Epstein Files

EFTA00801838.pdf

dataset_9 pdf 2.6 MB Feb 3, 2026 30 pages
EXHIBIT A 5:02 PM, Clerk, Ranh Distr., Cowl of Appeal EXCERPT FROM HEARING REGARDING MOTION TO STRIKE PRIVILEGED DOCUMENTS EFTA00801838 1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN 2 AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA 3 Case No. 502009CA040800XXXXMB 4 5 JEFFREY EPSTEIN, 6 Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant, 7 vs. 8 SCOTT ROTHSTEIN, individually; BRADLEY EDWARDS, individually, 9 Defendants/Counter-Plaintiffs. 10 11 12 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 13 14 DATE TAKEN: Thursday, March 8th, 2018 15 TIME: 10:07 a.m. - 12:08 p.m. PLACE 205 N. Dixie Highway, Room 10D 16 West Palm Beach, Florida BEFORE: Donald Hafele, Presiding Judge 17 18 19 20 This cause came on to be heard at the time and 21 place aforesaid, when and where the following proceedings were reported by: 22 23 Sonja D. Hall Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. 24 1665 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, Suite 1001 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 25 PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICE, INC. (561)471-2995 EFTA00801839 1 2 APPEARANCES: 3 For Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant: 4 LINK & ROCKENBACH, P.A. 1555 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, Suite 301 5 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 By KARA BERARD ROCKENBACH, ESQUIRE 6 By SCOTT J. LINK, ESQUIRE 7 For Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff: SEARCY, DENNEY, SCAROLA, BARNHART & 8 SHIPLEY, P.A. 2139 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard 9 West Palm Beach, FL 33409 By JACK SCAROLA, ESQUIRE 10 By DAVID P. VITALE JR., ESQUIRE By KAREN TERRY, ESQUIRE 11 12 For Non-Parties III., Illi & Jane Doe 13 HATCH, JAMES & DODGE, P.C. 10 West Broadway, Suite 400 14 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 By PAUL G. CASSELL, ESQUIRE 15 16 For Jeffrey Epstein: 17 ATTERBURY, GOLDBERGER & WEISS, P.A. 250 Australian Ave. South, Suite 1400 18 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 By JACK A. GOLDBERGER, ESQUIRE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICE, INC. (561)471-2995 EFTA00801840 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 3 Miss Rockenbach or Miss Campbell did. That's not 4 the issue. You've done your job. 5 MR. LINK: I understand. Your Honor, may I 6 have one minute to confer with appellate counsel to 7 make sure there's nothing I need to do to preserve 8 this? 9 THE COURT: Absolutely. Let's just take a 10 brief recess. 11 (Thereupon, a short recess was taken.) 12 13 THE COURT: All right. Thank you again. 14 Please have a seat. Welcome back. 15 MR. SCAROLA: Your Honor, I want to hopefully 16 tie up a few loose ends on the matter that has just 17 been ruled on. 18 Am I correct in understanding that the 19 defendant is prohibited from making any use of the 20 724 late-disclosed exhibits? 21 THE COURT: Yes. 22 MR. SCAROLA: Next, sir, we would request the 23 defendant be required to relinquish possession of 24 all copies of the privileged documents to the Court 25 under seal. They have expressed some concern Page 70 EFTA00801841 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 60 1 stating that we have asked them to destroy them. 2 We want them turned over to the Court under seal. 3 They should no longer have possession of those 4 until such time as somebody rules that they are 5 entitled to have possession. 6 And I want to make one brief comment about 7 that, if I could can. 8 Your Honor knows very well that Fowler White 9 is a very large law firm that keeps meticulous time 10 records with regard to the services that they 11 render. And the concept that it is impossible to 12 reconstruct through those time records what was 13 received, when it was received, when it was 14 reviewed, what happened with it, who was informed 15 of what was happening with it quite frankly is 16 absolutely inconceivable to me; that a law firm of 17 that size, keeping records the way it did, cannot 18 reconstruct what went on with regard to this 19 information. 20 THE COURT: And that's a good point. What I 21 was going to point out earlier and I failed to do Page 71 EFTA00801842 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 22 that, and I appreciate the reminder, is that I 23 would have expected certainly in deference to the 24 fact that Mr. Epstein was a client of Fowler White 25 that someone from Fowler White would have had the PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 61 1 ability to weigh in somehow as to these critical 2 issues. 3 Perhaps I'm being a bit naive when I say that 4 having served Mr. Epstein in their capacity as 5 counsel, it's my respectful belief that they owed 6 an obligation to Mr. Epstein, if not this Court, to 7 explain how and why they had access and kept these 8 records in their possession in light of that court 9 order and in light of this ongoing litigation. And 10 as a matter of respect to Mr. Epstein and his 11 ongoing legal team, to have made some type of 12 affirmative steps to have dealt with this issue 13 head on because of the apparent implications of 14 same. 15 So I again want to make clear that I'm finding 16 absolutely no fault with Mr. Link, Miss Rockenbach, 17 Miss Campbell or anyone else from the Link and Page 72 EFTA00801843 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 18 Rockenbach firm in terms of what they did, albeit 19 in the manner in which they had to do it and the 20 timing, unfortunately, of the matter from their 21 perspective in having to do it, but that takes 22 nothing away from what the Court has already 23 remarked upon concerning the fact that now Fowler 24 White in the representation of Mr. Epstein had 25 these records from the inception is one of the PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 62 1 reasons for the Court's ruling. 2 MR. SCAROLA: Your Honor, may we include in 3 the order a direction that opposing counsel is 4 required to relinquish possession of all copies of 5 the privileged documents to the Court under seal? 6 THE COURT: Well, the only thing that 7 obviously has to be taken into consideration is the 8 appellate rights of Mr. Epstein and how they're 9 going to preserve those rights in light of the fact 10 that the Court has rejected the last minute request 11 for in-camera inspection for the reasons that I've 12 already stated at length on the record. Page 73 EFTA00801844 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 13 MR. SCAROLA: Which is why I've suggested that 14 they be relinquished to the Court under seal, your 15 Honor. They can be given an exhibit number. To 16 the extent that the appellate court finds it 17 reasonable and necessary to examine those 18 documents, the appellate court will have the 19 opportunity to do that. 20 THE COURT: So you're suggesting to file with 21 the Clerk of Court under seal the documents at 22 issue? 23 MR. SCAROLA: Yes, sir, that's correct. 24 THE COURT: That's better stated. 25 Do you have any objection? PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 63 1 MS. ROCKENBACH: No objection, your Honor. 2 THE COURT: So stipulated. 3 MR. SCAROLA: Your Honor will recall that 4 opposing counsel has also informed the Court on 5 multiple occasions that backup in the preparation 6 for this case was being provided by the Gunster law 7 firm, and we would like a certification from them 8 as well that no copies have been retained. Page 74 EFTA00801845 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 9 MR. LINK: They don't have any, Judge. 10 THE COURT: Okay. That's fine. If Mr. Link 11 and Miss Rockenbach are representing that to the 12 Court, I'm satisfied with that representation. 13 MR. SCAROLA: And I accept that representation 14 as well, your Honor, but what we would like and 15 believe we are entitled to is a list of all persons 16 to whom the privileged documents have been 17 disseminated. And I'm particularly concerned in 18 this regard; that the testimony of any witness 19 might be influenced by their improper exposure to 20 privileged documents. So we ask that a complete 21 list of all persons to whom those documents have 22 been disseminated or the contents of the documents 23 that been disseminated be provided to us. 24 And I know that Mr. Cassell has some concerns 25 in that regard as well that he would like to PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 64 1 address with the Court. So if he may have an 2 opportunity to speak to the Court in this regard -- 3 THE COURT: That's fine. Page 75 EFTA00801846 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 4 Mr. Link, if you want to comment on that? 5 MR. LINK: Yeah. I think I can solve that 6 problem very easily, your Honor. 7 The documents were within my law firm, and my 8 client. That's it. They haven't been shown to any 9 third parties. There's not a third-party witness 10 for me to put on the stand. And you have ruled we 11 can't use them. We won't use them. 12 MR. SCAROLA: Does that include Mr. Epstein? 13 THE COURT: Does what include Mr. Epstein? 14 MR. SCAROLA: Has Mr. Epstein been provided 15 with copies of the documents or the contents of 16 these privileged documents? 17 MR. LINK: I just said my client. My law firm 18 and my client. And I can say legal counsel, 19 Mr. Goldberger. So that's it. 20 MR. SCAROLA: That may require some further 21 relief that we can address at another time. 22 And so that the record is clear, your Honor, 23 we believe that sanctionable conduct has occurred, 24 and we are reserving the right at a later time -- 25 but it's not something that needs to be addressed PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. Page 76 EFTA00801847 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 65 1 now -- but we're reserving the right to address the 2 issue of appropriate sanctions at a later time. 3 THE COURT: Thank you. 4 Mr. Cassell? 5 MR. CASSELL: Thank you, your Honor. Paul 6 Cassell, and I'm here this afternoon, and I 7 understand it's getting late in the day, I'll be 8 very brief, representing three victims; LM, EW and 9 Jane Doe. Just one housekeeping matter. 10 We have filed a motion to intervene, which is 11 unopposed. 12 THE COURT: The only thing I need is an order. 13 Everything else was provided but the proposed 14 order. So if it's unopposed, then phrase it as 15 such and I'll be glad to execute it. 16 MR. CASSELL: Thank you, your Honor. 17 Just so the record is clear, on July 19, 2010, 18 seven and a half years ago, LM said these very 19 documents are privileged, and on February 23, 2011, 20 EW and Jane Doe through counsel said these 21 documents are privileged. So the Epstein entity 22 that is Mr. Epstein and his array of lawyers were 23 on notice at that time that every one of these 45 Page 77 EFTA00801848 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 24 documents was privileged. 25 And then what happened on Friday night, March PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 66 1 2nd, was that Mr. Link put into the public court 2 file summaries of the e-mails, quoting from them 3 directly, and we believe that was improper. And 4 indeed, we've heard today Mr. Link represent to the 5 Court all we wanted was an in-camera review, but of 6 course they wanted something more. They wanted to 7 put those in the public court file because they 8 knew than the cat would be out of the bag, 9 publicity would ensue, and other damage to my 10 clients could occur. And so I'm here this 11 afternoon to raise what I think are time of the 12 essence concerns about the release of those 13 privileged materials by Mr. Epstein. When I use 14 the term "Mr. Epstein," I'll be referring to this 15 entity. 16 Let's be clear. There is no doubt from sworn 17 testimony in front of the Court that on January 10, 18 2018 agents of this law firm picked up a disk from Page 78 EFTA00801849 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 19 the Fowler White law firm, and the Fowler White law 20 firm, as you know from the ELMO, had been directed 21 some six or seven years earlier not to retain any 22 copies of these documents. So there should be no 23 dispute about the circumstances right now. 24 At that time Mr. Link's law firm, Mr. Epstein, 25 were in possession of documents that Fowler White PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 67 1 was in possession of that were in violation of a 2 court order. Mr. Scarola has used the term "stolen 3 documents" and I think that, frankly, describes 4 accurately the nature of the documents, although 5 who the thief was, of course, remains to be 6 determined. 7 So the question in front of you right now is 8 what to do about this. Well, we know one thing. 9 We know there's been absolutely no waiver of 10 attorney/client privilege. How do we know that? 11 Well, your Honor knows the Florida law very well. 12 To be a waiver of attorney/client privilege is 13 something that is disfavored. There has to be a 14 clear, intentional waiver of the privilege. And Page 79 EFTA00801850 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 15 how do we know there's not been a clear, 16 intentional waiver of the privilege? Just use 17 Mr. Link's word. Things are clear as mud. Well, 18 if something is clear as mud, there cannot be an 19 intentional waiver. So there's no waiver of 20 attorney/client privilege. 21 I know the hour is late. 22 THE COURT: You don't have to feel rushed. I 23 want to make sure that you're heard and that your 24 clients are heard. 25 MR. CASSELL: Thank you, your Honor. We PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 68 1 appreciate that because what we've heard shockingly 2 this afternoon is -- let me -- I know we need to be 3 careful with language -- let's just say an accused 4 abuser, Mr. Epstein, the man accused of abusing my 5 three clients, we are told has seen these very 6 privileged documents. We're told Mr. Goldberger 7 has seen them. We're told, of course, Mr. Link and 8 his law firm has seen them. And of course this 9 very large law firm, the Fowler White law firm, has Page 80 EFTA00801851 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 10 seen them as well. And so the question is what do 11 we do? 12 And we're mindful in the fact you're about to 13 embark on what's likely to be a very time-consuming 14 trial. So I would like to impose six remedies that 15 we would ask you to execute today; none of which, I 16 want to emphasize, will require consumption of the 17 Court's time other than signing the proposed order 18 that we will provide for you. 19 The first is -- Mr. Scarola has already asked 20 for this and I believe obtained this, but I want 21 the record to be clear. My clients are asking that 22 you preclude any use of the privileged exhibits 23 either directly, indirectly or derivatively during 24 the upcoming trial because if someone relies on 25 this information, for example, in asking a question PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 69 1 to Mr. Edwards or asking a question to any of the 2 witnesses that Mr. Edwards is presenting, that 3 could implicitly reveal privileged information. 4 THE COURT: We have all done this, so don't 5 feel like you're alone. Are you talking about Mr. Page 81 EFTA00801852 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 6 Epstein? 7 MR. CASSELL: I'm sorry. If Mr. Epstein's 8 attorneys do that, that's the concern. 9 So, for example, if they're formulating any 10 questions to Mr. Edwards, they shouldn't be able to 11 use any privileged information because we're 12 worried that that could implicitly disclose 13 privileged communications. 14 Secondly, we would like Epstein counsel -- and 15 that's a broad term that includes -- I've probably 16 lost track of the different law firms, but 17 Mr. Link's law firm, the Fowler White law firm, I 18 believe there are several others, Mr. Goldberger's 19 law firm, we want them all to canvass their 20 records, canvass their e-mails, canvass their 21 servers and tell us if they -- how did this happen? 22 How did this happen? 23 THE COURT: You're talking about how did the 24 Fowler White firm garner these records? 25 MR. CASSELL: Correct. PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 70 Page 82 EFTA00801853 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 1 THE COURT: Well, I'm not sure that any of 2 their servers are going to shed light on that. 3 MR. CASSELL: Well, it may be, for example 4 THE COURT: I don't want to go on a fishing 5 expedition, as you can appreciate. I don't want to 6 exacerbate the problem; meaning, I don't want to 7 unnecessarily delve into myriad e-mail systems to 8 gain knowledge that is likely residing at the 9 Fowler White firm in some form or fashion, whether 10 it be current or former employees or otherwise. So 11 I am not going to go to that extent at this 12 juncture without further proof or basic proof for 13 going in that direction. 14 MR. CASSELL: That would be our request. But 15 there would be a broad -- you phrased it fishing 16 expedition. We would phrase it a retrieval 17 expedition -- to retrieve what's happened here. 18 But at the minimum we would ask your Honor then to 19 direct Epstein attorneys who were previously before 20 this Court, Fowler White, to examine the 21 circumstances here. 22 You noted that you thought there might have 23 been an obligation for them to address the Court 24 head on. I'm here telling you that the victims Page 83 EFTA00801854 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 25 believe they, Fowler White, has an obligation to PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 71 1 address the victims head on. How did this happen? 2 THE COURT: And understandable. I was not 3 confining the obligation of Fowler White to those 4 entities that I mentioned. It was those entities 5 that came to the Court's mind initially. I don't 6 want this record to suggest I wasn't taking into 7 account the concerns of the victims. 8 MR. CASSELL: Certainly, your Honor, I wasn't 9 suggesting -- and this, of course, is my first 10 opportunity -- you have always referred to building 11 a record -- this is my opportunity to build a 12 record as well. So we want to know how these 13 materials were obtained. 14 The third thing we want to know is who were 15 the materials distributed to? Mr. Scarola has made 16 that request on behalf of his clients. I'm making 17 that request on behalf of my clients. 18 We're told that Mr. Goldberger has seen it, 19 we're told Mr. Epstein has seen it. We want to 20 know who else has seen it. And this, frankly, may Page 84 EFTA00801855 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 21 require looking at e-mails, looking at servers and 22 that sort of thing. 23 I think the record should be clear that in a 24 routine case, you might say, "Well, that's going to 25 be too expensive." Your Honor is aware this is not PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 72 1 a routine case because I understand that two of the 2 finest and largest law firms here in. Florida are 3 currently representing Mr. Epstein, so they 4 certainly have the resources to search -- to 5 accomplish the searches that would be involved to 6 see how these materials got anywhere. 7 The fourth thing is we want an order directing 8 Mr. Epstein not to reveal the contents of this 9 information to anyone. We are told that 10 Mr. Epstein has seen the information, so he should 11 be singled out specifically for an order. 12 Fifth -- I think this has already been 13 recovered. All copies of the documents are to be 14 turned over under seal to the Court. 15 Sixth, we want our temporary sealing order, Page 85 EFTA00801856 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 16 which we will provide later today, to be converted 17 into a permanent sealing order. Mr. Link filed in 18 the public court file, we believe highly 19 improperly, information that he was on notice was 20 privileged. And he said today he wanted an 21 in-camera review. Well, you do not get an 22 in-camera review when you put those very documents, 23 or at least summaries of those very documents, into 24 the public court file. 25 We want the Friday night filing, the notice of PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 73 1 redacted materials, to be placed under permanent 2 seal. 3 And then the last request is just a 4 housekeeping request. We're obviously scrambling 5 to sort out the implications of all this. I'm sure 6 I have missed some points that need to be made. 7 Due to the late filing of this document, due to the 8 public filing of the document improperly, we would 9 like leave to be able to file a supplemental 10 application for additional remedies after the trial 11 concludes and after we have received information Page 86 EFTA00801857 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 12 about how the documents were obtained and who they 13 went to. 14 And so those are the requests that I make on 15 behalf of my two clients. 16 THE COURT: All right. 17 Mr. Link? 18 MR. LINK: Yes, sir. Thank you. 19 THE COURT: Thank you. 20 MR. LINK: I'm not sure how I can be more 21 clear about where we got the documents from. We 22 got them from Fowler White, your Honor. I don't 23 think that's a mystery anymore. 24 I've represented to the Court who I have 25 shared the papers with. The Court has ruled that PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 74 1 we're going to take the disks that we have and put 2 it under seal. We'll destroy all the other copies. 3 That's what Mr. Scarola asked for and that's what 4 we said we would do. 5 As to the filing, I never said all I wanted 6 was an in-camera inspection. What I said was Page 87 EFTA00801858 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 7 Mr. Scarola said he would like one and I said 8 great, let's have one. 9 Most important is this: The documents that we 10 filed -- and there was some miscommunication with 11 Mr. Cassell -- I want to make sure the record is 12 clear -- we did two things: We filed redacted 13 documents. We redacted all of the names of EW, LM 14 and Jane Doe, as this Court has instructed. So 15 their initials were wiped out. Mr. Cassell called 16 me and said, "I'm looking at a document and I see 17 their initials." What he was looking at is we 18 served the counsel and hand delivered to the 19 Court -- did not put it in the public file -- the 20 unredacted documents so we would all know what was 21 in there. 22 THE COURT: By the court, you mean 23 MR. LINK: To you. To the judge. 24 THE COURT: -- to myself. 25 MR. LINK: Yes, sir. PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 75 1 THE COURT: Not as far as the court file is 2 concerned. Page 88 EFTA00801859 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 3 MR. LINK: The court file only contains the 4 redacted version. We have double checked that. I 5 asked Mr. Cassell to tell me if I missed a 6 redaction. Could it happen? Yes, it could happen. 7 We haven't found one. If there was one that wasn't 8 redacted, be glad to redact it. But the only 9 thing that was filed in the clerk file was the 10 redacted version. 11 Thank you, Judge. 12 THE COURT: All right. Thank you. 13 Much of which -- or much of the relief that 14 has been requested has essentially been taken care 15 of I believe through the Court's prior order; that 16 is, that the one disk containing the documents that 17 are being sought to be introduced at trial to take 18 to record will be permitted to be filed under seal. 19 The sanitized redacted versions of those records 20 I'm also ordering to be sealed in an abundance of 21 caution just in case there may be some error, not 22 intentional, on the part of counsel who filed those 23 records. 24 Mr. Epstein will be barred from referring to 25 any of those records as it relates to the documents Page 89 EFTA00801860 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 76 1 that were gathered from Fowler White or from any 2 other source that would have included those records 3 that were the subject of Judge Ray's order. So 4 it's to preclude anything coming in through the 5 back door which wouldn't be allowed through the 6 front. 7 Mr. Link, did you want to comment on this? 8 MR. LINK: Yes. I wanted to remind the Court 9 we have over a hundred exhibits that were listed on 10 that disk that are already in the court file. 11 We've used them in depositions. So I'm 12 wondering -- those aren't excluded. 13 THE COURT: Right. I'm not talking about 14 those. I'm talking about the ones that have been 15 derived from Fowler White and that have been sought 16 to be introduced as part of the 748 or 724, or 17 whatever this number is, or the 45 that have been 18 claimed as privileged and have not been ruled upon 19 and will not be ruled upon prior to trial because 20 of the reasons that I have explained in detail 21 earlier. Page 90 EFTA00801861 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 22 MR. LINK: Thank you, Judge. 23 THE COURT: Mr. Cassell, did I leave out 24 anything else? 25 MR. CASSELL: Yes. We want to know how the PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 77 1 Epstein entities came into possession of the 2 documents, and then we want to know where they 3 went. 4 THE COURT: Because of the court ruling, I don't find that to be a front burner issue at this 6 time. Please don't confuse anyone here. The 7 Court's reference to front burner as opposed to 8 being an issue of importance. Front burner simply 9 means that in preparation for a trial that is 10 actually a mere two to three business days away, if 11 you count tomorrow, which I don't really count as a 12 court business day because of my obligations to the 13 Bench Bar Conference, I won't have the opportunity 14 to really delve into that prior to trial. 15 And as Mr. Scarola pointed out, I believe, 16 earlier, that can be done at another time. So I am 17 certainly not going to forget that it needs to be Page 91 EFTA00801862 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 18 done. But it will be ordered that it be done post 19 trial. 20 Any other remedies that are sought as you go 21 along -- I understand the relative late nature of 22 these revelations; hence, you are not precluded 23 from filing a supplemental motion. 24 I also note that you have requested attorney's 25 fees and costs related to this endeavor, and I'm PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 78 1 reserving on that as well. 2 MR. CASSELL: But related to that is the 3 distribution. The cat is now wandering out of the 4 bag, so time is of the essence. 5 THE COURT: Right. And again, I think that in 6 an abundance of caution, and I understand your 7 concerns, but what the attorneys here recognize -- 8 and Mr. Epstein is also under this order -- is that 9 no further dissemination is going to be made. I 10 think that goes without saying as far as the 11 attorneys are concerned. I've known each of them 12 seated at counsel table for many years, as I have Page 92 EFTA00801863 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 13 known Mr. Scarola and Miss Terry, Mr. Burlington, 14 and I think they recognize that when this Court 15 makes a statement, that it is abundantly clear that 16 it will be enforced to the letter. I have no doubt 17 in my mind that they will all be respectful of the 18 court order of non-dissemination of any of those 19 documents hence forth. 20 And Mr. Link has already represented to the 21 Court that other than Mr. Epstein and his 22 co-counsel, that there have been no eyes laid upon 23 these documents. Hence, I'm accepting that 24 representation, as Mr. Scarola has accepted those 25 representations during the hearing as well. PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 79 1 MR. CASSELL: We haven't heard, of course, 2 from Fowler White. Will the Court direct them to 3 make similar representations? 4 THE COURT: I believe that I have sufficient 5 authority to do that under these relatively 6 peculiar circumstances. My jurisdiction, though, 7 is somewhat limited because they have withdrawn 8 from the case. Page 93 EFTA00801864 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 9 As a general blanket order I would simply say 10 that all attorneys who have or are representing Mr. 11 Epstein shall be subject to this order of 12 confidentiality, of sealing and of non- 13 dissemination of any such information that is 14 contemplated in any of the documents that are part 15 of the umbrella order of Judge Ray. And that would 16 include all of the exhibits that we spoke about 17 today and that have been filed as a matter of 18 record. 19 MR. CASSELL: Could they also be directed to 20 make a representation as to who they have 21 distributed the documents to? 22 THE COURT: Mr. Link has already -- are you 23 talking about Fowler White? 24 MR. CASSELL: Fowler White. 25 THE COURT: I don't think that I have that PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. 80 1 ability. 2 MR. CASSELL: Could I be heard on that issue 3 then? I believe that you do have -- all right. Page 94 EFTA00801865 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 4 We'll deal with that later then, your Honor. 5 MR. LINK: Can I make a suggestion, your 6 Honor, that might be helpful? 7 THE COURT: Sure. 8 MR. LINK: We now have, I think, 34 or 36 9 boxes they delivered; I believe all the boxes they 10 have. The disk, the original disk, we now have it. 11 I don't know for sure, but I doubt that there's 12 another disk that they made and kept. If the Court 13 will instruct as part of this order that we 14 maintain the boxes, because Fowler White wanted 15 them back, then we will take possession of the 16 boxes. 17 THE COURT: If you are telling me that you 18 have authority from Mr. Epstein to retain those 19 boxes and Mr. Epstein is essentially giving you 20 carte blanche, you and Miss Rockenbach and 21 Mr. Goldberger jointly, the authority to make any 22 decisions necessary to protect his interests, that 23 motion would be granted. 24 MR. LINK: I'm standing here with this puzzled 25 look because I'm not sure what that means, frankly. PALM BEACH REPORTING SERVICES, INC. Page 95 EFTA00801866 2018-3-8 Hearing Transcript - Afternoon Session 81 1 All I was trying to do is say I will preserve the 2 documents, the original files, because I don't 3 think there's another set of files somewhere. 4 Fowler White had asked me to return them once we 5 went through them, and if the Court can instruct me 6 to hold the boxes, then I will do that. 7 THE COURT: I don't have a problem with making 8 that instruction, so I'll leave it at that. You're 9 speaking on behalf of your client, Mr. Epstein, as 10 well as your own law firm, and Mr. Goldberger, I 11 take it, as well, so I have no problem making -- in 12 entering this order since you're current counsel 13 for Mr. Epstein. 14 MR. LINK: Thank you, Judge. I think that 15 will make custody easier. 16 MR. SCAROLA: Your Honor, there are two 17 additional matters that I would hope can be 18 disposed of in advance of the start of trial. 19 THE COURT: Sure. 20 MR. SCAROLA: One is Mr. Epstein's motion to 21 strike Dr. Jansen, and the second is issues with 22 regard to adverse inference. I think that both of 23 those matters have been fully briefed. Page 96 EFTA00801867

Entities

0 total entities mentioned

No entities found in this document

Document Metadata

Document ID
4f3dd096-b7d3-4b91-a0df-f59699db4610
Storage Key
dataset_9/EFTA00801838.pdf
Content Hash
2d23323ddd2335ab2da5783a2035d657
Created
Feb 3, 2026