Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Darren Indyke And His Epstein Related Congressional Transcript (Part 2) (10/6/26)

Transcript

Darren Indyke And His Epstein Related Congressional Transcript (Part 2) (10/6/26) · 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 pick up
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: where we left off with the Darren Indyke transcript from
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: his trip to Congress. Question, what were your first impressions
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: of Mr. Epstein? Answer, I was slightly intimidated because he
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: was explained to me to be a very wealthy man.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: I was not very wealthy and I was very young
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: at the time. And he was explained to me to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: be a very successful businessman. My impression for him? was
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: that he was no nonsense. He seemed pleasant enough. Nothing
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: more than that. Question, what did you understand his job
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: to be at the time? Answer, I understood that I
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: would be providing support and assistance to the partner that
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: brought me in, in connection with representing Mr. Epstein's business interests. Question,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: what did you understand Mr. Epstein's job to be? Answer, oh, sorry,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: forgive me. Mr. Epstein's job? My understanding was that he
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: was a financial consultant. for wealthy individuals, wealthy individuals. Question,
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  Speaker 1: did you know who his clients were at this time? Answer, no. Question, Mr. Endyke,
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  Speaker 1: recognizing that we'll discuss more specifics later, can you briefly
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: describe the nature and extent of your relationship with Mr. Epstein? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I was one of Mr. Epstein's many attorneys. My goal,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: my goal, my role was primarily a role as a transactional,
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  Speaker 1: corporate and transactional attorney. My role was to review documents,
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  Speaker 1: summarize documents, Analyze documents, critique documents, draft documents, in a
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  Speaker 1: wide variety of areas. Investment documents, private placement, memorandum, subscription agreements,
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  Speaker 1: option agreements, warrant agreements. Let's see what else. Registration, rights agreements,
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  Speaker 1: stock purchase agreements, rights of first refusal agreements. All of
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: those kind of side letters for investments. All of those
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: in the investment field. There were times when he would
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: do some trading, and my role was to review the
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: trading confirmations, and to the extent that there were documents
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: required as a precursor to the trading, like internet swap agreements,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: things like that. I would review the interest swap agreement
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  Speaker 1: to the extent that I had any comments on those.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: I would give my comments on those agreements if Epstein
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: was going to buy or sell a business. There were
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: times when I'd be required to draft basic business agreements
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: or letters of intent. or review a purchase agreement or
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  Speaker 1: sale agreement and critique and summarize it and provide any
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: evaluation of it. Epstein had an aircraft and his clients
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: had aircraft. I was involved as an attorney in connection
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: with the acquisition and sale of aircraft, fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, rotorcraft,
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  Speaker 1: both new builds and manufacturers like Sikorsky. And sometimes when
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: there were resales of the aircraft, also there was a
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: lot of real estate that was being acquired and sold
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: during that time. So there I would work with the
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: local council. If I wasn't in New York, for example,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I would work and sometimes even if I was, I
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: would work with the local real estate council in the
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: acquisition or sale of real estate. Anything from large acreage
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: ranches to islands to townhomes to apartments to homes. Any
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: number of parcels of real estate and in connection with
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: some of those real estate that was acquired. There was
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  Speaker 1: a lot of construction going on during the course of
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: my representation and that construction would require architects and design.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: So I would review, AIA, architectural and design agreements, again summarize, critique, evaluate.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I would review proposals. Just make sure that the proposals
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: for any particular building or design were incorporated, all of
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  Speaker 1: what I understood to be the kind of role or
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the program for the building that was to be done.
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  Speaker 1: There was construction management agreements that had to be reviewed,
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  Speaker 1: general contractor agreements that had to be reviewed. Sometimes liens
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: would come up, So all of that, those things that
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: would have to be reviewed from time to time. When
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  Speaker 1: a new asset like an aircraft or helicopter or even
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: a larger boat would be acquired, a new entity would
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  Speaker 1: be formed for that, for the asset. Because the asset
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: was a large, tended to be an aircraft, aircraft could
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: fall out of the sky. So they could cause serious damage.
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  Speaker 1: So kind of it's a corporate law 101. And make
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  Speaker 1: sure that when you have the kind of liability type asset,
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  Speaker 1: you can put the asset in a separate entity. So
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  Speaker 1: other assets held by the person can't be subject to
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: the liability that's created by the asset. The same holds
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  Speaker 1: true for that again. It's kind of normal. Operating procedure,
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  Speaker 1: particularly for people in high net worth situations. You would
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  Speaker 1: form or take on a new investment. There would be
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  Speaker 1: an investment program. You would form a separate entity for
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  Speaker 1: that investment program for new business questions because you didn't
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  Speaker 1: want to mix. So new business with old business, you
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  Speaker 1: would form an entity for the new business. So part
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  Speaker 1: of what I said, if it was someplace with a
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  Speaker 1: jurisdiction where I was admitted and I knew the corporate
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  Speaker 1: service company had to do it, I would have a
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  Speaker 1: corporate service company form the entity. If not, I would
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: have a local attorney do the same. So we did
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  Speaker 1: those things, just kind of. The type of things sometimes
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: are very, very complex. Just to give you an example,
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  Speaker 1: there was a project that required connecting. One of Epstein's islands,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: you know, because you had to. The island had to,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: the St. Thomas mainland, and they required the manufacturer of
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: a 15 kV cable with fiber optic capability by this
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  Speaker 1: Italian manufacturer. So I would have to work on that,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the agreement with the manufacturer. And then we'd have to do,
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  Speaker 1: I'd have to work on, separate agreement for the installment
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  Speaker 1: of that. Cable across the span from St. Thomas to
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: the mainland, to the island, and you'd have to work on.
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  Speaker 1: The local step-down cable, you know, all the work. The
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  Speaker 1: electrical contractors... had to do the connect and connect the
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: cables to the island, and then there was also permitting
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  Speaker 1: that I had to work with with the local council.
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  Speaker 1: Lots of different things like that. Question, I just have
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  Speaker 1: a couple of questions related to the number of attorneys
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  Speaker 1: you mentioned that there were a number of attorneys working
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  Speaker 1: in the house essentially for Mr. Epstein. Is that correct? Answer, no. Question,
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  Speaker 1: it was a number of attorneys that Mr. Epstein had engaged. Question, okay,
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  Speaker 1: so how many were actually working in housing? Answer, at
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: which time? Question, at which time? Give me an example
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  Speaker 1: early on. Answer, three attorneys. And then, as time went on,
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  Speaker 1: two attorneys. And then ultimately nobody was working in the house.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: He was using outside counsel. Including me is outside counsel.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: And other attorneys is outside counsel. Question, when you had
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: the three attorneys, are you one of the three? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I was one of the three attorneys. We got down
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  Speaker 1: to two. Question, obviously you were one. Answer, I was still, yes,
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  Speaker 1: one of the attorneys there. Question, and you continued on until? Answer,
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  Speaker 1: I continued on. With the other attorney, I was there.
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  Speaker 1: But the other attorney formed an entity to serve Epstein
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: and other clients. And I worked for that entity. And
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  Speaker 1: I was a junior member of that entity. And then ultimately,
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  Speaker 1: I formed my own law firm. Question, did you have
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: associates in that law firm or partners? Answer, no. Question,
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  Speaker 1: were you still a provider? Answer, I was. Question, thank you.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Now it's Robert Garcia. He's a ranking member for Oversight Democrats,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: California 17. Question, I want to stick with asking general
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  Speaker 1: questions to start. So during the course of your representing Mr. Epstein,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: how often did he communicate with you? Towards the beginning. Answer, infrequently.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: I saw him time from time. I spoke to him
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: time from time. But mostly his communications... were with the
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: partner that I work with. And then the partner that
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: I work with would speak to me about assignments that
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: I had specifically. Over time, I would have some interactions
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: with him. I would get direct assignments from Mr. Epstein. Question,
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  Speaker 1: and you mentioned the partner. That's the same partner you
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: referenced before? Answer, yeah. It's the partner who kind of
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: asked me to come and join him, representing Mr. Epstein. Question,
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  Speaker 1: for the record, what was his name? Answer, his name,
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  Speaker 1: With Jeffrey Shantz. Question. And how would you typically communicate
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  Speaker 1: with Mr. Epstein? Answer. At which time? Question. During the
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  Speaker 1: course of your relationship? Answer. Okay, so? Kind of multifaceted.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes I would get messages. Sometimes I would get a
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  Speaker 1: communication through the partner. Sometimes I'd be in the office
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  Speaker 1: and I would meet with him for two minutes. Not
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: a lot of FaceTime. And get a specific assignment. And
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  Speaker 1: then sometimes I would get a message from his assistant
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  Speaker 1: saying something that Epstein wanted. And there and towards the
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  Speaker 1: later end, I would meet with him. When he no
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  Speaker 1: longer had an office in New York or towards the
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  Speaker 1: later end, I would meet with him. I would meet
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  Speaker 1: with him on the ground floor in the dining room
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: of his residence. Question. How often would you meet with
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: him at the residence? Answer. It really depends. When? So
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  Speaker 1: towards the beginning, not at all. As time went on,
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  Speaker 1: once a month, sometimes twice a month. If he was
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  Speaker 1: in town and there was a transaction going on, could
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: have been more, but typically it was. Typically, it was
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  Speaker 1: about twice a month. Question, how long would your meetings
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: last when you would visit his residence? Answer, typically an
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: hour or so, maybe two at most. Question, who typically
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: would be present? Answer, there was no kind of typical
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: thing about who would be present. It really depended on
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  Speaker 1: the transaction and the specific matter or matters that I
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: was meeting with him about. And I can hear you
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  Speaker 1: just fine, but there's a lot of people in the
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: room that are struggling to hear you. So I'm sorry.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: so obviously he's not speaking loud enough, has to turn
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: it up. Question, however much you can speak up. Okay,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: that's very helpful, yes, but I just want to focus
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  Speaker 1: on who is present. Are there other women that have
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: been identified and deemed an assistant to Mr. Epstein? Do
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: you recall them being present at the meetings? Answer, I
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: recall women coming into the meeting, delivering a message to him,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes bringing some food to him, but generally his personal
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: assistants were not in the meetings. Question, so you mentioned
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: that earlier you had meetings at your office and then
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: it seemed that it came to be more common that
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: you'd meet him at the residence. When did that shift occur? Answer,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: I think it was 1998 when Mr. Epstein moved his residence,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: his primary residence, to the U.S. Virgin Islands and his
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: business to the U.S. Virgin Islands. So he no longer
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: maintained an office in New York. And so when he
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: came to New York, the requirement was to meet at
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: his residence. Question, now I'm going to ask you a
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: general question. Here, what were the nature of your communications
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: with Mr. Epstein? Answer, I'm trying to understand. That's very general.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: And I don't really know. I don't really know. Were
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: the nature of your communications always related to the furnishing
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: of legal services? Yes, so for the record. Question, did
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: you ever have any communication with Mr. Epstein related to
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: young women or girls? Answer, no, absolutely not. Question, how
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: would you characterize your relationship with Mr. Epstein? Answer, it
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: was strictly business relationship, strictly a legal relationship. Question, for
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: the record, at any point did you consider Mr. Epstein
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: to be a friend? Answer, no. Question, did you ever
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: spend time with Mr. Epstein apart from your duties as
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: his attorney? Answer, I never socialized with Mr. Epstein. I
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: never spent any time with Mr. Epstein. I never socialized
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: with Mr. Epstein. And I never spent any time with
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: him other than when I was there for a status
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: report or a legal project for Mr. Epstein. Question, did
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: you ever consider Mr. Epstein to be a mentor? Answer,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: I did initially. And I could tell you a little
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: story about that. When I first started working for Mr. Epstein,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: I got an assignment. I can't remember the transaction that
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: I was working on, but I got this agreement and
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: dummy told me I needed to get it reviewed and critiqued.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: And I mark it up and it's the word that
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: they use, mark it up and give me your comments
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: to it. I think I had 24 hours to do it.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: So I went back to my office, spent a very
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: long time in my office, probably like 11, 12 o'clock
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: that night, marking the thing up. And then when I
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: gave it to him, It was full of red. It's
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: completely red. And I thought I'd done a good job
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: and marking up in the agreement, showing all the ways
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: that the agreement was defective. When he looked at it,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: kind of looked at it and said, well, what am
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: I supposed to do with this? I have transactions and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I have to get done within the next week. This
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: is never going to, first of all, I don't know
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: what's real, what's not real here. What's important, what's not
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: important here. This, I can never get a transaction done
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: that this is what I have to do. So now
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: take this back. and go find me the ten most
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: important things, and rank them in the order of importance
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: to me. And I learned a huge lesson from that.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: He taught me about being a practical lawyer, not just,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: you know, a lawyer that's finding every possible theoretical kind
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: of loophole in an agreement. So in that respect, I
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: thought he was very helpful. And um, so that's, and
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: he had other kind of advice to me, like that,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: those types of things, and being a lawyer, to um,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: you know, don't guess, it's don't guess at things that
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Tell what I know, what I know,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Tell them what I do know, and if I don't know,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: tell them I don't know. Those are the types of
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: things that he taught me to do as a lawyer,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: which were helpful to other people that I was working
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: with as a lawyer. Question, did you ever ask Mr.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Epstein for personal favors? Answer, let's see how to answer
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: that question. I asked him for help when I was,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I think it was my first year or so. My
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: first year, when I worked for him, I don't remember
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: the exact time period. My wife and I were having
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: fertility issues, and infertility treatments were quite expensive. and they
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: weren't covered by my insurance. So I had asked him
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: if it was possible for me to forego the insurance,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: and in lieu of the amount, the money that he
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: was paying for insurance at the time, if I could
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: take the money and apply it towards the cost of
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: infertility treatments. And at the time, his response to me
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: was absolutely not. You should keep your medical insurance, and
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: I'll pay for your infertility treatment. Subsequent to that, it
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: didn't work. And it didn't work, I think, for other times.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Subsequent to that, without me having to ask, He would
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: tell me, when are we doing the next one? And
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: so Epstein paid for all of our infertility treatments until
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: we were able to conceive. All right, folks, we're going
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: to wrap up right here. And in the next episode
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: dealing with the topic, we're going to pick up where
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: we left off. All the information that goes with this
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box.