EFTA00119019.pdf

1 2 3 4 DIGITALLY RECORDED 5 SWORN STATEMENT 6 OF 7 8 9 OIG CASE #: 10 2019-010614 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 19 OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL 20 OCTOBER 27, 2021 21 22 23 24 25 RESOLUTE DOCUMENTATION SERVICES Agoura Hills, CA 91301 Phone: EFTA00119019 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 APPEARANCES: 2 3 OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL 4 BY: 5 BY: 6 7 8 WITNESS: 9 10 11 12 OTHER APPEARANCES: 13 EDWARD HAYES 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 EFTA00119020 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 3 1 MR. : The recorder is on. My 2 name is , and I am a Senior 3 Special Agent with the U.S. Department of 4 Justice, Office of the Inspector General, New 5 York Field Office, and these are my 6 credentials. 7 MR. : Okay. Mm-hmm. 8 MR. : This interview with 9 Federal Bureau of Prisons employee - is it 10 11 MR. -: 12 MR. : Is being conducted as 13 part of an official U.S. Department of Justice, 14 Office of the Inspector General investigation. 15 Today's date is October 27th, 2021, and the 16 time is 1:53 p.m. This interview is being 17 conducted - what is the -? Is it 1515? 18 MR. : 515. 19 MR. : 515? 20 MR. : Yes. 21 UNKNOWN MALE: Madison Avenue. 31st 22 floor. 23 MR. : Okay. 24 . New York, New York. Also 25 present is DOJ/OIG Special Agent EFTA00119021 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 As well as -- 2 UNKNOWN MALE: Edward Hayes. 3 MR. : -- Mr. 4 attorney. I'm sorry. What is it? 5 MR. HAYES: Edward Hayes. H-A-Y-E-S. 6 First name E-D-W-A-R-D. 7 MR. : Thank you, sir. Who is 8 representing Mr. . This interview will 9 be recorded by me, Senior Special Agent 10 . could everyone please identify 11 themselves for the record, and spell your last 12 name? To start, again, I am DOJ/OIG Senior 13 Special Agent, 14 15 MR. : This is DOJ Special Agent 16 . And these are my 17 credentials. 18 MR. : Okay. And I am -- 19 MR. HAYES: I can't -- 20 MR. 21 MR. HAYES: I can't show you any 22 credentials. 23 MR. . First name -- 24 MR. : Okay. 25 MR. . And EFTA00119022 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 last name 2 3 MR. : Thank you, sir. Do you 4 happen to one -- 5 MR. HAYES: I still don't know how he 6 pronounces his name. Is it -? Yeah. And I'm 7 so arrogant that I don't carry identification. 8 You know what I mean? 9 MR. : No. That's fine. 10 MR. HAYES: Yeah. But you are sitting 11 down here, you are willing to pay the fee. 12 MR. : Yeah. 13 MR. HAYES: You know who I am. 14 MR. : So, I am looking at Mr. 15 law enforcement officer credentials. 16 And it has a picture. And a signature of the 17 gentleman sitting in front of me. Thank you, 18 sir. And his attorney, do you mind - and 19 again, it's Edward -- 20 MR. HAYES: Edward 21 MR. : -- Hayes. 22 MR. HAYES: -- Hayes. And I'm sorry, I 23 don't have -. I really -- 24 MR. : No. That's quite all 25 right. EFTA00119023 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. HAYES: -- as I say -- 2 MR. : But you are 3 MR. HAYES: -- Edward Hayes. I'm his 4 lawyer. 5 MR. : -- perfect, and we're in 6 your office. 7 MR. HAYES: Right. 8 MR. : This is an official 9 DOJ/OIG investigation into the death of inmate 10 Jeffrey Epstein and the circumstances 11 surrounding it, and you are being asked to 12 voluntarily provide answers to our questions. 13 Will you agree to a voluntary interview with 14 the DOJ/OIG? 15 MR. : Yes, I will. 16 MR. : Thank you, sir. This is 17 the form that we have to do all interviews, 18 interviewees. 19 MR. HAYES: Is that form B? 20 MR. : This is the OIG form III- 21 226/2. 22 MR. HAYES: Yeah. 23 MR. : Okay. 24 MR. : But it says is - I'm 25 going to read it for you - United States EFTA00119024 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 7 1 Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector 2 General, Warnings and Assurances to Employee 3 Requested to Provide Information on a Voluntary 4 Basis. It says, "You are being asked to 5 provide information as part of an investigation 6 being conducted by the Office of the Inspector 7 General. This investigation is being conducted 8 pursuant to the Inspector General Act of 1978, 9 as amended. This investigation pertains to job 10 performance failure, and security failure." 11 And this is what we are writing for everyone 12 that we speak to, just because we're looking at 13 it as a -- 14 MR. : Right. 15 MR. : -- whole of what 16 happened. "This is a voluntary interview. 17 Accordingly, you do not have to answer 18 questions. No disciplinary action will be 19 taken against you if you chose not to answer 20 questions. Any statements you furnish may be 21 used as evidence in any future criminal 22 proceedings, or agency disciplinary 23 proceedings, or both." And there is a waiver 24 section. It says, "I understand the Warnings 25 and Assurances stated above, and I am willing EFTA00119025 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 8 1 to make a statement and answer questions. No 2 promises or threats have been made to me, and 3 no pressure or coercion of any kind has been 4 used against me." If you would like to take a 5 look at it, you may. If you agree to it, if 6 you want your attorney to look at it, he may, 7 as well. 8 MR. : Okay. 9 MR. : You can sign where it 10 says "Employee Signature." And then, also 11 write your name. I did read it verbatim. 12 MR. HAYES: I'm sure you did. Okay. 13 There is no place that said attorneys -- 14 MR. : No, no, no. 15 MR. HAYES: -- signatures. 16 MR. : It's not for you to sign. 17 It's for him, myself, and the witness. It's 18 just if you wanted to review it, or ask any -- 19 MR. HAYES: No, that's all right. 20 MR. : -- questions about it. 21 MR. HAYES: That's all right. I do have a 22 question. 23 MR. : Where do you want me to 24 sign? 25 MR. HAYES: In other words, if you say to EFTA00119026 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 him -- 2 MR. : Oh, so, where it says -- 3 MR. : Right side. 4 MR. : -- "Employee Signature." 5 MR. HAYES: Do you have sex with ducks? 6 And so, I'm not going to answer that question. 7 That's the - he can't get in trouble for that? 8 MR. : I won't be asking that 9 question. 10 MR. HAYES: I mean, (Indiscernible 11 *00:04:18). 12 MR. : (Indiscernible *00:04:20). 13 MR. HAYES: (Indiscernible *00:04:22). 14 MR. : (Indiscernible *00:04:21). 15 Okay. 16 MR. : Under the interview that 17 we are doing right now, for voluntary 18 interviews, he doesn't have to answer our 19 questions. 20 MR. : Okay. Great. 21 MR. : All right. So, thank you 22 for signing that, sir. Did you have any 23 questions on the form? 24 MR. : No, I don't. 25 MR. : All right. So, I'm EFTA00119027 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 10 1 signing as the signature of the Office of the 2 Inspector General, Special Agent. I'm printing 3 my name. 4 MR. HAYES: Oh, one thing. So, 5 ordinarily, I would take notes. I've been at 6 Jim Rad (Phonetic Sp. *00:04:49) for 50 years, 7 as you saw, to which my body is falling apart. 8 I had severe arthritis in my neck, and it's 9 radiated down to my hands. I can't really 10 basically write. So, that's why -- 11 MR. : Sure. 12 MR. HAYES: -- I'm not taking notes. But 13 I have a pretty good memory, so, yeah. 14 MR. : All right. Great. 15 , can you just sign as the witness? 16 MR. : Oh. 17 MR. : Put your name and take 18 care of the rest of the form. 19 MR. : This is Special Agent 20 I'm signing as the witness, and dating 21 it. 22 MR. : All right. Before 23 starting the interview, I would like to place 24 you under oath. Mr. can you please 25 raise your right hand? EFTA00119028 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 11 1 MR. : Mm-hmm. 2 MR. : Do you swear to tell the 3 truth and nothing but the truth during this 4 interview? 5 MR. : I do. 6 MR. : Thank you, sir. What is 7 your current home address? 8 MR. -: 9 Burlington, New Jersey. 08016. 10 MR. : And what is your date of 11 birth? 12 MR. -: 13 MR. : And what -- 14 MR. HAYES: Jesus Christ. 15 MR. : -- what is the 16 MR. HAYES: I'm old. 17 MR. : -- what are the last four 18 of your social security number? 19 MR. -: 20 MR. : Is it correct that you 21 were interviewed regarding the Epstein matter 22 on August 19th, 2019? 23 MR. : Yeah. 24 MR. : Or in August of 2019. 25 MR. : I know it was some time in EFTA00119029 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 12 1 August. 2 MR. : Correct. Okay. How long 3 have you worked for the BOP? 4 MR. : 30 years. And August, 5 September, October, November. 30 years and 6 three months. 7 MR. : All right. And what is 8 your current position with the BOP? 9 MR. : I'm the Warden at FCI Fort 10 Dix. 11 MR. : Okay. And what are your 12 You are the warden, you said? 13 MR. : Yes. 14 MR. : Were you previously a 15 regional director? 16 MR. : I was the deputy regional 17 director in Philadelphia. 18 MR. : And how long have you 19 been the warden at FCI Fort Dix? 20 MR. : About two or three weeks. 21 Two weeks. 22 MR. : Oh, so -- 23 MR. : Yeah. 24 MR. : -- it's a brand -- 25 MR. : Yeah. EFTA00119030 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. : -- new position? 2 MR. : It just got there. Yeah. 3 MR. : Okay. How long were you 4 the deputy regional director? 5 MR. : I got it in February. 6 MR. : Okay. 7 MR. : Of 2021. 8 MR. : Okay. And as the deputy 9 regional director, what were your duties and 10 responsibvilities? 11 MR. : Monitoring he activities of 12 the 20 institutions in the region, and, you 13 know, managing the administratives within the 14 northeast region, and, you know, showing that 15 institutions were running in an orderly 16 fashion. 17 MR. : Now, did you supervise 18 the various wardens at those institutions? 19 MR. : Yes. I was over there. I 20 was the rating official on some of the 21 evaluations. 22 MR. : And were you a warden 23 prior to that position? 24 MR. : Yes, I was. 25 MR. : Where were you a warden? EFTA00119031 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. : In New York. MCC. The 2 Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. 3 MR. : And how long were you a 4 warden there? 5 MR. : I came from May of - '17, 6 '18 - May of '18 until, I forget the date, in 7 2020. I forget what it was. 8 MR. : Okay. So, May 2018 to 9 some time in 2020 -- 10 MR. : Yeah. 11 MR. : -- when you became the 12 regional director? 13 MR. : No. The position 14 MR. : Yeah. 15 MR. : -- prior to that, I was 16 given -- 17 MR. : Okay. 18 MR. : -- was a liaison to the 19 regional director. And then, I went into the 20 deputy position. 21 MR. : Okay. Sounds good. Ana 22 August of 2019, though, were you a warden at 23 the MCC New York? 24 MR. : Yes, I was. 25 MR. : Thank you, sir. And are EFTA00119032 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 15 1 you familiar with inmate Jeffrey Epstein, who 2 was housed within the MCC in July and August of 3 2019? 4 MR. : Yes. 5 MR. : Yes. Okay. Great. What 6 I have here is an after-action report that was 7 written by the BOP. 8 MR. : Mm-hmm. 9 MR. : Have you seen this? 10 MR. : I have not seen that. 11 MR. : All right. So, this is 12 not something that you are actually familiar 13 with? 14 MR. : No, I am not. 15 MR. : No one discussed any 16 findings or anything like that with you? 17 MR. : No one. 18 MR. : All right. I'm going to 19 set this aside just in case we need to, you 20 know, reference it. So, no role in the after- 21 action report? 22 MR. : Nothing. I wasn't 23 interviewed. I wasn't spoken to. 24 MR. : All right. Do you know 25 of anybody interviewed, or I mean, talked to EFTA00119033 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 and at least about, like, providing the 2 information that they utilized to this report? 3 MR. : No. 4 MR. : No. Okay. Fair enough. 5 After the incident occurred, what was your role 6 with determining what happened and what didn't 7 happen after Epstein was found on August 10th, 8 2019? 9 MR. : Well, I responded to the 10 institution. At the time, when I got there, he 11 was at the hospital. So, I didn't go up to the 12 unit, as far as - because it was a crime scene, 13 and I've always been trained, if it was a crime 14 scene, if you weren't particularly there, the 15 least amount of people that, you know, that go 16 through that crime scene, just don't go into 17 it. So, I didn't go into it, but you know, 18 basically gathering information on what 19 happened, notifying the region, notifying the 20 FBI. The IG. 21 MR. HAYES: (Indiscernible *00:09:28). 22 He's already got that phone call. 23 MR. : Oh. 24 MR. HAYES: Oh, yeah, you know what I 25 mean? Jeffrey Epstein -- EFTA00119034 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 17 1 MR. : Mm-hmm. 2 MR. HAYES: -- like, fuck it, I'm going to 3 sell. Oh, okay. 4 MR. : Yeah. 5 MR. HAYES: That's why we do it for the 6 next six months. 7 MR. : So, there was a lot of 8 notification on what happened. Trying to find 9 out the status of inmate Epstein. And things 10 more along those lines. 11 MR. : Now, did you help with 12 gathering information, up until a certain 13 point, and then, were you told not to anymore, 14 or did you continue to gather -? 15 MR. : No, like, my boss was 16 calling me the regional director. They needed 17 information. You know, starting a timeline on 18 what happened. So, I had my executive 19 assistant there, and, you know, we would just 20 gather any information, and just, you know, 21 making sure that, you know, things that were 22 requested were being provided to them, any 23 information. 24 MR. : And who was the regional 25 director at the time? EFTA00119035 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 18 1 MR. : It was , at the 2 time. 3 MR. : Okay. And then, who was 4 your executive assistant? 5 MR. • • 6 Dia. *00:10:21). 7 MR. : Okay. 8 MR. • 9 MR. 10 MR. : Now, as part of our 11 investigation, we have to review everyone's 12 emails, with regard to the incident. 13 MR. : Right. 14 MR. : So, you mentioned that 15 you provided Mr. with timelines -- 16 MR. : Yeah. 17 MR. : -- and things like that. 18 So, these are just some timelines from - again, 19 Mr. Epstein, I believe, was found around 6:33 20 a .m. 21 MR. : Mm-hmm. 22 MR. : In the Special Housing 23 Unit. This is a timeline starting with, it 24 looks like, August 10th, 2019, at 11:04 a.m. 25 So, a few hours after the fact. It just says, EFTA00119036 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 19 1 it says, "See below. Just to ensure you know 2 what is being relayed to DOJ." Now, is this -. 3 And then, what I have behind it is, these are 4 different timelines that are all updated 5 throughout the day. 6 MR. : Mm-hmm. 7 MR. : Here is one that was at 8 2:21 p.m. Same date. And then, the next one 9 was 3:42 p.m. And the next one was August 10 12th. And then, the final one that we have is 11 the August 13th. So, these, do these look like 12 the timelines that you would have been 13 gathering information and providing to Mr. 14 15 MR. : Okay. It looks like it. 16 MR. : Now, where were you 17 actually obtaining this information from? You 18 said III was obtaining it for you? 19 MR. : He was the exec, we recall, 20 and in that, I'm not too familiar on the 21 specifics on how we get it, because there was 22 so much going on. 23 MR. : Mm-hmm. 24 MR. : That, you know, I don't 25 recall if it was from the logbooks, or, you EFTA00119037 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 20 1 know, calling around and trying to find out. 2 So, I don't really recall the specifics. 3 MR. : All right. Well, rather 4 than get into each one of these, because it 5 will take too long, I'll just do the very first 6 one. It says, it just says, "7/23/2019, at 7 1:27 a.m., Epstein found in fetal position in 8 cell, breathing, but would not acknowledge 9 staff initially." So, that is referring to the 10 first initial attempt that Epstein may have had 11 on his life? 12 MR. : Let me see which one. Are 13 we talking the day of, or -? 14 MR. : No. This is 15 MR. : This is July. 16 MR. : -- yeah, July, 17 (Indiscernible *00:12:40) 27. 18 MR. : Oh, no. This is July. 19 MR. : Yeah. 20 MR. : This is the 21 MR. : So, this is the 22 MR. : -- no, the -- 23 MR. -: -- timeline. 24 MR. this would -. We would 25 have probably got this from the SIS EFTA00119038 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 investigation. 2 MR. : Okay. 3 MR. : From that. I thought you 4 were referring to the actual suicide. This is 5 6 MR. : No. What I meant was -- 7 MR. : -- this is -. 8 MR. : -- just the information 9 that was all put in there, as far as -- 10 MR. HAYES: This was his first attempt. 11 MR. : -- well, it's everything. 12 So, so, it starts July 23rd. The next one is 13 July 29th. And it goes 8/9/2019. And then, 14 and then, until -. So, it's only - there is 15 only a few. That's why I was going to read it, 16 just because there is only, like, three 17 paragraphs, four or five, four or five 18 paragraphs. 19 MR. : So, this looks to me like we 20 sentd the information to the regional director 21 22 MR. : Mm-hmm. 23 MR. : -- and what he did was, 24 compile this information to send to DOJ. 25 MR. : Okay. Oh, you're right. EFTA00119039 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. : Yeah. 2 MR. : III -- 3 MR. : This is not -- 4 MR. : -- sent this to you. So, 5 he is saying -- 6 MR. : -- yeah, this thing. 7 MR. : -- "see below -- 8 MR. : Right. 9 MR. : -- just ensure you know." 10 MR. : so, this is compiled off of 11 several different documents -- 12 MR. : Okay. 13 MR. : -- which he condensed. 14 MR. : So -- 15 MR. : From -. 16 MR. : -- he sent it to you. 17 I'm sorry. I read that incorrectly. So, 18 looking at this, then, let's just review it and 19 make each point, just make sure that it's what 20 you understand. It says, "On July 23rd, 2019, 21 Epstein was found in a fetal position in cell, 22 breathing, but would not acknowledge staff 23 initially." 24 MR. : Right. 25 MR. : —"After removed, he EFTA00119040 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 23 1 interacted with staff and speaking to staff. 2 Neck was red. Placed on suicide watch, and 3 medical evaluation. Epstein receive daily 4 psychological evaluations while on suicide 5 watch." Was that your recollection, too? 6 MR. : Yeah. That is what is in 7 the report. But I want to -- 8 MR. : Sure. 9 MR. : -- clarify what we went -. 10 You know, when I, when you first read it to me 11 12 MR. : Mm-hmm. 13 MR. : I thought you meant the 14 day of. 15 MR. : Yup, yup. 16 MR. : So -- 17 MR. : Well, we have that, too. 18 That's -- 19 MR. : Right. 20 MR. : -- that one is here. And 21 this one is from you, and this is what I 22 thought it was starting with, as well. 23 MR. : Right. 24 MR. : Because it said timeline 25 on it. From you to Mr. This initial EFTA00119041 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 24 1 one actually talks about Friday, August 9th, 2 2019. It starts with, "8:00 a.m., inmate Reyes 3 Efrain, reg number 85993-054, departs for 4 court. WAB-USMS-SDNY. Reyes is Epstein's 5 cellmate." 6 MR. : Right. 7 MR. : So, just starting with 8 that, then, I do have, we're going to get into 9 that later, but what does that tell you, if it 10 says inmate Reyes is departing for court, but 11 it also says WAB-USMS-SDNY? 12 MR. : So, that would mean With All 13 Belongings. 14 MR. : So, that means he's not 15 returning. Correct? 16 MR. : Yes. 17 MR. : All right. So, at 8:00 18 a.m., Efrain Reyes is actually leaving, not 19 coming back to the MCC. 20 MR. : Mm-hmm. 21 MR. : All right. Great. And 22 then, it just goes on from there, what happens 23 throughout that day. And we're going to get 24 into these things more in detail, so I don't 25 want to go through each thing, because we're EFTA00119042 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 25 1 going to have to get into it later. But so, 2 this information is stuff that you guys were 3 compiling, and you were providing to Mr. 4 5 MR. : That would probably be 6 information that we sent up to him. 7 MR. : Okay. Great. And then, 8 this is all the updates that occurred 9 afterwards. Let's see. Why is that 10 highlighted? So, here is something. Why, dDo 11 you know why in this one, it would be updated? 12 This one is 7:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and then, 13 "7:32 a.m., PIO notified of incident by the 14 warden." Is that just, put that in the wrong 15 place or something, and it says, "Inmate Reyes 16 released from court." 17 MR. : (Indiscernible *00:16:27). 18 MR. : (Indiscernible *00:16:30) 19 just in the wrong spot. It was made for August 20 10th. 21 MR. : Mm-hmm. (Indiscernible 22 *00:16:34). 23 MR. : Yeah. Okay. So, the 24 next one, that is the big discrepancy here. It 25 just shows the next update, you have that under EFTA00119043 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 August - or Saturday - August 10th. 2 MR. : This can't be -. This 3 doesn't make -. I don't know. Because it 4 says, "PIO notified of incident by the warden." 5 I was off that day, on Friday. I wasn't at 6 work. 7 MR. : Yeah. So, that's why I 8 think that they So, the next one I'm 9 looking at shows that that point is now under 10 Saturday, August 10th. 11 MR. : Yeah. I don't know why it 12 would be -- 13 MR. : So -- 14 MR. : -- under Friday, because I 15 wasn't -- 16 MR. : -- yeah. Okay. 17 MR. I wasn't working. 18 MR. : So, you were actually off 19 20 MR. : I was off -- 21 MR. : -- off on August 9th? 22 MR. : -- on Friday. Yes. 23 MR. : All right. You and 24 everyone else. 25 MR. : Huh? EFTA00119044 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 27 1 MR. : Everybody was off that 2 day. 3 MR. : Yeah. I didn't come back to 4 work until, when I got called, there was a 5 suicide at the (Indiscernible *00:17:28). 6 MR. : Okay. So, all of this. 7 So, if I can have that back, if you don't mind. 8 So, all of this. All right. Is it safe to 9 assume that, as this went on, and specifically, 10 the last one that we have is Tuesday, August 11 13th, 2019. The Tuesday 13th, August 13th, 12 would be the most accurate timeline? 13 MR. : It should be, but I don't 14 want to attest to it. I mean -- 15 MR. : Yeah, yeah. 16 MR. yeah. 17 MR. : I'm just saying, based 18 is there any reason for you to believe that the 19 timelines that were provided, or in any way, it 20 was determined that, you know, we should add a 21 point that actually didn't occur? Or is it 22 safe to assume that, the last one that was sent 23 would be the most accurate one? 24 MR. : That's how it typically 25 works. At, you know, but I can't, I can't EFTA00119045 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 attest to it -- 2 MR. : And yeah. 3 MR. : -- of whether it was 4 accurate, but typically, the last one that you 5 send usually, you know, if you have to make 6 corrections, you make the corrections. Aded 7 information, if you have to. 8 MR. : Sure. Okay. Great. 9 When I show you things, it's not attesting to 10 it, but -- 11 MR. : Mm-hmm. 12 MR. : I'm going to ask you 13 just to initial and date, and that's just to 14 say, specifically, that this is the document we 15 looked atr—and when we spoke. It is absolutely 16 not attesting to it. 17 MR. : Mm-hmm. 18 MR. : It's not saying that this 19 stuff is accurate. 20 MR. : And so, I write the date -- 21 MR. : If you could -- 22 MR. and put reviewed on it, 23 or -? 24 MR. : nope. Just your 25 initial and date. I'm just going to do this EFTA00119046 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 29 1 last one, just the top of it. I'm not going to 2 have you do every single one. And I'm going to 3 put this in a pile, back in a paper clip, and 4 I'm going to hand it to my friend over here. 5 MR. : What's the date? The 18th? 6 MR. : 27th. 7 MR. : 27th. 8 MR. : 10/27/21. 9 MR. : Thank you, sir, for 10 initialing and dating that. All right. I', 11 going to just actually, because it's the 12 timeline, I'm going to keep it in front of me 13 because we might have to reference it. 14 MR. HAYES: I can tell -- 15 MR. : All right. 16 MR. HAYES: -- this is going to be a long- 17 ass interview. 18 MR. : It's going to be pretty 19 long. That's where I was trying to -- 20 MR. HAYES: Yeah. Just -. 21 MR. : -- you know? All right. 22 So, July 23rd incident. That was, what do you 23 recall what happened on July 23rd with inmate 24 Tartaglione and Mr. Epstein? Do you recall? 25 MR. : I recall the investigation EFTA00119047 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 30 1 that couldn't determine if they had an 2 altercation, or I believe if it was an attempt 3 at suicide. 4 MR. : All right. So -- 5 MR. : Yeah. 6 MR. : -- so, something happened 7 on the July 23rd -- 8 MR. : Something happened -- 9 MR. where Mr. 10 MR. in his cell. 11 MR. : -- Epstein was found 12 with, like, a - was it a noose around his neck? 13 MR. : It wasn't determined. It 14 was, you know, that he was laying in his cell, 15 but I don't recall the specifics of the report. 16 But I know it went back and forth where there 17 was a suicide attempt, or an issue with inmate 18 19 MR. : Tartaglione. 20 MR. : -- with - yeah - 21 Tartaglione. Yeah. 22 MR. : All right. So, these are 23 emails that we reviewed with regard -- 24 MR. : Mm-hmm. 25 MR. : -- to that incident. EFTA00119048 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. : Mm-hmm. 2 MR. : So, this one is 3 specifically from, it says . Was that -- 5 MR. : Yeah. 6 MR. : -- your AW? 7 MR. : That is the AW. 8 MR. : Send it to you? 9 MR. : Right. 10 MR. : And this is a memo from, 11 it says Mr. is the 12 operations lieutenant. 13 MR. : Yeah. Lieutenant. She's a 14 female. 15 MR. : Right. This is where I 16 wanted to ask you if you knew -- 17 MR. : Mm-hmm. 18 MR. : -- about this. It 19 specifically says, so, it was originally, I 20 guess, sent from Captain to AW Skipper- 21 22 MR. : Mm-hmm. 23 MR. : -- from to 24 you. 25 MR. : Mm-hmm. EFTA00119049 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 32 1 MR. : And her note to you says, 2 "From the memo attached, the information I 3 received is not what I was told happened." 4 MR. : Right. 5 MR. : So, what I wanted to know 6 is, and I guess, would you like me just to 7 refresh your memory, to really quickly read 8 what she said happened, so we can figure out 9 what it is that didn't happen? 10 MR. : Okay. Yeah. 11 MR. : All right. So, this is 12 subject, "Possible suicide attempt." Again, 13 July 23rd, 2019. It says, "On July -". Let me 14 just sit back so you can just kind of read 15 along with me. Would you mind if I sit next to 16 you? 17 MR. : No. No problem. 18 MR. : I'm vaccinated, just so 19 you know. It says, "On July 23rd, 2019, at 20 approximately 1:27 a.m., a call for assistance 21 on the Special Housing Unit was announced by 22 the control center. Upon my arrival, I was 23 informed that an inmate had attempted suicide 24 and proceeded to cell 205-124LAD. I observed 25 inmate Epstein, Jeffrey, number 76318-054, EFTA00119050 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 33 1 lying in the fetal position on the floor of his 2 cell, wearing a t-shirt and boxers. 3 He was breathing heavily, and was snoring. 4 I called out to inmate Epstein and observed him 5 flicker his eyes, and continued snoring. His 6 neck was red with no abrasions. I observed no 7 further injuries to his person. An attempt was 8 made to get the inmates, to get the inmate to 9 stand on his own, with negative results. The 10 inmate was placed in hand restraints, and staff 11 was directed to retrieve the stretcher. 12 As inmate Epstein was being placed on the 13 stretcher by responding staff, he would open 14 his eyes and observe staff. When staff made 15 eye contact with him, he would hurriedly shut 16 his eyes. The inmate was taken to HA-Unit." 17 Was it that? The health care? 18 MR. : Health. Health Services. 19 MR. : "Dressed in a suicide 20 smock, and placed on suicide watch. While 21 awaiting the arrival of an inmate companion, 22 inmate Epstein sat on the of the bed and 23 began moving forward, as if was attempting to 24 fall over, head first. When I looked away, he 25 straightened up. As I turned to look at him EFTA00119051 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 34 1 again, he attempted the same act. I laid him 2 down on the bed, and directed him to cease his 3 action or he would be placed in restraints for 4 his safety. 5 At that moment, he stated, `Okay. I won't 6 do it again.' And gave the thumbs up. Because 7 of his unpredictable behavior, the decision was 8 made to have the staff member observe inmate 9 Epstein. I had left HA-Unit in order to make 10 staff notifications. Moments later, I spoke 11 with Officer who stated that Inmate 12 Epstein was alert and had indicated that his 13 cellmate, Tartaglione, Nicholas, number 78514- 14 054, had attempted to kill him, and had been 15 harassing him. 16 He stated that the inmate had indicated 17 that he had informed his attorney of this 18 matter. I photographed and spoke with inmate 19 Tartaglione, Nicholas, who stated that he was 20 asleep with his headphones on when he felt 21 something hit his legs, and said, . What 22 are you doing?' He didn't answer. So, he got 23 up, turned on the light," or - so, yeah - "He 24 got up, turned on the light, and saw him with a 25 string around his neck. EFTA00119052 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 35 1 He stated that he then called the guards, 2 and they ran down. Upon further questioning, 3 inmate Tartaglione stated that he sleeps on the 4 bottom bunk, but gave it to inmate Epstein 5 because he's old. He stated that he sleeps on 6 the floor, on a mattress. He stated that, when 7 he got up, he couldn't remember if he sat up or 8 stood up to check on Epstein. He stated that 9 Epstein was sitting on the floor, leaning to 10 the side, with his eyes opened, but wasn't 11 responding. 12 He stated that the last time he saw him, 13 he was snoring really loud. Inmate Epstein 14 stated that he comes in from a legal visit at 15 approximately 8:00 p.m., and staff handed him a 16 copy of the Ddaily Nnews. Nick was on the 17 floor reading the Ddaily Nfiews. He stated that 18 he had given it to him. He stated that 19 Tartaglione mentioned that he had been in court 20 all day, in Westchester (Phonetic Sp. 21 *00:25:00), and was carrying on. 22 At that point, inmate Tartaglione paused, 23 as if he was making the story up, as he went 24 along, and stated that Tartaglione stated, 25 `These fucking N-I-G-G-E-R-S. This place is EFTA00119053 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 36 1 inhumane. I wish I could report it. 2 Officer, that N-I-G-G-E-R, hobbit 3 motherfucker.' He then turned to a page in the 4 Ddaily Nnews that had his picture on it, and 5 stated that Epstein was worth 77 million 6 dollars. 7 Epstein then stated that he took his 8 picture, balled it up, and threw it in the 9 garbage. I asked inmate Epstein what happened 10 prior to staff's arrival. He stated that at 11 approximately 1:00 a.m., he had gotten up to