This is an FBI investigation document from the Epstein Files collection (VOL00011). Text has been machine-extracted from the original PDF file. Search more documents →
VOL00011
EFTA02726484
154 pages
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280 1 BY MR. SCAROLA: 2 Q. The question was: Is that part of the 3 time that you claim exonerates you? 4 A. Well, I think if you read the whole 5 testimony, it clearly exonerates me and I think that 6 part of the testimony in no way inculpates me and no 7 reasonable person reading that could use that as a 8 basis for making allegations that I had sexual 9 encounters or misconduct with 10 So, when -- if that's the best testimony 11 that your unprofessional clients relied on, then 12 clearly that exonerates me. 13 Again, the absence of evidence is evidence 14 of absence. And the very idea that this is seen as 15 some basis for concluding that I had sexual 16 encounters with -- with , why wasn't 17 he asked did he ever see me have a massage by 18 ? Did he ever see me have a sexual 19 encounter with ? Did he ever go to 20 the room I was staying in and find any sex toys? 21 The answers to all those questions, if 22 truthful, would be no. 23 Q. What was Mr. Alessi's motive against you? 24 You've told us he was fired by Jeffrey Epstein, so 25 he may have had some motive against Mr. Epstein. www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726584
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281 1 What was his motive against you? 2 A. I was Jeffrey Epstein's friend and lawyer 3 and, in fact -- well, I can't get into this. But I 4 can say this, I gave advice 5 MR. SCOTT: Be careful about anything 6 involving -- 7 THE WITNESS: Okay. 8 MR. SCOTT: -- Mr. Epstein, please. 9 A. He could easily have believed that I was 10 one of the causes of his firing. 11 BY MR. SCAROLA: 12 Q. So, he was -- he may have been angry at 13 you because you assisted in getting him fired? 14 A. It's -- 15 MR. SCOTT: Objection, 16 mischaracterization. 17 A. It's conjecture. It's possible. But in 18 any event, even -- 19 BY MR. SCAROLA: 20 Q. It's conjecture, is that what you were 21 about to say? 22 A. I'm saying I have -- I don't know what he 23 was thinking, but there is a basis for him believing 24 that. But most -- most important, even if you take 25 everything he says as true, which it's not, it's www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726585
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282 1 exculpatory because it has no suggestion that I ever 2 had any sexual encounter with 3 And if I were a lawyer reading that -- 4 MR. SCOTT: It's okay? 5 A. -- I certainly would not base this heinous 6 accusation on that flimsy read. 7 BY MR. SCAROLA: 8 Q. You know the context in which that 9 deposition was taken, don't you? 10 A. I don't recall it as I'm sitting here 11 today. 12 Q. Do you remember that the lawsuit in which 13 that deposition was taken was a lawsuit in which 14 was being represented by- 15 16 A. No. 17 Q. You know , don't you? 18 A. We we were classmates at law school. 19 Q. You know to be an extremely 20 ethical, highly professional and extraordinarily 21 well-respected lawyer, right? 22 A. Absolutely, yes. 23 Q. Absolutely? 24 A. Yeah. 25 Q. A man of impeccable honesty and integrity? www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726586
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283 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. A man who would never undertake to advance 3 the cause of a client whom he believed to be 4 incredible, right? 5 A. Yes. And a man who told me and a man 6 who -- 7 MR. SCOTT: That's it. 8 A. Okay. And a man who believes I'm 9 innocent. 10 BY MR. SCAROLA: 11 Q. You know that would never 12 file charges on behalf of a client alleging that she 13 was lent out by Jeffrey Epstein for purposes of 14 sexual abuse while she was a minor to academicians 15 unless he absolutely had confidence that those 16 statements were true -- 17 MR. SCOTT: Let me object -- 18 BY MR. SCAROLA: 19 Q. -- right? 20 MR. SCOTT: -- that this is completely 21 irrelevant to the issues in this case. 22 Whatever thinks has nothing to 23 do with this lawsuit. This is all your effort 24 to try to put into this case to try 25 to give some justification to your position. www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726587
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284 1 A. I'll answer that question. 2 BY MR. SCAROLA: 3 Q. Thank you. 4 A. And I also know and know 5 that he would never maintain a friendship, as he has 6 with me, if he believed that I was one of the, 7 quote, academicians -- 8 Q. Well, how about 9 A. -- with whom -- 10 Q. -- answering my question -- 11 MR. SCOTT: Wait a minute. No, no, no. 12 A. You're going to let me finish. 13 BY MR. SCAROLA: 14 Q. I know I'm going to go, but I don't have 15 to like it -- 16 MR. SCOTT: Yeah, but -- 17 BY MR. SCAROLA: 18 Q. -- when you're not being responsive to the 19 questions that are being asked. 20 MR. SCOTT: Yeah, but you're 21 interjecting 22 BY MR. SCAROLA: 23 Q. And -- 24 MR. SCOTT: You're interjecting questions 25 that are irrelevant utilizing www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726588
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285 1 relationship with him and he has an ability to 2 justify and explain his position in response 3 MR. SCAROLA: If it's responsive to the 4 question. 5 A. It's responsive. And as far as the 6 filibustering is -- 7 BY MR. SCAROLA: 8 Q. Do you remember what the question is? 9 A. is concerned, I was here -- 10 Q. Do you remember what the question was? 11 A. Yes. Yes. 12 Q. What is the question? 13 A. The question is -- no, why don't you 14 repeat the question. 15 Q. Yes, sir. 16 A. So -- 17 Q. You know that would not 18 advance allegations on behalf of a client that that 19 client had been lent out by Jeffrey Epstein to 20 satisfy the sexual desires of friends of Jeffrey 21 Epstein, including academicians, unless 22 believed those allegations to be true, 23 right? 24 A. I believe that -- I know that 25 would never maintain a friendship with www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726589
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286 1 me, as he has, if he believed that I was one of 2 those academicians. knows that I was 3 not one of those academicians, and the inference of 4 your question is beneath contempt, sir. 5 Q. Could we try to answer the question now? 6 A. The answer is that would 7 never maintain a friendship with me if he believed 8 that there was any possibility that I was among the 9 academicians who she was accusing of sexual 10 misconduct. I do not believe that she ever accused 11 me of sexual misconduct to , to the 12 FBI, to the U.S. attorney, or even, sir, to you and 13 Bradley Edwards, as she says in 2000, I think, '11. 14 I think she made up this story on the eve of the 15 filing in 16 Q. You do agree that would not 17 have advanced the claims that he advanced if he did 18 not have confidence that they were true, correct? 19 A. I have no idea what he believed or knew at 20 the time. I would say this: I know 21 is an extraordinarily ethical lawyer. I don't know 22 what his responsibilities were in the case. I don't 23 know whether his responsibilities were to make those 24 kinds of judgments or whether his responsibility was 25 simply to make sure that money was paid to each of www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726590
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287 1 the people who the FBI had put on the -- the list. 2 I just don't know what his responsibility was. 3 I can say with confidence that he would 4 only act ethically and would, A, not represent -- 5 not make any false statements the way your clients 6 made them, and that I wish your clients had the 7 ethics of 8 Q. You then agree that if 9 advanced the claims that I have described in a 10 complaint on behalf of a client, he would not have 11 done so unless he believed those allegations to be 12 true, having conducted a fair and reasonable 13 investigation, correct? 14 MR. SCOTT: Objection, asked and answered 15 several times. 16 A. I don't know the answer to that question 17 because I don't know the context in which he made 18 these arguments. All I do know is that he never 19 would maintain a friendship with me if he believed 20 in any way that I was one of the people that she had 21 accused. 22 BY MR. SCAROLA: 23 Q. Did Alfredo Rodriguez, another one of your 24 friend's staff persons, have a motive to lie against 25 you? www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726591
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288 1 A. Alberto Rodriguez -- 2 Q. No, sir, Alfredo Rodriguez. 3 A. Alfredo Rodriguez, I never knew him by 4 name. He was, of course, there out -- well outside 5 of the timeframe of the alleged events in this case. 6 And so anything that he would be able to testify to 7 would bear no relationship whatsoever to the -- the 8 allegations here. 9 He was criminally prosecuted, to my 10 memory, for having stolen material and turned it 11 over to Bradley Edwards is my recollection. And as 12 the result of that clearly had a motive to lie. And 13 the same with Mr. Alessi, clearly would have a basis 14 for believing that I may have played a role as 15 Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer in seeking to do harm to 16 him. 17 But again, there's nothing in 18 Mr. Rodriguez's testimony which is in any way 19 inculpatory of me. I think he has me sitting and 20 and reading a book and drinking a glass of wine. 21 Q. In the presence of young women? 22 A. No. 23 Q. No? 24 A. I don't -- 25 Q. Do you -- www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726592
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289 1 A. believe that. 2 Q. -- recall the following testimony -- 3 A. It wouldn't be true if he said it. 4 Q. Yes, sir. Well, do you recall the 5 following testimony having been given by Mr. Alfredo 6 Rodriguez in a deposition that was taken on 7 August 7, 2009? 8 "Question: Mr. Rodriguez, you stated last 9 time that there were guests at the house, 10 frequent guests from Harvard. Do you remember 11 that testimony? 12 "Answer: Yes, ma'am. 13 "Question: Was there a lawyer from 14 Harvard named Alan Dershowitz? 15 "Answer: Yes, ma'am. 16 "Question: And are you familiar with the 17 fact that he's a famous author and famous 18 lawyer? 19 "Answer: Yes, ma'am. 20 "Question: How often during the six 21 months or so that you were there was 22 Mr. Dershowitz there? 23 "Answer: Two or three times. 24 "Question: And did you have any knowledge 25 of why he was visiting there? www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726593
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290 1 "Answer: No, ma'am. 2 "Question: You don't know whether or not 3 he was a lawyer acting as a lawyer or whether 4 he was there as a friend? 5 "Answer: I believe as a friend. 6 "Question: Were there also young ladies 7 in the house at the time he was there? 8 "Answer: Yes, ma'am. 9 "Question: And would those have included, 10 for instance, 11 "Answer: Yes, ma'am. 12 "Question: Were there other young ladies 13 there when Mr. Dershowitz was there? 14 "Answer: Yes, ma'am. 15 "Question: Do you have any idea who those 16 young women were? 17 "Answer: No, ma'am. 18 "Question: Were there any of these -- 19 excuse me. Were any of these young women that 20 you have said came to give massages? 21 "Answer: Yes, ma'am." 22 Do you recall that testimony having been 23 given -- 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. -- and those answers having been given to www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726594
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291 1 that testimony? 2 A. Yes. 3 MR. SCOTT: Objection. This is totally 4 improper cross examination of a witness by 5 trying to use a deposition. The only purpose 6 of doing this is to interject this into the 7 record, which has no relevance and would not be 8 admissible at trial. And in any case, he never 9 actually has my client doing any of the things 10 that you've accused him of. 11 Go ahead, let's go ahead and do it. 12 Answer the question. Answer the question. 13 MR. SCAROLA: He did. 14 A. Yes, I remember that. 15 MR. SCAROLA: He said yes. 16 A. Yes, I remember that, yes. 17 BY MR. SCAROLA: 18 Q. And do you know why it was that back in 19 19 -- excuse me, back in 2009, August of 2009, four 20 and a half years before you allege that this story 21 about you was being made up out of whole cloth, that 22 lawyers representing Jeffrey Epstein's victims, 23 including from ■ 24 office, who had filed the complaint 25 alleging that you had -- excuse me, that www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726595
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292 1 had been lent out for sexual purposes to 2 academicians, were asking specific questions about 3 you? Do you know why it was in 2009 they were doing 4 that? 5 A. I have no idea that it happened. And I 6 imagine that they had a list of every academic that 7 was in the house. Probably included -- 8 MR. SCOTT: I want to object to this whole 9 procedure because you're taking pieces out of 10 the record and not reading other pieces that 11 totally absolve my client. For example, 12 there's testimony by him that says -- 13 MR. SCAROLA: Is this an objection? 14 MR. SCOTT: Yes, it's a statement into the 15 record just like you're putting into the 16 record. There's -- I want to show this to my 17 client and refresh his memory as to some other 18 testimony by this witness -- 19 MR. SCAROLA: There's no question pending 20 as to what you can -- as to what you can 21 refresh your client's memory. What you are 22 doing is coaching him. 23 MR. SCOTT: No, I'm not. 24 MR. SCAROLA: Improperly. 25 MR. SCOTT: And you are improperly reading www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726596
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293 1 excerpts out of a deposition to try to imply 2 something when there's other parts that totally 3 are inconsistent with that. And if you're 4 going to do that, then he has the ability under 5 our rules to review the entire transcript of 6 the deposition and that's what I'm permitting 7 him to do, just like when we're in court. 8 MR. SCAROLA: What I am doing, 9 Mr. Scott -- what I am doing, Mr. Scott -- 10 MR. SCOTT: Have you read that now, sir? 11 MR. SCAROLA: -- is reviewing the evidence 12 that was relied upon by Bradley Edwards and by 13 Paul Cassell in coming to the conclusion that 14 the allegations that had been made by 15 were, in fact, credible allegations. 16 MR. SCOTT: And I'm -- 17 MR. SCAROLA: Because your own client has 18 acknowledged that this is information that was 19 available to both him and to them back in 2009. 20 MR. SCOTT: And what I am doing is showing 21 him portions of the same deposition that 22 totally take a different position from this 23 witness from what you have read, so that this 24 record is a complete record and not a partial 25 record with your inference only. And I feel www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726597
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294 1 that that's totally appropriate. If we were in 2 a courtroom, a judge would permit him to do it. 3 So you have your position and I have mine. 4 MR. SWEDER: Can we have the witness read 5 that? 6 BY MR. SCAROLA: 7 Q. Do you recall the following testimony 8 having been given in that same deposition? 9 "Question: All right. This is follow-up 10 to questioning by asked 11 you about Mr. Dershowitz being present in 12 Mr. Epstein's home, and I think you said -- I 13 think you said Mr. Epstein and he and 14 Mr. Dershowitz were friends? 15 "Answer: Yes. 16 "Question: She also, I think, asked was 17 Mr. Dershowitz ever there when one of the young 18 women who gave a massage was present in the 19 home. 20 "Answer: I don't remember that. 21 "Question: That's where I want to clear 22 up. Is it your testimony that Mr. Dershowitz 23 was there when any of the women came to 24 Mr. Epstein's home to give a massage? 25 "Answer: Yes." www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726598
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295 1 Do you remember that testimony having been 2 given? 3 A. I assume that when your clients used the 4 transcript as a basis for their false conclusion 5 that I was guilty, they read the whole transcripts, 6 not just the -- 7 BY MR. SCAROLA: 8 Q. Every word. 9 MR. SCOTT: Don't interrupt him. 10 BY MR. SCAROLA: 11 Q. You don't need to assume that. I will 12 stipulate they read every word. 13 MR. SCOTT: Mr. Scarola, he's speaking. 14 You don't have a right to do this. 15 A. And if you read every word, you will see 16 that it's totally exculpatory, that I have no idea 17 whether there were any young women in one part of 18 the house when I was in another part of the house. 19 It's completely consistent with my testimony that I 20 have never seen any underage women. Let's see. 21 And if you read the whole transcript, 22 you'll see, I think: 23 "Was Dershowitz ever there when one of the 24 woman gave a massage? 25 "I don't remember that. www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726599
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296 1 "Were you in -- were you in any way 2 attempting in your response to imply that 3 Mr. Dershowitz had a massage by one of these 4 young ladies? 5 "I don't know, sir. 6 "You have no knowledge? 7 "No, sir. 8 "And you certainly weren't implying that 9 that occurred; you just have no knowledge, 10 correct? 11 "Answer: I don't know." 12 And I would hope that your clients would 13 be reading the whole thing in context, unlike what 14 you've tried to do to try to create a false 15 impression that this testimony in any way exculpates 16 me. 17 I have to say if this is what they relied 18 on, my confirmation of their unethical and 19 unprofessional conduct has been strongly 20 corroborated by that and you're helping my case. 21 BY MR. SCAROLA: 22 Q. Would it have been reasonable for Bradley 23 Edwards and Paul Cassell to have relied upon the 24 detailed reports of Palm Beach police department? 25 A. I don't know. I don't know what the Palm www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726600
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297 1 Beach police department says. 2 Q. You never read those reports? 3 A. I don't know which reports you're 4 referring to. 5 Q. All of the reports about Jeffrey Epstein. 6 MR. SCOTT: Asked and answered yesterday 7 on this whole line. 8 A. I probably did not read all the reports on 9 Jeffrey Epstein. I'm sure I've read some of them. 10 I do not recall -- 11 MR. SCOTT: Be careful about any work -- 12 attorney-client privilege. 13 THE WITNESS: Right. 14 A. I don't remember my name coming up. I was 15 the lawyer during that period of time. 16 BY MR. SCAROLA: 17 Q. To the extent that Bradley Edwards and 18 Paul Cassell relied upon detailed reports from the 19 Palm Beach police department in order to assess the 20 credibility of , would it be 21 reasonable for them to rely upon police reports? 22 A. I would hope that they would rely on all 23 the police reports, including the ones that showed 24 that 25 www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726601
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298 1 2 I would hope they would look at all the 3 reports, not just selected portions of those 4 reports. 5 Q. Would that include the reports of the 6 Federal Bureau of Investigation? 7 A. I would hope so. 8 Q. Would that include the information 9 provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office? 10 A. I would sure hope so, and I could tell you 11 that the 12 Q. Would that include -- 13 A. Let me just say that the U.S. Attorney's 14 Office has told me unequivocally that my name never 15 came up in any context of any accusation against me 16 during the negotiations. 17 Q. Is this part of your work product that 18 you're waiving right now? 19 MR. SWEDER: No, no. 20 A. My conversation with is not 21 work product. 22 MR. SCOTT: Here's a 23 BY MR. SCAROLA: 24 Q. What is the work product -- 25 MR. SCOTT: Excuse me. Please review www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726602
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299 1 this. 2 A. Excuse me one second. 3 MR. SCOTT: You know, you think this is 4 funny and I think this man's -- and I think 5 this man's -- 6 MR. SCAROLA: I think it's improper for 7 you to be coaching the witness in the middle of 8 examination. If you think that there's 9 something that needs to be brought out, you do 10 that in cross examination. You don't feed him 11 information that you want him to be reading in 12 the middle of my examination of this witness. 13 MR. SCOTT: No. But it's also true that 14 under our rules, when you read portions of a 15 deposition, he has the ability to read other 16 portions of the deposition which clarify the 17 answers. That's done in every courtroom on 18 every time a witness -- you have selected 19 portions of it that are not accurate based on 20 other portions and I am having him review them 21 since you did not offer him the deposition to 22 review. 23 MR. SCAROLA: And that's what you do -- 24 MR. SCOTT: And I think that's totally 25 proper -- www.phi sre orting.com EFTA02726603