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Case 18-2868, Document 276, 08/09/2019, 2628224, Page40 of 77
trafficking. Viewing the July 2015 statement from the perspective of these reporters and
journalists—the only persons who received the July 2015 statement—presents a different
landscape in the “fact versus opinion” analysis.
Applying the third factor with the benefit of the Rule 56 records compels a conclusion
different from the one this Court reached on the barren Rule 12(b)(6) record. For example, this
Court did not consider that the media-recipients of the July 2015 statement would have
understood the statement in precisely the way Mr. Barden intended: Based on a comparison of
dramatic differences between her “original” and “new” allegations, Ms. Giuffre is a teller of
falsehoods—is a liar—and cannot be trusted, and her new CVRA joint-motion allegations, which
deviated so substantially from her originally allegations, are falsehoods—proven false by her
increasingly provocative and lurid versions of her story of “victimhood.” See generally Exhibit J.
Ill. The pre-litigation privilege bars this action.
Statements pertinent to a good faith anticipated litigation made by attorneys (or their
agents under their direction’’) before the commencement of litigation are privileged and “no
cause of action for defamation can be based on those statements,” Front, Inc. v. Khalil, 28
N.E.3d 15, 16 (N.Y. 2015). So long as there was “a good faith basis to anticipate litigation,” a
statement concerning either “actual litigation or prelitigation matters” is subject to an “absolute
privilege.” Flomenhaft v. Finkelstein, 8 N.Y.S.3d 161, 164 n.2 (App. Div. 2015) (emphasis
supplied); accord Kirk v. Heppt, 532 F. Supp. 2d 586, 593 (S.D.N.Y. 2008).
The privilege covers statements made in connection with “pending or “contemplated
litigation.” Goldstein v. Cogswell, No. 85 CIV. 9256 (KMW), 1992 WL 131723, at *27 n.32
(S.D.N.Y. June 1, 1992) It covers statements made outside court, including in written
°7See Chambers v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 2016 WL 3533998, at *8 (D.N.J. June
28, 2016); see generally Hawkins v. Harris, 661 A.2d 284, 289-91 (N.J. 1995).
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Document Details
| Filename | DocumentCloud_Epstein_Docs_p00089.png |
| File Size | 335.5 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.1% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,142 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04 12:22:28.810755 |