EFTA00111434.pdf

1 2 3 4 DIGITALLY RECORDED 5 SWORN STATEMENT 6 OF 7 8 9 OIG CASE #: 10 2019-010614 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 19 OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL 20 AUGUST 5, 2021 21 22 23 24 25 RESOLUTE DOCUMENTATION SERVICES 28632 Roadside Drive, Suite 285 Agoura Hills, CA 91301 Phone: EFTA00111434 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 APPEARANCES: 2 3 OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL 4 BY: 5 BY: 6 7 8 WITNESS: 9 10 11 12 OTHER APPEARANCES: 13 NONE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 EFTA00111435 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 3 1 MR. : The recorder is on. My 2 name is , and I am a senior 3 special agent with the U.S. Department of 4 Justice, Office of the Inspector General. New 5 York Field Office. And these are my 6 credentials. 7 MS. : Okay. 8 MR. : This interview with 9 Federal Bureau of Prisons employee, 10 MS. 11 MR. -' 12 MS. : Yeah. 13 MR. : Is being conducted as 14 part of an official U.S. Department of Justice, 15 Office of the Inspector General, DOJ/OIG 16 investigation. Today's date is August 5, 2021, 17 and the time is 12:59 p.m. This interview is 18 being conducted at the Metropolitan 19 Correctional Center, or MCC, located in New 20 York, Also present is DOJ/OIG 21 Special Agent This interview 22 will be recorded by me, SSA 23 Could everyone please identify themselves for 24 the record, and spell your last name? To start, 25 again, I am DOJ/OIG Senior Special Agent, EFTA00111436 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 4 1 2 MR. This is DOJ/OIG Special Agent 3 . And these are my 4 credentials. 5 MS. : Okay. 6 MR. : And can you identify 7 yourself? 8 MR. : Could you -? 9 MS. : My name is 10 11 MR. : And what is your 12 position? 13 MS. : I am a general maintenance. 14 MR. : Here at the MCC. 15 Correct? 16 MS. : Yeah. MCC. 17 MR. : Perfect. Thank you. And 18 this is an official DOJ/OIG investigation into 19 the death of inmate Jeffrey Epstein, and the 20 surrounding circumstances, and you are being 21 asked to voluntarily provide answers to our 22 questions. Will you agree to a voluntary 23 interview with the DOJ/OIG? 24 MS. : Yes. 25 MR. : Awesome. So, we're just EFTA00111437 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 5 1 going to read this form. It's just in regards 2 to voluntary interviews. Everybody that, you 3 know, gets these. United States Department of 4 Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 5 Warnings and Assurances to Employee Requested 6 to Provide Information on a Voluntary Basis. 7 "You are being asked to provide information as 8 part of an investigation being conducted by the 9 Office of the Inspector General. This 10 investigation is being conducted pursuant to 11 the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended. 12 This investigation pertains to job performance 13 failure and security failure. This is a 14 voluntary interview. Accordingly, you do not 15 have to answer questions. No disciplinary 16 action will be taken against you if you choose 17 not to answer questions. Any statements you 18 furnish may be used as evidence in any future 19 criminal proceedings, or agency disciplinary 20 proceedings, or both." And the waiver section 21 says, "I understand the Warnings and Assurances 22 stated above and I am willing to make a 23 statement and answer questions. 24 MS. : Okay. 25 MR. : No promises or threats EFTA00111438 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 have been made to me, and no pressure or 2 coercion of any kind has been used against me." 3 So, you can take a second, if you want, to 4 review it. I did just read it verbatim, but 5 MS. : That's okay. 6 MR. : -- it says employee 7 signature there, if you agree, and then, 8 employee's name, and just print right down 9 there. 10 MS. : Okay. 11 MR. : And then, we can fill out 12 the rest of the form. 13 MS. : Do you have a pen? 14 (Indiscernible *00:02:51) opposite. 15 MR. : Thank you very much for 16 signing. This is, again, and 17 I am signing as the signature of the Office of 18 the Inspector General, Special Agent. Now I'm 19 printing my name. I'm writing in the time as 20 1:00 p.m. And it is again -- 21 MR. : August 5th. 22 MR. : 8/5/2021. At MCC, New 23 York. Special Agent , could you 24 please sign as the -- 25 MR. : Yes. EFTA00111439 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. : -- as the witness, and 2 print your name, please. 3 MR. : This is . I'm 4 signing as simply witness. 5 MR. : Did you understand that 6 form? 7 MS. : Yeah. 8 MR. : Do you understand 9 everything is voluntary? 10 MS. : Yeah, yeah, yeah. 11 MR. : You could stop at any 12 time? 13 MS. : Yeah. 14 MR. : You don't have to answer 15 our questions. Before starting, I'd like to 16 place you under oath. Ms. can you 17 please raise your right hand? Do you swear to 18 tell the truth and nothing but the truth during 19 this interview? 20 MS. : Yes. 21 MR. : Thank you. Please let me 22 know if you don't understand any of my 23 questions, and I'll rephrase or ask in a 24 different way. 25 MS. : Okay. EFTA00111440 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 8 1 MR. : What is your current home 2 address? 3 MS. 4 MR. : And where is that? 5 MS. : In 6 MR. . And 7 what is your date of birth? 8 MS. 9 MR. : And your social security 10 number. 11 MS. 12 MR. : And what is your current 13 cell phone number? 14 MS. 15 MR. : And what is your highest 16 level of education? 17 MS. : I have my bachelor's degree. 18 MR. : And where do you have 19 that from? 20 MS. : Monroe College. Criminal law. 21 MR. : What college? 22 MS. : Monroe. 23 MR. : Monroe? 24 MS. : Yeah. 25 MR. : And criminal law? And EFTA00111441 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 where is Monroe College located? 2 MS. : It's in the Bronx. 3 MR. : In the Bronx? 4 MS. : Mm-hmm. At Fordham. 5 MR. : At Fordham? 6 MS. : By Jerome, yeah. 7 MR. : Okay. Cool. When did 8 you receive that bachelor's degree? 9 MS. : I started here 2008. So, '08. 10 2008, '07, '08. '06, '07, '08. 11 MR. : 2006? 12 MS. : So, '07 -- 13 MR. : 2007, 2008? 14 MS. : -- '07, '08. Yeah. 15 MR. : So, you think you finished in 16 2008? 17 MS. : Matter of fact, '07 or '08. 18 Yeah. One of those two. 19 MR. : Sorry. I'm going to turn 20 that down because I don't think that's going to 21 pick - hear what you're saying - up. 22 MS. : Okay. 23 MR. : Great. And -- 24 MS. : '07, '08. Yeah. 25 MR. : -- what did you -. EFTA00111442 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 2008 is when you think you finished? 2 MS. : Yes. 3 MR. : What did you do prior to 4 working for the BOP? 5 MS. : What do you mean? Like -? 6 MR. : Did you have an 7 employment prior to working for the BOP? 8 MS. : Oh, no. 9 MR. : Okay. So, this was, 10 like, your first job? 11 MS. : Oh. Well, I was working at 12 Macy's, cosmetics and stuff, like, with makeup 13 artists and stuff -- 14 MR. : Okay. 15 MS. : -- and then, after that, this 16 is my first, real job. Yeah. 17 MR. : Okay. Do you have any 18 military service? 19 MS. : No. 20 MR. : How long have you served 21 with the Federal Bureau of Prisons? 22 MS. : 13 years. 23 MR. : How many? 24 MS. : But, like, how long I've been 25 working here? 13 years. EFTA00111443 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. : 13. 2 MS. : Mm-hmm. 3 MR. : And do you remember your 4 enter on duty date? 5 MS. : Yes. December 7, 2008. 6 MR. : Okay. And do you 7 remember when you graduated from BOP training? 8 Like, the year? 9 MS. : I know it was in March because 10 it was Irish, and I went to a bar. And that's 11 all I can remember. 12 MR. : Would it have been 2009? 13 MS. : And that's '09, yeah, '09. 14 MR. : Okay. So, about March 15 2009. 16 MS. : Yeah. 17 MR. : And what is your - again 18 - your current position with the BOP? 19 MS. : I'm a general maintenance. 20 MR. : And what does that 21 entail? 22 MS. : General maintenance, we work, 23 some of us, we do floors, walls, doors, 24 maintenance plumbing, painting, you name it. 25 Even electrical. EFTA00111444 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. : So, basically -- 2 MS. : A little bit of everything. 3 MR. : -- almost as the 4 description. 5 MS. : Yeah. My boss is calling me. 6 MR. : You know, by the title, 7 general maintenance, any general maintenance of 8 the MCC? 9 MS. : Oh, I'm sorry. Say the 10 question again. 11 MR. : So, the maintenance of 12 the MCC? 13 MS. : Yes. 14 MR. : Okay. Great. And are 15 you familiar with Jeffrey Epstein? 16 MS. : I don't recall. 17 MR. : Yes. Do you know if he 18 was housed at the MCC in July and August of 19 2019? 20 MS. : If he was here? 21 MR. : Yes. 22 MS. : Yes. July and August. Yes. 23 MR. : Okay. And what was your 24 position at the MCC in July and August of 2019? 25 MS. : The same position. EFTA00111445 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 (Indiscernible *00:06:37 -- 2 MR. : The same position. 3 MS. : -- yes. 4 MR. : Okay. So, how long have 5 you been in that position? 6 MS. : I've been in this position - 7 this is 2021 - I got promoted to that in 8 February. I don't remember the date. It's 9 February 12th to the 19th. 10 MR. : Okay. So -- 11 MS. : Yes. 12 MR. : -- right before then? 13 MS. : Yes. 14 MR. : What was your position 15 before that? 16 MS. : I was a facility assistant. 17 MR. : Okay. 18 MS. : Working for the facility 19 department. 20 MR. : Okay. So, this was a 21 promotion. What is your grade level? 22 MS. : Now? 23 MR. : Mm-hmm. 24 MS. : WS-8/5. 25 MR. : Okay. So, eight, step EFTA00111446 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 five? 2 MS. : Yes. Eight. Step five. 3 MR. : Okay. Did you have any 4 interactions or involvement with Epstein during 5 his stay at the MCC? 6 MS. : No, sir. 7 MR. : No. Did you even see 8 him? 9 MS. : I did see him. But, you know, 10 not see him close by, but probably if I did a 11 job in Nine South, but other than that, no. 12 MR. : Okay. So, you didn't, 13 like, speak with him -- 14 MS. : No. 15 MR. : -- or say hello or 16 anything? So, when you say you saw him, where 17 would you have seen him at? Sorry. 18 MS. : On Nine South. That's the on: 19 place -- 20 MR. : Oh, Nine South. 21 MS. : -- yeah. 22 MR. : I'm sorry. I wasn't sure 23 what you said. 24 MS. : Oh. 25 MR. : So, in the SHU? EFTA00111447 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 15 1 MS. : Yes. 2 MR. : Okay. Do you know if you 3 worked at the MCC on August 9th and 10th of 4 2019? 5 MS. : If he worked? 6 MR. : If you worked at the MCC. 7 MS. : August 10th? 8 MR. : August 9th. 9 MS. : No, I did not. 10 MR. : So, the Friday before he 11 was found in a cell. 12 MS. : I don't recall if I worked that 13 Friday, but I know for sure, August 10th, that 14 Saturday, I did not work. 15 MR. : Okay. 16 MS. : Those are my off days. 17 MR. : But would you have 18 typically worked on the Fridays? Monday through 19 Friday? 20 MS. : Yes, I do. My schedule is 21 Monday through Friday. 22 MR. : Okay. So, do you believe 23 you probably worked on that Friday? 24 MS. : Yeah, I probably worked. 25 MR. : Okay. August 9th. Okay. EFTA00111448 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 16 1 And during that time, do you remember what your 2 duties and responsibilities would have been, if 3 you were -? Were you acting for anyone, or were 4 you doing -? 5 MS. : I don't recall if I was acting 6 for anyone that day, for Mr. , my boss. 7 I don't remember if I did. If he was here 8 then. No. 9 MR. : So, I have this out of 10 office assistance from a 11 Was he your supervisor? 12 MS. : Yes. He is. 13 MR. : And what was your 14 position? What was his position? I'm sorry. 15 MS. : He's the facility manager. 16 MR. : Facilities manager. 17 Okay. And it was from him to a 18 MS. : Mm-hmm. 19 MR. : Is he someone who also 20 works under him? 21 MS. : Yes. 22 MR. : And the only reason I'm 23 sending you this because it was an out of 24 office automatic out of office assistant from 25 to , saying, EFTA00111449 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 17 1 "I will be out of the office on Monday, August 2 5th through Friday, August 9th. I will have 3 limited phone and email access. Acting for me 4 is Ms. 5 MS. : Mm-hmm. 6 MR. : -- on Monday, 8/5, and 7 Tuesday, 8/6, and she can be reached at -". 8 And then, it says a phone number. "And/or via 9 radio track four. Wednesday through Friday, 10 Mr. (Phonetic Sp. *00:09:10) will 11 be acting, and he can be reached at -". It 12 says a phone number. "And/or track four, via 13 radio." So, it doesn't say that you were 14 acting for him, but do you remember, at all, 15 acting for him on that Monday and Tuesday of 16 8/5 and 8/6, by chance? 17 MS. : No. 18 MR. : No? 19 MS. : I don't remember anything like 20 that. 21 MR. : And would you act 22 regularly for Mr. , back then? 23 MS. : Yes. 24 MR. : Yes. Okay. And do you 25 have any reason to believe you were not acting EFTA00111450 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 for him? 2 MS. : That was two years ago. I 3 don't really -- 4 MR. : Oh, absolutely. 5 MS. remember that. I mean, you 6 know, if I did, I would be, like, yes, I did, 7 but I don't remember. 8 MR. : Sure. 9 MS. : Almost receiving the emails, or 10 11 MR. : And I don't expect you 12 to. Here, just so you know that -- 13 MS. : Thank you. 14 MR. : -- you could look at it 15 just to make sure. Maybe that will help jog 16 your memory. When you're an acting for Mr. 17 , specifically back in August, what would 18 that mean? What was your duties and 19 responsibilities be for when you're acting for 20 him? 21 MS. : So, it will be, like, any case 22 of an emergency. Especially plumbing, that we 23 have, a lot of plumbing situation, the whole 24 entire building. Everybody calls for 25 is not here. I'm the one that responds, EFTA00111451 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 19 1 and I have my other foremans. I will do the 2 work. They do the work. So, we'll work 3 together. 4 MR. : Okay. 5 MS. : Anything that happens. Like, 6 an emergency. 7 MR. : So, emergencies 8 MS. : You know? 9 MR. : -- with regards to 10 facilities? 11 MS. : Yes. 12 MR. : Okay. 13 MS. : It's a facility only. 14 MR. : Okay. 15 MS. : Yes. 16 MR. : Right. Okay. So, would 17 the cameras - if there were problems with the 18 cameras - would that fall under your purview, 19 when you were acting as the facilities manager? 20 MS. : Well, if I was acting, there 21 was a problem, situation with cameras, yes. 22 MR. : Okay. 23 MS. : But, of course, I would 24 definitely call my executive, then. You know, 25 and ask them to, whatever situation, but at EFTA00111452 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 that being, I never had a situation with 2 cameras. 3 MR. : Okay. 4 MS. : Since I've been, like, if I 5 act. I don't know. I do recall that I never 6 had a situation -- 7 MR. : Okay. 8 MS. : -- with cameras. 9 MR. : Sounds good. And when 10 you were acting for Mr. , would this 11 report to you? 12 MS. : Yes. He would 13 MR. : Okay. 14 MS. report to me. 15 MR. : And what was his 16 position? 17 MS. : His position is a Comtech. 18 It's a communication tech. 19 MR. : Okay. 20 MS. : So, he's - if there is any 21 problem with the phones, radios, or cameras - 22 he will report it. 23 MR. : Okay. 24 MS. : If there is anything problems. 25 MR. : So, he was responsible EFTA00111453 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 for the cameras at MCC? 2 MS. : Well, he works with the 3 cameras. And yes. 4 MR. : Okay. Are you aware that 5 the cameras were not working properly within 6 MCC on August 9th and 10th of 2019? 7 MS. : No. 8 MR. : So, even at this point, 9 you weren't aware of that? 10 MS. : No. No. I don't -. 11 MR. : Have you heard in the 12 news anything about -- 13 MS. : No. 14 MR. : -- cameras being down? 15 MS. : No. 16 MR. : Oh, you don't even know - 17 18 MS. : No. 19 MR. : -- that now? 20 MS. : Not in the news. No. 21 MR. : Okay. 22 MS. : Telemundo? No. 23 MR. : Okay. But you said that 24 would have been responsible for fixing 25 the cameras if they did go down? EFTA00111454 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 22 1 MS. : Well, he does fix the -. You 2 know, he works with the cameras. So, I believe 3 he will be, you know, responsible for - not 4 responsible - he works with the cameras, so 5 MR. : Yeah. Well, if he wasn't 6 responsible, who would be responsible? 7 MS. : That would be -. 8 MR. : If they went down, who 9 would fix them? 10 MS. : It would be 11 MR. : Okay. 12 MS. : But if there's something more 13 than that, then our manager will make an 14 executive decision where, if we need 15 contracting or anything, I'm not too sure. 16 MR. : And who would be the 17 manager? 18 MS. : Mr. 19 MR. : Okay. So, if you're 20 acting for him, and you said that if something 21 happened, you would report it up, who would be 22 that manager? 23 MS. : Oh, who will be my AW, at that 24 point. 25 MR. : Okay. Would that be an EFTA00111455 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 AW that you would -- 2 MS. : Yes. 3 MR. : -- report to? 4 MS. : I would definitely. I will not 5 make any decisions like that, big decisions, if 6 I would have a situation like that, I'm going 7 to contact somebody. 8 MR. : Okay. So, the facilities 9 manager reports directly to the AW? 10 MS. : Mm-hmm. 11 MR. : And who would that be, at 12 that time? In August of 2019. Would it have 13 been ? 14 MS. : It was between or -- 15 MR. : Is it -- 16 MS. : -- what's the other one? 17 MR. : -- it begins with a B. 18 MS. : A B? 19 MR. : Is it ? 20 MR. : Oh, . Sorry. . 21 MS. : No. was with -. I don't 22 think was with -. was with her. 23 With us a couple of weeks ago. But before, I 24 don't think -. I think it's between 25 , and there was two. There was another EFTA00111456 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 one. 2 MR. : I think 3 just started, like, that week. Maybe. 4 MS. : She just started. Yeah. So, 5 she wasn't our AW. 6 MR. : So, she wouldn't have 7 been there. 8 MS. : So, the only person I got in 9 mind is 10 MR. : Okay. 11 MS. : And that's it. 12 MR. : Okay. Fair enough. So, 13 if a problem was to have occurred with the 14 camera system, you would have reported that to 15 Ms. 16 MS. : Yeah. 17 MR. : Okay. But you're unaware 18 that there were any problems with the cameras 19 when you were, at all, in August of 2019? 20 MS. : Absolutely. 21 MR. : So, did electrician 22 technician, or a coms tech, 23 ever inform you that the cameras were not 24 working properly, during that week of August 25 9th, 2019? EFTA00111457 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 25 1 MS. : No. I did not have any 2 conversation with anyone about no cameras. No. 3 MR. : So, and you're position 4 he never brought -- 5 MS. : I'm positive. 6 MR. : -- that to your -. 7 You're positive. Okay. 8 MS. : And if he did, you know, not to 9 me. 10 MR. : And so, if there were a 11 problem, who would have he informed, if Mr. 12 was out, and he didn't report it to him? 13 MS. : The higher ups. The AWs. 14 That's the next rank -- 15 MR. : All right. 16 MS. that we would go to. 17 MR. : And do you think that he 18 wouldn't have reported it to you? Would have he 19 gone directly to something like Ms. 20 21 MS. : If he what? 22 MR. : So, if there were a 23 problem with the cameras -- 24 MS. : Mm-hmm. 25 MR. : -- and he reported it up EFTA00111458 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 2 MS. : He would report it to us. 3 MR. : Would he report it to 4 you, or he would go directly to the AW? 5 MS. : He would probably - yeah - he 6 will go to me and the AW. Like, he's a 7 communicator. He's like that. 8 MR. : So, if he's saying that 9 there were problems with the cameras, and he 10 did report it up, but he didn't report it to 11 you? 12 MS. : No. That day, I don't - no - I 13 don't remember anything having 14 MR. : Or the - yeah. I know 15 you were the 5th and 6th, and what I'm talking 16 about was more, like, the 8th and 9th. 17 MS. : Oh, well, so, no. 18 MR. : But during, earlier that 19 week, when you were acting, I'm just wondering, 20 that maybe he report it to you? And you're 21 certain of that? 22 MS. : I'm positive. 23 MR. : Okay. 24 MS. : I've never dealt with any type 25 of problems. EFTA00111459 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 27 1 MR. : Do you know anything 2 about Mr. being sent home on August 9th, 3 2019 -- 4 MS. : No. 5 MR. : -- knowing that the 6 cameras were not working properly? 7 MS. : No. I don't. 8 MR. : No. Do you know anything 9 about if was instructed on August 9th, 10 2019 to -- 11 MS. : No. 12 MR. : -- fix the cameras the 13 following day, on August 10, 2019, when he 14 reported to work? 15 MS. : No. 16 MR. : So, you don't know 17 anything about that? 18 MS. : Hmm-mm. 19 MR. : What is your thoughts, _- 20 that was what was to have happened, if Mr. 21 knew - and if you were acting, at the 22 point, and this is now theoretical - if you 23 were the acting supervisor, and Mr. knew 24 that the cameras went down August 9th, half the 25 cameras in the MCC, including all of the EFTA00111460 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 cameras in the SHU, or just about all the 2 cameras in the SHU, were not recording, what 3 should have he done? 4 MS. : Well, I know for a fact, if 5 there was any type of deficiency or anything 6 with the cameras, he would definitely report 7 that. I don't know. He would speak to the 8 manager in regards to that. 9 MR. : Okay. But again, you 10 were never aware that any cameras weren't 11 working? 12 MS. : No. No. 13 MR. : I mean, should have he 14 fixed it on the spot? 15 MS. : I mean, I don't know if it was 16 broken or not. So -- 17 MR. : What -. 18 MS. : -- if I wasn't aware of that. 19 MR. : No, no, no. I'm saying, 20 if - no, they were - so, the cameras 21 MS. : Okay. 22 MR. : -- were broken. They 23 were not recording. 24 MS. : Okay. 25 MR. : And was EFTA00111461 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 responsible for them. 2 MS. : Right. 3 MR. : So, we're trying to 4 figure out what course of action should have he 5 taken? He should have reported it up. Should 6 have he fixed -? Should have he left the 7 institution without fixing them? 8 MS. : No. Of course not. 9 MR. : Okay. 10 MS. : But my thing is, I didn't know 11 that there was a camera situation. 12 MR. : Absolutely. 13 MS. : So -- 14 MR. : So, that's why we're 15 saying -- 16 MS. : -- if he had an issue, he 17 knows, you know, what to do. So, I can't 18 answer for him. 19 MR. : But you can answer as an 20 acting -- 21 MS. : Absolutely. 22 MR. : -- manager. That's what 23 I mean -- 24 MS. : Yeah. 25 MR. : -- what I'm asking you -- EFTA00111462 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 30 1 MS. : Absolutely. 2 MR. is, again, you weren't 3 acting those days. What I'm asking you 4 MS. : No. 5 MR. : -- is, as someone who has 6 acted in that position, what should have he 7 done? So, he's already said he knew it. He 8 went home. 9 MS. : I don't know if he said that. 10 MR. : No, no, no. I'm telling 11 you. 12 MS. : Oh, okay, okay. I'm, like, I 13 don't know. 14 MR. : But he's saying that he 15 did report it to a manager, and they said that 16 to leave and fix it the following day. 17 However, we haven't talked to any managers that 18 he's told. So, that's where I'm trying to 19 figure out 20 MS. : Oh, okay. 21 MR. : -- who would have he 22 reported that information to. Because he can't 23 remember what manager it was. 24 MS. : Like, we only got two managers. 25 One manager and one supervisor. And that would EFTA00111463 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 be Mr. 2 31 (Phonetic Sp. *00:17:09) and Mr. 3 MR. 4 MS. wasn't here. No, no, 5 no. I think - I don't think he was hired at 6 that time. 7 MR. : So, and that's it, and -- 8 MS. was -- 9 MR. : -- and that 10 MS. (Indiscernible *00:17:15). 11 MR. : -- to put a wrench in the 12 works, was gone. And both yourself, and 13 at the time, was acting for him that 14 week. 15 MS. : Mm-hmm. 16 MR. : So, but he didn't speak 17 to you? 18 MS. : No. 19 MR. : And you definitely -- 20 MS. : I don't remember that. 21 MR. : -- didn't tell him -- 22 MS. : No. 23 MR. : -- come back the next 24 day. 25 MS. : No. EFTA00111464 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 32 1 MR. : Okay. And who had access 2 to the camera system? In August of 2019, 3 specifically August of that week. 4 MS. : I don't know. 5 MR. : Leading up to it. 6 MS. : Not myself. 7 MR. : You didn't even have 8 MS. : I do not have no access for no 9 camera. 10 MR. : Do you know how someone 11 would be able to take them offline? 12 MS. : I have no idea. 13 MR. : No? So, you're not even 14 familiar -- 15 MS. : No. 16 MR. : -- even if there were an 17 issue? 18 MS. : At all. 19 MR. : Okay. Do you know if 20 anyone could have intentionally taken the 21 cameras offline? 22 MS. : No. 23 MR. : No. Do you know if 24 could have intentionally taken the 25 cameras offline? EFTA00111465 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 33 1 MS. : No. 2 MR. : So, you don't even know, 3 is what you're saying? 4 MS. : No. 5 MR. : Do you have any reason to 6 believe that anyone intentionally took the 7 cameras offline, or stopped them from recording 8 on or around August 9th, 2019? 9 MS. : No. 10 MR. : Do you know anything 11 about cameras going down prior to August 10th, 12 2019? 13 MS. : No. 14 MR. : Do you know if any steps 15 were taken to correct the problem of the 16 cameras going down? 17 MS. : No. 18 MR. : Do you know that we have 19 - there's a new camera system in the MCC? 20 MS. : If I do know that there's a new 21 camera system? 22 MR. : Do you know if there is a 23 new camera system at MCC? 24 MS. : I know there's new cameras at 25 MCC, as of now, yes. EFTA00111466 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 34 1 MR. : And do you know when that 2 occurred? And the new camera system was put in? 3 MS. : Months ago. 4 MR. : So, this year, though? 5 MS. : I'm not too sure. 6 MR. : Okay. 7 MS. : If they started last year or 8 this year. 9 MR. : Sure. And are you 10 involved at all with the documentation for when 11 cameras -- 12 MS. : No. 13 MR. : -- go down, or 14 maintenance? No? 15 MS. : No. 16 MR. : Who would be in charge of 17 documentation? 18 MS. : It will be my manager. 19 MR. : Mr. 20 MS. : Yes. 21 MR. : Okay. If the camera 22 system was outdated and needed replacing, who 23 would be the people that would be in the know? 24 MS. : The comtechs. 25 MR. : The comtechs. And then, EFTA00111467 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 who? 2 MS. : And then, Mr. 3 MR. : And then, who? 4 MS. : And then, the AWs, and it goes 5 up and up and up -- 6 MR. : The warden. 7 MS. and up and up. 8 MR. : Oh, okay. And what about 9 the captain? Is he involved with that at all? 10 MS. : He should be. 11 MR. : Okay. Do you know if Mr. 12 was ever asking for a new camera system, 13 leading up to -- 14 MS. : No. 15 MR. : -- August 10th? 16 MS. : I don't know. 17 MR. : You're not aware. What 18 are Mr. responsibilities as the 19 Comtech? 20 MS. : Phones. Radios. And cameras. 21 MR. : Okay. 22 MS. : Other than that, I'm not sure 23 what else. 24 MR. : Okay. Do you believe 25 appropriate action was taken if knew EFTA00111468 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 36 1 that the cameras were offline, and then he went 2 home, and the plan was to fix it the next day? 3 MS. : I don't know. I don't know. 4 MR. : You don't know. Okay. 5 What is your understanding of what happened to 6 Epstein on August 9th and 10th of 2019? 7 MS. : Well, I don't know, he hanged 8 himself. 9 MR. : He hung himself? 10 MS. : Yeah. 11 MR. : Is it your understanding 12 that he died from hanging within the MCC? 13 MS. : Because of MCC. 14 MR. : Is it your understanding 15 that Mr. Epstein died from hanging within the 16 MCC? 17 MS. : I don't know. 18 MR. : You don't even know? 19 MS. : I don't even know. 20 MR. : So, you said that you 21 thought he hung himself. 22 MS. : That's what -- 23 MR. : So, can you expand on 24 that, then? Where -- 25 MS. : -- that's what the media said. EFTA00111469 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MR. : -- where did he hang 2 himself? 3 MS. : In Nine South. 4 MR. : Okay. So, is that within 5 the MCC? 6 MS. : Yeah. 7 MR. : Do you believe he died 8 when he was here in the MCC? 9 MS. : Well, I wasn't here. I know 10 the media said he died here. I mean 11 MR. : Okay. 12 MS. : I don't know. 13 MR. : But you didn't hear 14 anything about -- 15 MS. : No, no, no -- 16 MR. : -- being here? 17 MS. : -- no, no. 18 MR. : In the MCC? No one ever 19 spoke about it? 20 MS. : No. Huh-uh. 21 MR. : Really? I'm just -. 22 MS. : You know, everybody, but no, 23 I'm not -. 24 MR. : No one ever talked about, 25 hey -- EFTA00111470 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MS. : I don't -- 2 MR. : -- the biggest, highest 3 profile guy -- 4 MS. : He is the highest profile 5 MR. : killed himself? 6 MS. of course, but -- 7 MR. : Or anything like that? 8 MS. : -- no. 9 MR. : No? 10 MS. : No. 11 MR. : All right. Do you have 12 any information, with regard to any suspicious 13 activity that occurred on August 9th or 10th of 14 2019, leading up to the discovery of Epstein in 15 his cell? 16 MS. : No. 17 MR. : What do you know about 18 someone else taking Epstein's life? 19 MS. : No. 20 MR. : You don't know anything? 21 MS. : No. 22 MR. : What do you know about 23 other's assisting with taking Epstein's life? 24 MS. : No. 25 MR. : You don't know anything? EFTA00111471 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MS. : No. 2 MR. : Okay. Did Epstein take 3 his own life? 4 MS. : I wasn't there. But I don't 5 know. I guess. 6 MR. : Okay. Did Epstein act 7 alone in taking his own life? 8 MS. : If he was alone? 9 MR. : Did he act alone? 10 MS. : I wasn't there. 11 MR. : So, you're not sure? 12 MS. : Yeah. 13 MR. : And that's totally fine 14 to just say I don't know. 15 MS. : I wasn't there. 16 MR. : No, no, no. I know. 17 MS. : I didn't even see it. Like 18 MR. : No, that's what I'm 19 saying, is that total acceptable answer for you 20 to say I don't know. 21 MS. : I don't know. It's, like, wnat 22 the hell, to see if he did. I don't know what 23 he did. It's just, it's all over the media, 24 but no. 25 MR. : Did you have any EFTA00111472 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 involvement with Epstein's death? 2 MS. : No. 3 MR. : Do you know what would 4 have prevented Epstein's death? That is, what 5 actions should have been taken to prevent his 6 death? 7 MS. : I don't know. 8 MR. : You don't -- 9 MS. : No. 10 MR. : -- you don't know. Were 11 you ever a correctional officer? 12 MS. : No. 13 MR. : No. Okay. And when you 14 came with the BOP, what did you start as? 15 MS. : I started as a unit team. 16 MR. : And what does that mean? 17 MS. : Unit team are, like, we have 18 counselors, case managers, secretaries. That's 19 what I used to do, is a unit secretary. Case 20 managers. Unit managers and stuff. Dealing 21 with the inmates. You know? 22 MR. : Okay. 23 MS. : And taking care of them. 24 MR. : So, not, like, watching 25 over the cells or doing cell searches, or EFTA00111473 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 counts, or anything like that? 2 MS. : No, no, no, no, no. Oh, like, 3 what -- 4 MR. : Or rounds. 5 MS. -- officers does? No. 6 MR. : No. Okay. 7 MR. : Isn't that - sorry - isn't a 8 unit team member also a C.O.? 9 MS. : We all are correctional 10 officers, but I know exactly what he means. 11 What he means is, like -- 12 MR. : He means, like -. 13 MS. : -- as an officer, like, how 14 they do, like, all their rounds and stuff like 15 that. 16 MR. : And custody. Working 17 MS. : Custody. Yeah. 18 MR. -- have you ever -? 19 MS. : No. I do not -- 20 MR. : So, you've never worked 21 in -- 22 MS. : -- work in custody at all. 23 MR. : -- custody. 24 MS. : Yeah. 25 MR. : Okay. And this is the EFTA00111474 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 42 1 last question that I have for you. What are 2 some of the systematic problems inside the MCC? 3 And specifically, the SHU that allowed for 4 Epstein to die. 5 MS. : Don't know. 6 MR. : Okay. Do you have any 7 more? 8 MR. : Yeah. You mentioned that Mr. 9 was a communicator. Doesn't it mean, 10 like, if there were any issues or anything that 11 came up, he would actually address it with the 12 supervisor? 13 MS. : Yeah. He will. 14 MR. : Okay. Has he ever come to 15 you with any issues? 16 MS. : No. 17 MR. : Now, if did come to 18 you during that week - just a hypothetical -- 19 MS. : Mm-hmm. 20 MR. : -- if he did come to you that 21 week, saying, hey, listen, the cameras are 22 down, what would you have told him to do? 23 MS. : I would speak to my AW, the 24 warden, the president, and everybody, we're 25 fixing this situation. EFTA00111475 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 43 1 MR. : And you would have told him 2 to fix it before he went home? 3 MS. : Yeah. 4 MR. : You mentioned there were 5 comtechs in August of 2019, right? Was it 6 another person other than , also? 7 MS. : What do you mean, there was 8 Comtech? 9 MR. : You said there were 10 MS. is a Comtech. 11 MR. is there another Comtech 12 that you were referring -? 13 MS. : Now, there is. 14 MR. : Oh, not back then? 15 MS. : I don't recall if he got hired 16 back then. 17 MR. : Okay. Who was the other 18 person? 19 MS. 20 MR. : First name? 21 MS. 22 MR. : Okay. That's all I got. 23 MR. : And oh, because we showed 24 you this, do you mind just initialing and 25 dating it? EFTA00111476 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 MS. : Oh. 2 MR. : It's not certifying the 3 accuracy. It's just to say that -- 4 MS. : Right here? 5 MR. : -- that's what we -? 6 Yeah. That would be great. That's just -- 7 MS. : Initial? 8 MR. : -- the email. Yes, 9 please. 10 MR. : And today's date. 8/5/21. 11 MS. : Today is -- 12 MR. : 8/5/21. 13 MS. : Five. 14 MR. : Okay. If you could just 15 bear with me. We were just provided this 16 documentation. So, we just wanted you to 17 before we say done, I want to see what this 18 says. What is a CSM? 19 MS. : CSM? Correctional System 20 Management. 21 MR. : Okay. And I'm going to 22 just read this to you. So, this is from when 23 the camera system, I guess, has a problem, back 24 25 MS. : Mm-hmm. EFTA00111477 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 45 1 MR. : -- in the day, they would 2 contact the contractor, and then, they would 3 report what was relayed. 4 MS. : Mm-hmm. 5 MR. : So, maybe you might be 6 able to help fill in the blanks here. It says, 7 called us on Thursday, August 8 8th, stating that he had two bad drives on his 9 raid, until" - or, sorry, "unit, of the NICE 10 Vision Pro Unit NVR. We advised him to get 11 replacement drives. Once they are replaced, 12 they should start to initialize, to become 13 available for the raid array. did not 14 have drives readily available. He checked with 15 his local CSM to see if they had any spare 16 replacement drives." So, do you know what the 17 local CSM would mean? 18 MS. : No. 19 MR. : Do you think that may be 20 -? 21 MS. : CSM? No. That's probably 22 something on their behalf. I don't -. 23 MR. : Okay. "Once he located 24 replacement drives on Friday, August 9th, he 25 did not have access to the DVR room to replace EFTA00111478 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 them. He called SIGNET (Phonetic Sp. 2 *00:26:14) for phone support, on Saturday, 3 August 10th, when he gained access to the DVR 4 room. He attempted to replace the drives, and 5 they started to rebuild. During the rebuild 6 process of the drives, the drives were required 7 to be taken out of the raid on DVR-2. Once the 8 drives are removed without proper shutdown of 9 the recorder, the video database becomes 10 corrupted. Typically, any time the raid on a 11 raid-five configuration was just two drives. 12 The raid needs to be rebuilt and all data is 13 wiped from the raid." Do you know anything 14 about that? 15 MS. : No. 16 MR. : No? All right. And just 17 because I read that, you mind just initialing 18 and dating that? 19 MS. : Sure. 20 MR. : This a service request 21 number 24975. 22 MS. : Sign here? 23 MR. : Actually, you can just 24 sign the top of this. 25 MS. : Okay. EFTA00111479 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 47 1 MR. : What did you think CSM meant? 2 MS. : CM -- 3 MR. : CM -. 4 MS. : -- well, we have a CSM here, 5 which is Correctional System Management, but 6 that's a -. 7 MR. : What do they do? 8 MR. : Because it said he 9 checked with his local CSM. 10 MR. : Do they keep, like, a -- 11 MS. (Indiscernible *00:27:13). 12 MR. : -- supplies on hand, or 13 anything like that? 14 MS. : Correctional -. What is it 15 again? 16 MR. : It says he checked with 17 his local CSM. 18 MS. : Yeah. That's probably 19 something else. That's probably something with 20 cameras, but we do have a Correctional System, 21 but that's -- 22 MR. : What's Correctional -? 23 MS. : -- that's the intake. 24 MR. : Oh. 25 MS. : That's (Indiscernible EFTA00111480 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 1 *00:27:27). 2 MR. : They don't keep supplies or 3 anything? 4 MS. : No. No. 5 MR. : Okay. Anything else for 6 us, that we're not asking you? 7 MS. : No. 8 MR. : Anything else about the 9 cameras being down -- 10 MS. : No. 11 MR. : -- or Epstein dying? No? 12 All right. 13 MS. : No. 14 MR. : All right. 15 MS. : Jesus Christ. I'm, like 16 MR. : Yeah. 17 MS. no. Like -. 18 MR. : All right. Hold on. 19 We're going to stop this thing. 20 MS. : Okay. 21 MR. : Okay. So, this is Senior 22 Special Agent . The time is 23 1:26 p.m., and I am stopping the recorder. 24 25 EFTA00111481 LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 49 1 CERTIFICATE 2 I hereby certify that the foregoing pages 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 represent an accurate transcript of the electronic sound recording of the proceedings before the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General in the matter of: Interview of Brianna Rose Burton, Transcriber EFTA00111482