Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Jes Staley And The Transcripts From His Epstein Related Trip To Congress (Part 10) (9/4/26)

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Jes Staley And The Transcripts From His Epstein Related Trip To Congress (Part 10) (9/4/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're getting right back to
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the Jess Staley transcript from his trip to Congress. Ms. Brignac,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: we have some pressing follow-ups. We'll go off the record,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and we'll come back on later to ask those follow-ups.
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  Speaker 1: So now they're back on. Question by redacted. Question, Mr. Staley.
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  Speaker 1: I'd like to ask you a few qualifying questions based
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: on what you said during the minority's first round. you
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: refer to Mr. Epstein's assistants as mature, and also as
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: in their late 20s or early 30s. We have a
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  Speaker 1: different understanding of his assistants, but given the distinction that
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: you're drawing, I would like to repeat some of the
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  Speaker 1: questions I asked you, but in the context of his assistants.
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  Speaker 1: When you visited Mr. Epstein's New York home, were there
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  Speaker 1: ever assistants in the room when you met Mr. Epstein? Answered,
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  Speaker 1: Only that they would occasionally come in and offer coffee
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  Speaker 1: or something like that. They weren't sitting in the room
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  Speaker 1: during the meetings, no. Question, were there ever assistants sitting
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  Speaker 1: on Mr. Epstein's lap when you talked to him? Answer, no. Question,
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  Speaker 1: we previously talked about your interaction, sexual or otherwise, with
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  Speaker 1: women connected to Mr. Epstein. To be clear, when I
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  Speaker 1: say women connected to Mr. Epstein, I'm including his assistants.
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  Speaker 1: Did you ever introduce any women connected to Mr. Epstein
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  Speaker 1: to anyone in your family? Answer, no. Question, so you
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  Speaker 1: never introduced any of the women connected to Epstein to
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  Speaker 1: your daughters? Answer, no. Question, have you ever had a
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  Speaker 1: conversation with Leon Black about your relationship with Mr. Epstein? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I think we both knew that we knew Epstein. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know if I had a specific conversation with him. Question,
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  Speaker 1: did you have a conversation with Mr. Black about Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's crimes? Answer, I think we were both aware of Mr.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Epstein's crimes. Question, sure. And did you talk to him
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  Speaker 1: about it? Answer, we may have, but I don't recall
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  Speaker 1: a specific conversation. Question, when would that have been? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know. Question, do you have any sense for
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  Speaker 1: whether that would have been post-arrest, post-incarceration, or later? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I think it would have been post-indictment and probably post-arrest. Question,
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  Speaker 1: and do you have any memory of specifically what you
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  Speaker 1: would have talked about? Answer, no. Question, did you have
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  Speaker 1: any conversation with Mr. Black about women connected to Mr. Epstein? Answer, no. Question,
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  Speaker 1: did you ever meet with Mr. Black in Central Park
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  Speaker 1: to discuss any of these issues? Your relationship with Mr. Epstein, Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's crimes, or any woman connected to Mr. Epstein? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: not that I remember, no. Question, thank you. Now we
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  Speaker 1: have another person, jumps in, doing the questioning, redacted. Mr. Staley.
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  Speaker 1: You've previously made contradictory statements about your friendship with Mr. Epstein.
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  Speaker 1: For example, you have said, quote, your relationship with Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein was never a personal one, nor one that could
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  Speaker 1: be described as close. But you have also said that
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  Speaker 1: you and Mr. Epstein had a, quote, fairly close relationship.
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  Speaker 1: At one point, you said Mr. Epstein was, quote, a friend.
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  Speaker 1: I would like to clear up some of the confusion
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  Speaker 1: and get a better sense of your friendship with Mr. Epstein.
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  Speaker 1: I'll begin by introducing what'll be marked as Minority Exhibit K. Question,
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  Speaker 1: this is six separate email exchanges between you and Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein from the first few weeks of his sentence at
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  Speaker 1: the Palm Beach Soccer. It's from July 10th, 2008 until
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  Speaker 1: September 11th, 2008. The first email which begins on the
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  Speaker 1: bottom of the page and goes into the top of
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  Speaker 1: the second page is from you to Mr. Epstein dated
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  Speaker 1: July 10th, 2008. which is just 10 days into a sentence.
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  Speaker 1: In the email, you write, quote, I miss you. The
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  Speaker 1: world is in a tough place. Hang in there. It
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  Speaker 1: appears at this point, Mr. Epstein was a friend. Is
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  Speaker 1: that correct? Answer again. My relationship with Epstein was based
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  Speaker 1: on a close professional relationship anchored in business, but I
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  Speaker 1: would use language like friend and close friend. Question, so
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  Speaker 1: you were friends. Answer, I would use language that way, yes,
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  Speaker 1: but it was grounded in the business relationship that we had. Question,
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  Speaker 1: could you elaborate on what you mean by you would
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  Speaker 1: use language that way? Answer, I often talk to people
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  Speaker 1: that I work with and call them friends and close friends. Question,
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  Speaker 1: so the business, the relationship was grounded in business, but
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  Speaker 1: you transitioned into being friends as well? Answer, I use
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  Speaker 1: the word friend to describe the relationship, but for instance,
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  Speaker 1: you know, he never came to my house. He never
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  Speaker 1: came to social occasions with my family. I would call
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  Speaker 1: that a personal friend. Inaudible. We were tied to business. Question,
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  Speaker 1: so a business friend. Answer, yes. Question, understood. And this
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  Speaker 1: is one of the first emails we have between you
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  Speaker 1: and Mr. Epstein. Your message suggests that you were in
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  Speaker 1: contact often if you missed him after just 10 days
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  Speaker 1: of him being in the Palm Beach stockade. How frequently
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  Speaker 1: were you in touch with Mr. Epstein before he was incarcerated?
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  Speaker 1: Answer again. I think we would talk, you know, once,
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  Speaker 1: twice a week. I'd visit him, you know, once every
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  Speaker 1: other week. That sort of frequency. Question, okay. I'd like
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  Speaker 1: to move on to the fourth page of this exhibit.
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  Speaker 1: This is an email from you to Mr. Epstein dated
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  Speaker 1: July 16th, 2008, just one week later. In the email,
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  Speaker 1: you say, quote, Mr. Sullivan jumps in. Just give us
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  Speaker 1: one minute to locate it. Okay, got it. Question, you say, quote,
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  Speaker 1: I'm hoping you're managing. I miss our calls. It's boring
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  Speaker 1: without you around. I will now move on to the
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  Speaker 1: fifth page. In this email from you to Mr. Epstein
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  Speaker 1: dated July 31st, 2008, This is the third email that
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  Speaker 1: you sent to Mr. Epstein in just three weeks. In
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  Speaker 1: this email, you say, quote, I hope you're hanging in there.
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  Speaker 1: I just think of the island and my boat anchored
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  Speaker 1: in front. I do. On page six, this is another
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  Speaker 1: email from you to Mr. Epstein on August 3rd, 2008.
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  Speaker 1: You say, quote, just thinking about you. On the next page,
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  Speaker 1: page seven, you email Mr. Epstein on August 4th, 2008
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  Speaker 1: and say, quote, hang in there. Keep thinking of the island. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: on page 8, you write to Mr. Epstein on September 11, 2008, saying, quote,
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  Speaker 1: Very tough day today. Thinking of you there. With what
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  Speaker 1: I see, it's so unfair. Hang in there, please. Based
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  Speaker 1: on these emails, I think it's fair to say that
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  Speaker 1: you and Mr. Epstein were very close. Would you agree? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I would repeat what I said before. I think we
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  Speaker 1: had a close professional relationship. I use language like this.
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  Speaker 1: Like many people you deal with in business, at this point,
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  Speaker 1: I was building a boat. He encouraged me to build
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  Speaker 1: the boat. but that's what a lot of this refers to. Question,
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  Speaker 1: was it common for you to email other business friends
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  Speaker 1: saying things like, I miss you? And just thinking about
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  Speaker 1: the island and my boat anchored in front. Answer, well,
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  Speaker 1: there was not many friends that had islands that I
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  Speaker 1: anchored my boat in front of. Question, so the first
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  Speaker 1: part of my question, was it common for you to
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  Speaker 1: email other business friends saying I miss you? Answer, I
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  Speaker 1: think it would be common that I would mention to
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  Speaker 1: people that I work with that, you know, that I
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  Speaker 1: miss them. Question, So the people that you work with
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  Speaker 1: at JP Morgan, not clients of the bank. Answer, I'm
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  Speaker 1: sure there were some clients that I did this as well,
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  Speaker 1: but I don't know. I couldn't name them for you. Question, okay.
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  Speaker 1: I'll now introduce what's been marked as Minority Exhibit L. Question,
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  Speaker 1: this is an email from you to Mr. Epstein on
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  Speaker 1: December 30th, 2010. Bates number EFTA 02533765. In this email,
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  Speaker 1: you write, quote, Happy New Year. It's nice to have
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  Speaker 1: you free. Much to come. Please know that I'm your
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  Speaker 1: friend forever. You are very special. To which Mr. Epstein replied, quote, ditto.
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  Speaker 1: What did you mean by much to come? Answer, I
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  Speaker 1: don't recall. Question, you don't recall what you meant? Answer, no. Question,
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  Speaker 1: why did you tell Mr. Epstein that you were a
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  Speaker 1: friend forever? Answer, I think I was showing sympathy to him. Question,
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  Speaker 1: sympathy for what? Answer, I believe this is when he
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  Speaker 1: was getting out of prison. Question, so you felt sympathy
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  Speaker 1: for him at the time, even with the charges that
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  Speaker 1: he was serving time for? Answer, yeah. I thought he
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  Speaker 1: served his time. He had, he had, he had. He
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  Speaker 1: had paid his price. I never imagined that he would
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  Speaker 1: continue to act criminally. Answer, what made Mr. Epstein, quote,
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  Speaker 1: very special to you? Answer again, he had given me
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: very valuable business advice. He was instrumental in one of
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: my biggest transactions in my career, the acquisition of Highbridge Capital.
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  Speaker 1: He gave me counsel in my discussion with the bank
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  Speaker 1: about my career. He gave me counsel, so those are
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  Speaker 1: the things. Question, so he was just very special. Because
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  Speaker 1: of what he provided for you in your career? Answer, oh,
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  Speaker 1: I think that's what drove it. I mean, again, he
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  Speaker 1: was instrumental in the most important transaction of my career
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  Speaker 1: up to that point. He gave me a lot of business.
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  Speaker 1: He connected me with, you read the list, an incredible
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  Speaker 1: group of people that helped my career. So yeah, he
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  Speaker 1: was very helpful to me. Question, but this was six
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  Speaker 1: years after the high bridge capital deal. So there was
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  Speaker 1: nothing else that happened in between that time that made
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  Speaker 1: you felt that he was very special to you? Answer, no.
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  Speaker 1: He introduced me to the names that we've talked about.
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  Speaker 1: He introduced me to, he would facilitate when I traveled
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  Speaker 1: overseas to meet with business and country leaders. He did
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  Speaker 1: a lot of things like that. Question, okay. Now we
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  Speaker 1: have another redacted person asking the questions. Question, one quick
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  Speaker 1: follow-up for you, Mr. Staley. When you said that these
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  Speaker 1: things to Mr. Epstein about how you missed him and
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  Speaker 1: how you were thinking about him and how he was
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  Speaker 1: special to you, that you were a friend forever, were
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  Speaker 1: those disingenuous? Because it seems like what you're saying now
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  Speaker 1: is that you didn't mean them. And if that's the case... Answer.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you know. You know, a point of fact
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  Speaker 1: is when I became CEO of Barclays, I completely cut
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  Speaker 1: off all relationship with him and stopped being his friend. Question.
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  Speaker 1: So he was a friend before you became CEO of Barclays? Answer. Well, again...
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  Speaker 1: I was responding to the question, was I being disingenuous?
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  Speaker 1: And I was responding to the disingenuous part by saying, no, actually,
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  Speaker 1: I cut him off as a friend. Question, but that
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  Speaker 1: doesn't answer my question. When you said these things to him,
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  Speaker 1: did you mean them at the time? Answer, again, I
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  Speaker 1: used diffusive language. The relationship was based on business, as
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  Speaker 1: these emails attest to, but I use the word friendship
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  Speaker 1: with a lot of people. Question, Mr. Staley. In a
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  Speaker 1: question my colleague asked you, what did you mean by, quote,
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  Speaker 1: much to come? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: testified that you were expressing sympathy. Is that right? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what I was referring to when I
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: said much to come. That could have been much to
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: come in my career, much to come in our discussion
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: about business and the world. I don't know. Question, but
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: you told us, That this was around the time that Mr.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Epstein was being released from jail. Is that right? Answer.
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  Speaker 1: Can you remind? Can you show me? Question. Sure. This
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  Speaker 1: was Exhibit L, Bates number 3765, bottom right. Answer. And
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: ask your question again, sir. Question. What you testified to
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: earlier was around December 30th, 2010, when you wrote to Mr. Epstein,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: much to come. You told us that you were expressing
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: sympathy for him because he was being released from incarceration.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Is that right? Answer, my belief is he was released
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: from incarceration more than a year before the email. Question, great.
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  Speaker 1: So that would have been the prior exhibit. Why were
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: you expressing sympathy to Mr. Epstein when he was being
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: released from jail? Answer, where's the sympathy? Question, sir, I'm
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: just repeating the words that you told us. Answer, oh, okay, yeah,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: you know, this is a year after incarceration. I'm just
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: saying that, you know, we maintained a relationship. And I'm
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: just saying that the relationship will continue. Although a few
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: years later, I terminated the relationship. Question, you've testified to
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: that multiple times. I think what we're asking about, Staley
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: cuts him off. You asked the same question multiple times,
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  Speaker 1: so I'm just giving you the same answer. Question understood.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: And I think we have been very clear that we're
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  Speaker 1: asking about your mindset at the time that you wrote this.
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  Speaker 1: And you keep jumping to you've cut off a relationship
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: in the future. What we're asking about is your mindset
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: at this time. So, sir, again. You told us that
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: you were expressing sympathy to Mr. Epstein because he had
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: just been released from incarceration. Why were you sympathetic to Mr.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Epstein and that he was incarcerated? Answer, I think you know.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: He obviously pled guilty. He deserved his incarceration. But that
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean I can't show sympathy for what he went through. Question,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: what did he go through? Answer, but he deserved it.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: He went to jail. Question, to be clear, your testimony
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: is that you felt sympathy That he went to jail? Answer, no,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: I just felt that. No, I mean, he rightfully went
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: to jail. And you know, I'm just expressing sympathy for
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: someone who went through that, even though he deserved it. Question,
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  Speaker 1: thank you. All right, folks, we're going to wrap up
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  Speaker 1: right here. And in the next episode, we're going to
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  Speaker 1: pick up with a follow-up question. All the information that
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: goes with this episode can be found in the description box.