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Case 18-2868, Document 280, 08/09/2019, 2628232, Page49 of 74
remarkably claim, Defendant relies on caselaw involving such mundane topics as “cease and
desist” letters sent to opposing parties and the like. Obviously such arguments have no
application to the press release that Defendant sent out, worldwide, attacking Ms. Giuffre’s
veracity.
The problems with the Defendant’s argument are legion. For starters, there is no record
evidence — not even Defendant’s own testimony — suggesting that she was contemplating
litigation against Ms. Giuffre, or that her press release was related to contemplated litigation
against Ms. Giuffre. Tellingly, the only “evidence” Defendant cites of any alleged contemplated
litigation is the self-serving, post hoc, partial waiver of attorney-client privilege found in the
Barden Declaration. As discussed above, that Declaration fails to establish that there was good
faith anticipated litigation between her and Ms. Giuffre, particularly when evidence in the record
contradicts such assertions. At the very least, it is a matter of fact for the jury to decide.
In another case in which a defendant attempted to claim pre-litigation privilege applied to
statements made to the press, this Court denied summary judgment, and held, “[t]o prevail on a
qualified privilege defense [defendant] must show that his claim of privilege does not raise
triable issues of fact that would defeat it.” Block v. First Blood Associates, 691 F. Supp. 685,
699-700 (Sweet, J.) (S.D.N.Y. 1988) (denying summary judgment on the pre-litigation qualified
privilege affirmative defense because there was “a genuine issue as to malice and appropriate
purpose’’). Defendant’s claim here likewise fails.
First, Defendant’s testimony makes no mention of any contemplated lawsuit — much less,
any contemplated lawsuit against Ms. Giuffre. Second, Defendant has offered no witnesses who
will testify that she intended to bring any law suit. Third, she did not, in fact, bring any such
lawsuit. The only “evidence” is a post hoc Declaration written by her attorney. Finally, it must be
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Document Details
| Filename | DocumentCloud_Epstein_Docs_p00868.png |
| File Size | 296.4 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 95.1% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,101 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04 12:26:44.038823 |