Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Jes Staley And The Transcripts From His Epstein Related Trip To Congress (Part 1) (8/30/26)

Transcript

Jes Staley And The Transcripts From His Epstein Related Trip To Congress (Part 1) (8/30/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

• 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 going to begin taking
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: a look at the Jess Daly transcript from his trip
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: to Congress. And we're going to skip the swearing in
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and all of the hubbub and just start with his
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: opening statement. Ms. Brignac, I understand that you have an
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: opening statement that you would like to enter into the record. No? Okay.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: The time reads 1013 a.m. The majority's time will begin now.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: So I guess Staley didn't have an opening statement. Question
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: by Ms. Brignac. Mr. Staley, let's begin by discussing your background.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Where were you born? Answer, I was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Question,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: what year were you born? Answer, 1956. Question, what's your
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: marital status? Answer, I'm married but separated. Question, what's your
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: educational background? Answer, I have a bachelor's degree in economics
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: from Bowdoin College. Question, we'll go more into detail later,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: but can you briefly describe your professional career? Answer, I
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: spent 30 years at JP Morgan or so, 10 years
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: in Brazil, 10 years building JP Morgan's investment bank, excuse me,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: asset management and private bank, and then 10 years running
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: the investment bank or thereabouts, 10 years in Latin America.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: It was 10 years building the equity business. It was
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: like five or six years running asset management and three
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: or four years running the investment bank. So I stand corrected. Question,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: over those years at J.P. Morgan, what are the dates
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: that you held the positions? Answer, I don't recall the dates. Question,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: when did you start working at J.P. Morgan? Answer, in 1979. Question,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: what was your role at the time? Answer, I went
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: into the training program and then in 80 was when
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: I first went to Latin America. I was in Latin
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: America until 1989. Question, what were you doing in Latin America? Answer,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: a number of jobs. At one point I was running
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the rep office and then we got a license to
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: open a bank in Brazil and ultimately ended up running
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: the bank of J.P. Morgan in Brazil. Question. What was
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: your next position? Answer. Then I moved to New York
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: and I was part of a small team asked to
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: build a public equities business at J.P. Morgan. Question. And
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: who asked you to do that? Answer. I believe at
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: the time it was Bill Harrison. Question. What year was that? Answer.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: That would have been 1989. Question. What was your next position? Answer.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Then I was asked to go and run the private bank. Question,
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  Speaker 1: in 1999? Answer, about 2000. Question, 2000? Okay. And what
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: was your next position? Answer, then, added to running the
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: private bank, I was asked to run asset management as well. Question,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: was that the next year, 2001? Answer, thereabouts, yeah. Question,
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  Speaker 1: what was your next position? Answer, I did that until
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: I think about 2009. And then I was asked to
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: run the investment bank of J.P. Morgan. Question, when did
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: you leave JP Morgan? Answer, 2013. Question, why did you
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: leave JP Morgan? Answer, I stepped down as head of
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the investment bank and took a much smaller role, and
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: it seemed like it was the right time to move
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: on from JP Morgan. Question, why is that? Answer, I
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: don't know the actual reason. I think there was a
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: period of time where the general thought at Morgan was
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: that the successor to the CEO probably needed to come
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: from the investment bank given its uniqueness and size. And
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: so I think who occupied that role generally was considered
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: a potential successor to the CEO. And I think that
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: the bank made the decision that I would not be
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: the successor to the then-CEO, and therefore it was time
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: to step down from the investment bank. Question, did they
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: communicate the reason why they thought that you were not
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: an appropriate successor? Answer, no. Question, did you ever hear
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: from anyone else why they thought you would not be
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: an appropriate successor? Answer, no. Question, Do you believe it
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: was because of your affiliation with Mr. Epstein? Answer, no. Question,
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  Speaker 1: do you still hold a role at J.P. Morgan? Answer, no. Question,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: when did you leave J.P. Morgan's orbit entirely? Answer, 2013. Question,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: what was the smaller role that you held? Answer, I
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: think I was made chairman of the investment bank, which
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: is a much less role than the CEO. Question, did
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: anyone ask you to leave J.P. Morgan? Answer, no, but
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: the implication of the lesser role was it was probably
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: time to move on. Question, did you reach any agreement
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: with J.P. Morgan on your departure about rules you would
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: abide by regarding your knowledge of J.P. Morgan's dealings? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: aside from the sort of standard confidentiality agreements, that was it. Question,
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  Speaker 1: was there any additional confidentiality they asked you to abide
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  Speaker 1: by given the very senior roles that you held? Answer, no. Question,
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  Speaker 1: would those confidentiality agreements have prohibited you From discussing J.P.
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  Speaker 1: Morgan's dealings with friends of yours? Answer. I think you
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  Speaker 1: respect confidentiality, but it was at my discretion if I
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: wanted to talk about friends of mine about issues at J.P. Morgan. Question.
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  Speaker 1: Were you able to use your discretion to discuss confidential
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: matters of J.P. Morgan? Is that accurate? Answer. I believe so, yes. Question.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Are you currently employed? Answer. No, I am not. Question.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Tell me about the first time you interacted
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: with Mr. Epstein. Answer. The first time that I interacted
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: with Mr. Epstein would have been a passing. I met
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: him in passing in about 2000. And then in 2001,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: the then CEO of JP Morgan, Sandy Warner, called me
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: and said that he had met Jeffrey Epstein. It seemed
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: like he was quite connected to a higher net worth
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: network in New York and that given my new role
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: as running the private bank, I should probably meet him.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: So I did. Question, who introduced you to him? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: that would have been Sandy Warner. Question, what year was this? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I believe 2001. Question, and where were you at this time? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: in New York. Question, where specifically in New York? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: on Park Avenue, right above Grand Central. Question, what was
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: the reason for this interaction? Answer again, I think I
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: was running the private bank, which meant trying to develop
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: high net worth clients for J.P. Morgan. And Sandy Warner
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: mentioned that Jeffrey Epstein seemed to be connected to high
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: net worth community of J.P. Morgan, and therefore I went
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: to pay a visit to Jeffrey Epstein. Question, why was
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: he considered of high net worth? Answer, he was an
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: existing client at the private bank, so I wasn't the
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: one who brought him in and determined his net worth.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: That was before I was made the head of the
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  Speaker 1: private bank. Question, did Sandy Warner tell you that Mr.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Epstein or anything about him before you met him? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: just that he seemed to be connected to the high
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: net worth community in New York. Question, did you hear
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: anything else about Mr. Epstein during your time at the bank? Answer,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: the entire time at the bank. Question, prior to your meeting, Mr. Epstein? Answer, no. Question,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: what do you know about him prior to this meeting? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I guess all I knew was that he had a
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: connection to Les Wexner. Back when I first crossed him
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: in 1999, I was running equity capital markets and we
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: took the limited public, which was owned by Les Wexner.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: And that's where I had the one passing encounter. So
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: all I knew was that he was connected to Wexner. Question,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: did that alone make him a high value client? Or
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: were there other things you knew about him that led
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: you to that belief? Answer, no. Again, in the beginning,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: it was simply I was asked to meet him by
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: the then CEO of J.P. Morgan. Question, what were your
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: impressions of him upon meeting him? Answer again, I knew
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: very little about him, so I think it was a
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: reasonably brief meeting. He had an office next to St.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Patrick's Cathedral, which was an interesting place to have an office,
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  Speaker 1: but it was a brief conversation and that was it. Question,
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  Speaker 1: what was his demeanor? What was he like? Answer, he
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: seemed relaxed, intelligent, curious. Question, who else was present at
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  Speaker 1: the meeting? Answer, just myself. Question, what did you understand
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: his job to be? Answer again, save for providing some
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: advice to Wexner, I didn't know what his job was. Question,
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  Speaker 1: did you ever become involved in business with Wexner? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: in his business with Les Wexner, no. Question, did you
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  Speaker 1: ever become involved in his financial dealings with Les Wexner? No. Question,
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  Speaker 1: did anyone raise concerns about Mr. Epstein prior to the meeting? Answer, no. Question,
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  Speaker 1: after you met Mr. Epstein, what happened next? Answer, nothing
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  Speaker 1: significant happened next. I think we probably met a few
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  Speaker 1: more times, but for a while, nothing happened. Question, so
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: what was your relationship with him at this time? Were
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: you assigned to any of his accounts? Did you begin
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: dealing with him in business? What happened next? Answer, I
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: had no dealings with his business. I wasn't really sure
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: what his business was. aside from the connection to Les Wexner.
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  Speaker 1: I had not managed his accounts. I didn't know what
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: accounts he had with Morgan. It wasn't a close. I
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: wasn't close to what he was doing with the bank.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: And again, I was very active doing a lot of
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: other things at Morgan. So we would meet occasionally, not
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: that often. And that was the early years of my
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: interaction with him. Question, who was assigned his accounts? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: at that time, I didn't know who was managing his accounts. Question,
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  Speaker 1: what part of the bank? was he assigned to and why? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: he was a high net worth client, so he was
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: a client of the private bank. Question, what are the
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: requirements to be assigned to the private bank? What factors
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: go into the decision? Answer, I think back then, it
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: was probably somewhat of a wealth test. Did someone have
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: sufficient net wealth to be part of the private bank?
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: My recollection, it was roughly a minimum of $ 5 million,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: and that was about it. Question, how many accounts did Mr.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Epstein have at J.P. Morgan over the years? Answer, I
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: don't know. Question, over 100 would you say? Answer, I
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: don't know. Question, the committee has reviewed documents that made
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: us believe he had 134 accounts. Moving into your relationship
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: with Mr. Epstein, we'll go into more specifics later, but
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: for now, can you describe the nature and extent of
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: your relationship with Mr. Epstein? Answer, in those early years,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Question overall, generally over the years. Answer again. It changed
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: over time. I think probably the most significant event in
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: the 2000s was his introduction to me of a man
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: named Glenn Dubin. And Glenn Dubin was the founder of
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: a hedge fund called Highbridge Capital Corporation. Question, why is
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: that significant to you? Answer, so in the 2000s, I
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: started out running a private bank. And as I said,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the then CEO asked me to add asset management. And
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: the asset management business at the time, the traditional asset
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: management business, was called a long-only business. Asset managers like Fidelity, Capital,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: and JP Morgan, and Vanguard, would manage portfolios of stocks
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: and portfolios of bonds from a long-only position. That was
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: the principal asset management business. What was developing in the
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: early 2000s were two alternative ways to manage money. One
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: was called private equity, so rather than buying public securities,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: you would invest in non-public companies. And the other was
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: the hedge fund industry. And that narrowly defined the hedge
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: fund industry was not only would you go long stocks
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: and bonds, but you could also go short stocks and bonds.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: And one of the early hedge funds was Highbridge Capital Corporation. Question,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: so did Mr. Epstein's introduction to Glenn Dubin change the
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: nature of your relationship? Answer, yes, to the extent that
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: over a period of time, over a year or so,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: I got to know Glenn Dubin. I got to understand
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: somewhat of the hedge fund industry and began to become
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: an idea with Glenn and myself that perhaps J.P. Morgan,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: as long-only asset manager, make an investment in Highbridge Capital.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: And Epstein was aware of that. Question, and he earned
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: $ 15 million fee from that transaction, correct? answer, so he
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: encouraged the conversation between Glenn and myself. It took a
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: fair period of time for Glenn and I to reach
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the conclusion that it might work. It was an internal
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: process of getting Morgan comfortable with the possibility that we
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: might invest in a hedge fund. So it took a
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: period of time, but ultimately Glenn and I found a
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: way to make it work. Epstein was a supporter of
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: the transaction, and when the transaction was consummated, JP Morgan,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: we paid an advisory fee For the acquisition to Goldman
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Sachs and Glenn, or Highbridge, I should say, not Glenn,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Highbridge paid an advisory fee to Epstein. Staley continues, An
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: important note, Highbridge was owned half by Glenn Dubin and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: half by a gentleman named Henry Swyka. Again, who paid
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: the fee to Epstein was Highbridge, neither Glenn or Henry Swyka.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: And did this benefit your career? Answer yes. Question how? Answer,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: as I said, you had the traditional asset management industry
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: and you had the alternative asset management industry. and really
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: up high until the high-bridge acquisition, the J.P. Morgan, the
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: two industries, had never really partnered. Question, I'm sorry, do
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: you not understand my question? How did that benefit your career? Answer,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: because it was a very successful transaction for J.P. Morgan,
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: it was very novel, and I was seen as the
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: leader of the transaction inside of J.P. Morgan. Question, so Mr.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Epstein benefited from the transaction, and you benefited from the transaction,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: what year did all of this take place? Answer, I
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: believe it was closed in 2004. Question, okay, so by
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: this point, you've referenced a significant transaction between you and Mr. Epstein.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: We've covered years. Answer, excuse me, say that again. It
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: was not a transaction between me and Jeffrey Epstein. Question, okay,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: so by this point in 2004, you've referenced a significant event.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: We've covered your years of relationship with Mr. Epstein. Did
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: you develop a friendship over these years? Answer again, it
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: was always a business relationship, but he gave advice. and
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: had good insights into the industry, into broader finances, and
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: I would seek his thoughts. Question, did you ever discuss
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: personal matters? Answer, only later on, did I discuss career
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: issues with Jeffrey Epstein? Yes, but always around my career
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and business, not personal. Question, so you never discussed personal
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: matters with Mr. Epstein? Answer, no, I think it was
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: always centered around business and my career. If you consider
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: a career personal, but it was around business and my career. Question,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: did you ever discuss your family's? Answer, only very later on.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: I discussed the interest of my daughter getting a graduate
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: degree in physics. And so that was probably the first
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: time we talked about personal issues. All right, folks, we're
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: going to wrap up right there. And in the next episode,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: we're going to pick up with question returning to your
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: dealings with Mr. Epstein. All the information that goes with
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: this episode can be found in the description box.