mansion. So this -- the problem that I have here frankly, I'm sorry, but I think your question fairly calls for a longer answer, I could give you the names of those girls if Jeffrey Epstein would tell us the names of those girls that he trafficked in Florida, in New York, on his airplanes and elsewhere. But I think everyone in this room is aware Mr. Epstein has repeatedly refused to ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607246
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29 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 answer questions about the names of the girls that he was sexually trafficking. And that's one of the things that has made this case so difficult, because if we could get the names of those girls, then we could -- we could try to help them. We could -- we could start to unravel the many crimes that Mr. Epstein has committed along with his associates. So, again, I could go on longer, and I don't want to filibuster your time, I think I've seen illustrations of that recently, but I -- what I want to do is make sure that -- that I could give additional information if people like Mr. Epstein would cooperate and give me the names of the girls that he was sexually trafficking. MR. SIMPSON: Move to strike the nonresponsive portion of the answer. Can I have the same standing objection, Mr. Scarola? MR. SCAROLA: No, I don't think -- I don't think you will need a standing objection. MR. SIMPSON: Well , I'll just make the objection there and -- MR. SCAROLA: Thank you. MR. SIMPSON: I will go back to my question. BY MR. SIMPSON: ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607247
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30 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. My question had nothing to do with whether you could identify girls that Jeffrey Epstein abused. My question was: As of December 30th, 2014 -- you don't have to give me the name right now -- is there any specific girl that you had evidence Professor Dershowitz abused? A. What I had was the police report moving girls and the girls were named in the police report, although the police report that I think has been made public has the names redacted, those girls were moving through the mansion at the time when, for example, household staff were saying that Mr. Dershowitz was receiving massages. And so, yes, I have 24 names in mind as possible sexual abuse victims that Dershowitz may or may not have abused. And I have not been able to pinpoint exactly what happened, because the people who would be in the best position to help me sort out what the names were, specifically Jeffrey Epstein among others, have refused to cooperate and give me those names. MR. SIMPSON: Move to strike the nonresponsive portion of the answer. THE WITNESS: Can I ask what part of that was nonresponsive in your view? MR. SCAROLA: That's all right. THE WITNESS: Okay. ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607248
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31 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 MR. SCAROLA: Professor Cassell , you don't need to do that. BY MR. SIMPSON: Q. If I understand you correctly, you said in that answer question -- strike that. If I understood you correctly, you said in that answer that there was a universe of 24 girls I believe you said or approximately, that Professor Dershowitz may or may not have abused; is that your position? A. That's correct. It's been impossible to narrow down exactly what happened because of lack of cooperation from, for example, Jeffrey Epstein. Q. If as of December 30th, 2014, based on your information, Professor Dershowitz may or may not have abused other minors, why did you allege that he did? A. Your question, as I understood it, was did I know the name of the particular girl that he may or may not have alleged -- I'm sorry -- did I know the name of the particular girl that he may have abused. And I couldn't get the exact name, but what I had was Mr. Dershowitz receiving massages in a time when, according to the police report, massage was a code word for sexual abuse of underage girls. Q. And so was it your understanding as of ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607249
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32 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 December 30th, 2014, that every massage given to anybody at Mr. Epstein's residence was a code word for sexual abuse? A. It was my understanding that the term "massage" was frequently, if not almost invariably, used as a code word for sexual abuse, or at least sexual activity, if the girl happened to be over the age of 18. But in most cases at least, or in many cases depending on exactly what universe you're looking at, these were underage girls, under the age of consent in the State of Florida, they were under the age of 18. Sometimes as young as -- I think it went all the way down to, gosh, I'm trying to remember now, I think 13 or 14 was was the youngest age in the police report. Q. Is it your position that as of December 30th, 2014, you had a sufficient basis under the Federal Rules of Procedure and applicable ethical rules to allege that anyone who got a massage at Mr. Epstein's residence had abused minors? A. No. Q. What -- back up now. With respect again to other minors as of December 30th, 2014, had anyone -- had any young woman, other than -- we will put -- I'm going to ask about separately. ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607250
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33 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 A. Okay. Q. Had any other young woman told you she had been abused by Professor Dershowitz? A. No other young women had told me that, no. Q. Had, as of that date, had anyone told you that Professor Dershowitz had abused other minors? MS. McCAWLEY: I'm going to object for a moment here to the extent that you're going to be answering a question that requires you to divulge any attorney/client communication with , I have a standing objection that I'm putting on the record right now. does not waive her attorney/client privilege with her lawyers, and they are not entitled to testify as to information that she intended to be confidential that she communicated to her lawyers. MR. SCAROLA: And I would instruct you not to answer the question on that basis. MR. SIMPSON: All right. BY MR. SIMPSON: Q. I disagree with the position on the privilege, but I will -- you're going to follow the instruction not to answer those questions? A. I am. ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607251
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34 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. Okay. I want to put then aside Had anyone else as of December 30th, 2014, told you that Professor Dershowitz had abused any minor, other than A. No one -- no other -- no other person, no other person had spoken to me and told me that directly, no. Q. And when you say no other person, I'm including not just any -- any victims of Mr. Epstein, but anyone else, no one had said to you, I have knowledge that Alan Dershowitz abused a minor, other than Epstein -- ; is that correct? MR. SCAROLA: Let me ask you for clarification if I could. Are you asking whether any person made that statement based upon the direct personal knowledge of that person? And the purpose for my clarification is to the extent information was conveyed to Professor Cassell by co-counsel, or anyone within the joint representation or common interest privilege, I'm not going to permit him to answer that question. If it's anybody outside that, he clearly can. So if you're looking for someone with direct ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607252
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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 knowledge, he can answer that question, because I assume none of the lawyers within the common interest privilege had that direct knowledge. MR. SIMPSON: I'm asking -- for the purpose of the questions I'm putting aside and I'm putting aside her attorneys. MR. SCAROLA: Attorneys. MR. SIMPSON: Attorneys. MR. SCAROLA: Attorneys. MR. SIMPSON: Yes. MR. SCAROLA: Not just attorneys, but any attorney sharing a common interest privilege? MR. SIMPSON: No. No. MR. SCAROLA: Okay. Well I'm not going to let him -- BY MR. SIMPSON: Q. Let me is ask this: As of December 30th, 2014, were there any attorneys who were sharing a common interest privilege with you as counsel in the CVRA case? Had you entered into an agreement with any other attorney? You have co-counsel , Mr. Edwards. MS. McCAWLEY: Well , to the extent that's going to reveal privileged information about accountant interest agreement, I am not going to ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607253
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36 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 let him do that. MR. SIMPSON: That certainly is not privileged. That's fact. THE WITNESS: I think this is a -- I would be happy to answer the question, but this is a very complicated issue that -- that I think I should confer with -- I don't want to inadvertently waive a privilege that my client, , has or other persons may potentially have, so I think I would like take to short break and confer with my counsel on that question. MR. SIMPSON: We will take a short break. THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We are going off the video record, 2:13 p.m. (Thereupon, a recess was taken.) THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We are back on the video record, 2:25 p.m. MR. SCAROLA: So that the record is clear, we have had an opportunity to consult, and we are asserting both the attorney/client and common interest privilege, and I can tell you that there is no source of information outside of the attorney/client and common interest privilege that relates to the area of your current inquiry. MR. SIMPSON: Well, and I'll ask the question ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607254
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37 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 and you can tell me if you'll answer this question. BY MR. SIMPSON: Q. Who, as your understanding as of December 30th of 2014, with which attorneys did you have a common interest privilege? A. Brad Edwards from, obviously, the law firm that I've been working with here. Also attorneys from the Boies Schiller law firm who were representing at that time. Q. Anyone else? A. The -- at that time, on December 30th, I don't know that it's directly responsive to your question, but also the Scarola law firm, Mr. Scarola in connection with litigation he was handling for Brad Edwards. Q. Any any other law firm lawyers that you had a common interest privilege with? A. No. Q. And you're going to refuse to answer questions about communications with Miss ; is that right? A. Sure. Those are -- well, some -- some communications are public, we will discuss those, I'm sure as the deposition moves along, but certainly with ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607255
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38 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 respect to confidential communications that were part of providing legal services to Miss , yes, I will be asserting -- well, she's -- let me be a little more precise. She will be asserting attorney/client privilege and I'm not at liberty to waive that for her. Q. And we will make a proffer later as to questions we would ask about your communications with Miss as we believe those are not privileged, but -- MR. SCOTT: As well as the others. MR. SIMPSON: As well as the others that have -- MR. SCOTT: Attorney/client. MR. SIMPSON: -- attorney/client the privilege has been asserted. BY MR. SIMPSON: Q. Let me go back to the common interest group. Is there any written agreement memorializing a common interest agreement? MS. McCAWLEY: I'm going to object to the extent that it seeks details of an agreement. You're allowed to know the existence of the agreement; he testified to that. The details, you're not entitled to. ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607256
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39 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 MR. SIMPSON: I'm not going to ask any details at all. BY MR. SIMPSON: Q. I'm simply going to ask: Is it in writing, yes or no? As of December 30th, 2014, was there a written common interest agreement, yes or no? MR. SCAROLA: Those are two different questions and I think the record needs to be clear as to which one you're asking. MR. SIMPSON: All right. Let me ask this question. BY MR. SIMPSON: Q. As of December 30th, 2014, was there any common interest agreement that was in writing? A. I'm not certain what date a written agreement was executed on these subjects. Q. At some point, was a written agreement executed? A. Yes. Q. And who were the parties to the written agreement? A. Well, there have been addenda to the agreement, if I recall correctly, but sitting here today, the parties to the agreement include , and her -- well, attorneys representing -- I ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607257
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40 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 mean -- I guess the attorneys representing on various matters which Boies Schiller law firm, the Bradley J. Edwards and his law firm, University of Utah's general counsel's office, the university -- I'm sorry -- the Utah Attorney General's office, Attorney General Reaz A (ph) and other persons there. And the Searcy -- well , Mr. Scarola's law firm, I'm trying to remember -- sorry, Jack, I can't remember the name of all your partners off the top of my head. MR. SCAROLA: That's quite all right. MR. SIMPSON: He's the man. THE WITNESS: It's the law firm that Mr. Scarola is a named partner in. BY MR. SIMPSON: Q. And is it -- am I correct that you cannot say one way or the other whether that written agreement was executed before or after December 30th, 2014? A. That's right. Sitting here right now, no, I can't recall. Q. Okay. I want to go back to the motion for joinder which is Exhibit 2, and the provision -- not the provision -- the assertion that we were referring to. A. Right, right. Q. Concerning not , but other minors. Do you have that in mind? ROUGH DRAFT ONLY EFTA00607258