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
EFTA00800508
343 pages
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1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA Case No. 502009CA040800XXXXMB JEFFREY EPSTEIN, Plaintiff, vs. SCOTT ROTHSTEIN, individually; BRADLEY EDWARDS, individually, Defendants/Counter-Plaintiffs. VOLUME I VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF BRADLEY EDWARDS Taken on Behalf of Plaintiff Friday, November 10th, 2017 10:02 a.m. - 6:16 p.m. 2139 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard West Palm Beach, Florida 33409 Examination of the witness taken before Sonja D. Hall Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. 1665 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, Suite 1001 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800508
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2 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 APPEARANCES: For Plaintiff: LINK & ROCKENBACH, P.A. 1555 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, Suite 301 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 By SCOTT J. LINK, ESQUIRE By KARA BERARD ROCKENBACH, ESQUIRE For Plaintiff: ATTERBURY, GOLDBERGER & WEISS, P.A. 250 Australian Ave. South, Suite 1400 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 By JACK A. GOLDBERGER, ESQUIRE For Plaintiff: DARREN K. INDYKE, PLLC 575 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 By DARREN K. INDYKE, ESQUIRE For Defendants/Counter-Plaintiffs: SEARCY, DENNEY, SCAROLA, BARNHART & SHIPLEY, P.A. 2139 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard West Palm Beach, FL 33409 By JACK SCAROLA, ESQUIRE By DAVID P. VITALE, JR. ALSO PRESENT Visual Evidence, Incorporated 601 N. Dixie Highway, Suite A West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 By Andrew Mazoleny, Videographer Tina Campbell, Paralegal Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800509
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3 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 INDEX Videotaped Deposition of BRADLEY EDWARDS Page No. Direct Examination by Mr. Link 8 Cross-Examination by Mr. Scarola 310 Redirect Examination by Mr. Link 325 Certificate of Oath 340 Certificate of Reporter 341 Read & Sign Letter to Witness 342 No. PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT INDEX Description Page No 1 Affidavit of Jeffrey Epstein 92 2 News Article 96 3 News Article 100 4 News Article 112 5 News Articles 145 6 Complaint 147 7 Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial 171 8 Email 178 9 Complaint 179 10 Answer and Counterclaim 185 11 Letter 189 Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800510
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4 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 12 RRA Firm Directory 190 13 Email 190 14 Jane Doe motion 220 15 Email 231 16 Order 238 17 Fourth Amended Counterclaim 239 18 Email 259 19 Email 264 20 Email 267 21 Seventh Amended & Supplemental Witness List 268 22 Expert Witness Report (Jansen) 284 23 Brad Edwards Time 290 24 National Crime Victim Bar Association 297 25 Brad Edwards' Accolades 300 DEFENDANTS/COUNTER-PLAINTIFFS' EXHIBIT INDEX (No exhibits were marked.) Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800511
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5 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: This is the 10th day of November 2017. The time is 10:03 a.m. This is the videotaped deposition of Bradley Edwards, Esquire, in the matter of Epstein versus Rothstein and Edwards. This deposition is taking place at 2139 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, West Palm Beach 33409. My name is Andrew Mazoleny. I am the videographer representing Visual Evidence, Incorporated. Will the attorneys please announce their appearances for the record? MR. LINK: Scott Link on behalf of the plaintiff. MS. ROCKENBACH: Kara Rockenbach on behalf of the plaintiff. MR. INDYKE: Darren Indyke on behalf of the plaintiff. MR. GOLDBERGER: Jack Goldberger on behalf of the plaintiff. MS. CAMPBELL: And Tina Campbell parallel on behalf of the plaintiff. MR. SCAROLA: Jack Scarola and David Vitale representing Bradley Edwards, who is Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800512
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6 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the counter-plaintiff in this action; and for all practical purposes, the plaintiff in the claim against Jeffrey Epstein. THEREUPON, BRADLEY EDWARDS, being a witness in the notice heretofore filed, and being first duly sworn in the above cause, testified on his oath as follows: THE WITNESS: I do. MR. SCAROLA: Before we begin the substantive questioning, I want to make it clear on the record as a consequence of an exchange of communications that has occurred with opposing counsel, opposing counsel has taken the position that Mr. Edwards is going to be deposed as if he had never been deposed before, that is, opposing counsel recognizes no restrictions on the scope of this deposition. The scope of the deposition was the subject of a lengthy hearing before Judge Hafele that took place on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017. During the course of that hearing the Court made it very clear that questioning Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800513
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7 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 would be limited to four specific areas identified by the Judge: The filing of a federal lawsuit on behalf of LM, which was based upon facts that also supported the filing of a state court claim; interaction between Mr. Edwards and Mr. Rothstein and others at Rothstein, Rosenfeldt Adler that would relate to any potential knowledge that Mr. Edwards had or should have had with regard to the conduct of a Ponzi scheme by Mr. Rothstein; the filing of a motion seeking the posting of a $14 million bond and issues relating to damages. We are here for purposes of responding to questions in those specific areas as directed by the Court. It is our intention to allow opposing counsel broad latitude within those four areas. But we will raise appropriate objections to any inquiries that are outside those four areas, unless it can be demonstrated that in some manner I have misread, in spite of careful review, the transcript of that hearing and the ruling of the Court. So my suggestion is, if opposing Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800514
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8 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 counsel continues to take the position that this deposition is going to be conducted as if Mr. Edwards had never been deposed before, that we should at least deal with those four areas as to which there is agreement for inquiry, then we will worry about whether any inquiry outside those four areas will be allowed. Thank you. MR. LINK: Obviously we disagree and we are ready to proceed. DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LINK: Q Ready, Mr. Edwards? A Ready. Q Are you feeling anxiety today? A Sure. Q Tell me about it. What anxiety do you feel today? A I'm still -- I'm still being accused for committing crimes that I didn't commit, and this case is my only chance to finally set that record straight. Q So tell me about the anxiety, though. What are you feeling? Anxiety is an emotional reaction to something, correct? A Well, for today Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800515
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9 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 Yeah. A -- I think that if you sit in this chair and I ask you questions, you would have anxiety as well. Q Okay. So you have anxiety today about my asking you questions. Is that what the anxiety is? A No. It's about getting this case over. Q So you have anxiety about the length of time the case has been pending? A Well, with everyday it's worse. I want the case over, and I want to right the wrong that's been done. So the fact that I have a whole team of lawyers over there -- I don't think Mr. Goldberger does it anymore -- but there's lawyers on that side who continue to falsely claim that I was part of a Ponzi scheme. In fact, Tonja Haddad just did it a month ago. Q So I don't see Tonja or her dad sitting here. Do you? A You are all together. You are all representing -- MR. SCAROLA: Excuse me. Pardon me. Would you please allow Mr. Edwards to complete his answer? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800516
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10 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. LINK: Q Yes, sir. Go ahead. A You also decided to sign on and represent a serial child molester, so you have adopted that position. Q Okay. Anything else to add to that? A No. Q So you see the lawyers that are here. Ms. Rockenbach is with my new law firm, Link & Rockenbach, correct? A I got your card the other day. Thank you. Q How did it look? A Pretty good. Q Pretty good? How about really good? A I only looked at one side. Sorry. I will check it out. Q Ms. Rockenbach is with me. You see that. Mr. Goldberger is down at the end of the table, right? And Tina, who is a legal assistant at my firm. Tonja Haddad is not here, is she? A There isn't just a table long enough, I assume. But, no. Q Your lawyer hasn't shared with you -- you haven't seen -- heard that they are withdrawing from the case? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800517
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11 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 No. MR. SCAROLA: Excuse me. Has there been a notice of withdrawal? Because I haven't seen it either. MR. LINK: I think we represented it to Judge Hafele on Wednesday with the 8:45 when Kara was in front of them. MR. SCAROLA: I have seen no notice of withdrawal. So as we sit here today, there are a total of, I think, six law firms that are representing Mr. Epstein. BY MR. LINK: Q And one really good one. The one you saw the card on this week, right? Okay. So I want to focus on this anxiety. We all have anxiety in life, right? I wake up every morning with anxiety about something. How my kid's doing in college. Did he get home last night. Is my son going to get a hit today on the baseball team. I want to talk about a different kind of anxiety. The anxiety that you feel in November 2017 that relates back to the lawsuit that was filed in December 2009. Can you separate that anxiety that I am talking about? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800518
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12 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 with. A Just an anxious feeling to get this over Q And you had that anxious feeling every single day from December 2009 through today November 10th, 2017? A The more reminders that I have of the case, and the fact that there still looms this false allegation over my head, that is clearly a trigger. Q You said it looms this false allegation. What is the false allegation looming over your head? A That I was a participant in a Ponzi scheme with one of the individuals that might be the most hated person in South Florida, especially amongst our profession. Q Mr. Rothstein? A Right. Q But why is there an allegation hanging over your head? The case against you was dismissed in 2012, correct? MR. SCAROLA: Excuse me. Which case? BY MR. LINK: Q The case against you by Mr. Epstein was dismissed in 2012, was it not? A Right. The case was dismissed. Q Five years ago the case was dismissed, Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800519
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13 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 true? A Yes. Q So what I'm trying to understand is, you said that this was hanging over your head. Since 2012 there has not been a pleading that was alive in circuit court from Mr. Epstein directed at you, true? Since 2012? A Has there -- was there a pleading against me since 2012. Q Yes, sir. A The answer to that question is no. Q So 2012, this allegation, that you said was hanging over your head, has been removed, true? A The complaint was dismissed. Q Right. That was the allegation. And that complaint has been dismissed. MR. SCAROLA: Compound. THE WITNESS: You are asking two different things. BY MR. LINK: Q Well, you said -- A The allegation was made. Q In 2009. A -- and 9 million people read that allegation. And -- Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800520
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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 Q We are going to get to all of that. MR. SCAROLA: Excuse me. THE WITNESS: If you don't want me to answer the question, then don't then ask a question, I will answer, and you can shape it however you want. If you want me to give you an answer, I'm willing to sit here and give you a full answer. BY MR. LINK: Q I do. And I asked you if there has been a pleading making those allegations since 2012. A That's not the question that you asked. But is that now the question that you are asking? Q Yes. A Sure. Pleadings have been filed, including by Mr. Epstein's long-time recruiter of girls for him, Ms. Maxwell. She made an allegation -- the same allegation as part of a motion to recuse me as trial counsel in a totally separate case. Q What case was that you just brought up? A versus Maxwell. Q Where was that case pending? A In New York. Q And you were counsel in that case? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800521
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15 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 Are you admitted in New York? A I was pro hac. Q Who was the admitted lawyer in New York? A David Boies. Q So you and Mr. Boies worked on that case together? A Yes. Q How did Mr. Boies get involved? A We co-represented , who is also one of Mr. Epstein's victims. Q Okay. Talking about the case you just mentioned to me where you said Ms. Maxwell -- is that right? A Yes. Q -- filed a pleading. Was Mr. Epstein a party in that case? A He had a joint defense agreement with her, so he was -- he was basically advising her behind the scenes. So for lack of a better word, he was basically a party to the case. Q So you have been practicing how many years now? Fifteen? A Yeah. Q And you know what a party to a case is, Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800522
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16 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 right, in a civil lawsuit? A I do. Q Was Mr. Epstein a party in that lawsuit? A A party in the sense was he in the style of case, he was not. Q Do you know what a party is in a lawsuit? A Do you? Q Yes, sir, I do. A Okay. So right before trial we had an argument that I believe was going to go in our favor that we were going to be able to use his -- Mr. Epstein's Fifth Amendment invocation against Ms. Maxwell, because of the LiButti factors, and because he was basically a party and interest to the case. Was he in the style of the case? He was not. But because they were so tightly connected as conspirators, his interests were so intertwined with hers, that we were going to be able to use his Fifth Amendment invocation against her, which is a very unusual and atypical situation. Q Sounds like an interesting evidentiary issue. A Agreed. Q In that case, who brought the client to Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800523
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17 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 whom? Did you have the client and you went to Mr. Boies, or did Mr. Boies have it and he came to you? A I represented first. Q What made you go to David Boies? MR. SCAROLA: You don't need to answer that question. We object on the basis of work product. BY MR. LINK: Q Other than work product, was there a reason that you went to Mr. Boies for this what type of case is it, by the way? I'm sorry. The case that you filed. A When David Boies became involved with -- it's a complicated question, because as a client in the case that was brought the defamation case -- she was David Boies' client before mine. In a more general sense, in terms of who represented first, myself or Mr. Boise, I did. I represented her in the Crime Victims' Rights Act case. Q Here in Florida? A Here in Florida. Q Yes, sir. A David and David's firm filed the defamation Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800524
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18 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 action and represented her in the defamation action before bringing me in. Q Who did Ms. Roberts sue in the defamation action? A Ghislaine Maxwell. Q They did not sue Mr. Epstein? A No. Q And they brought you into the case after it was filed to provide assistance? A Correct. Q So David Boies hires you in Florida to help him prosecute the case; is that right? A When you say the case, we are talking the defamation action? Q The defamation case, yeah. Dave Boise's firm -- A We are talking multiple cases, so I just want to make sure that we make the question and the answer clear. Yes, defamation case he brought me in. Q So David Boies filed the defamation action and made the decision to co-counsel with you in Florida to help him in New York; is that right? A He made the decision to co-counsel with me. Q In a New York case? A In a New York case. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800525
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19 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q Got it. Okay. In that case, Mr. Boies had represented in a prior proceeding other than a defamation action, or only in the defamation action? A I am trying get the timing. He represented her in another proceeding. Whether it was a prior proceeding -- Q What was the other proceeding? Then we will figure out the chronology. A He represented her as a witness. Q In what case was that? A In a defamation action I filed against Alan Dershowitz. Q You're right. It is completed. So the first action that gets filed is you sued Alan Dershowitz? A Right. Q For defamation? A Right. Q That case has been dismissed, right? A Right. Q In that case was a witness? A She was subpoenaed by Dershowitz to be a witness. Q And she hired David Boies to represent her? Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800526
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20 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 As a witness? A Right. Q And was she deposed in that case? A She was. Q And Mr. Boies was there to represent her? A Someone from his firm was there to represent her. Q Then as a result of that, he ended up representing -- Mr. Boies ended up representing her in her own defamation case? A Right. I'm not sure that the chronology is exactly that, whether her deposition came first or the defamation action came first. In fact, I think the defamation action was filed before her deposition in the other case, but that's why this just gets a little complicated. Q The chronology is complicated? A Right. Q I got it. Now, is that case still pending, the defamation case? A No. Q That case has been resolved? A Settled in May, I believe, of this year. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00800527
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