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1 from speaking to Mr. Adler could bring in a
2 significant amount of money to the firm.
3 Q. At that time Mr. Adler was one of your
4 co-conspirators in the Ponzi scheme; is that correct?
5 A. By this time, yes, sir.
6 Q. Okay. When did Mr. Adler become a
7 co-conspirator in your Ponzi scheme?
8 A. I don't recall the specific date.
9 Q. Was it before or after Mr. Adler recommended
10 that Brad Edwards be hired at your firm?
11 A. Before.
12 Q. So before Brad Edwards was hired at RRA,
13 Russell Adler was a co-conspirator of yours in the
14 illegal part of the RRA firm; is that correct?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. Then after that time you hired --
17 Mr. Edwards was hired after Adler was your
18 co-conspirator? You are laughing, you are smiling,
19 why is that, sir?
20 A. Because when you say "RRA" that way, the
21 speaker sounds, it sounds like you are roaring.
22 Q. Okay. I'll just say Rothstein, how about
23 that? You know what I'm talking about if I just say
24 Rothstein.
25 A. RRA is fine.
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1 Q. Okay. So Adler is your co-conspirator in
2 the Ponzi scheme at the time that Brad Edwards is
3 hired, correct?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Okay. Was it Adler who recommended to you
6 that Brad Edwards be hired?
7 A. Yes. He was one of the people.
8 Q. Who else recommended that Edwards be hired?
9 A. I don't have a specific recollection of who
10 it was, but others did.
11 Q. All right. But you have a recollection of
12 Adler being one of the people, so let's talk about
13 that, all right?
14 What did Adler tell you about Brad Edwards
15 when you hired him? Did he tell you that he had these
16 Epstein cases or an Epstein case in the fold?
17 A. Among other things, yes.
18 Q. What else did he tell you?
19 A. Told me he was a great lawyer and a great
20 guy.
21 Q. Did he tell you what his history was, what
22 Edwards' history was prior to coming to the Rothstein
23 firm?
24 A. I'm certain that I asked him, but I don't
25 have a specific recollection of that conversation.
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1 Q. What did Adler tell you about the Epstein
2 case that Edwards had at the time you were
3 contemplating hiring him to become a member of the
4 Rothstein firm?
5 A. He told me that it was a huge case involving
6 a billionaire pedophile and that it was a winner.
7 Q. Did you, when you heard that, did you think
8 that was a case that could become part of your
9 Ponzi scheme?
10 A. No, I actually thought of it as a way to
11 earn legitimate money to help me out of the Ponzi
12 scheme.
13 Q. So at the time you hired Mr. Edwards and you
14 were talking to Adler about Edwards, you were trying
15 to get out from under the Ponzi scheme?
16 A. In the bulk of 2009 I was praying for some
17 sort of legitimate influx of money to get out of the
18 Ponzi scheme.
19 Q. Okay. So now Adler tells you about this
20 Brad Edwards guy, did you know Brad Edwards before
21 Adler talked to you about him? Had you run into him?
22 A. I may have. I don't have a specific
23 recollection one way or the other.
24 Q. Okay. So now he tells you that you should
25 consider hiring Brad Edwards, this is your
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1 co-conspirator talking to you, right? Is that
2 correct?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And he says, by the way, he's got this great
5 Epstein case involving this billionaire, correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Presumably then you had a meeting with Brad
8 Edwards when you met him; is that correct?
9 MR. SCAROLA: Presumably he had a meeting
10 when he met him?
11 MR. GOLDBERGER: I'm sorry, Mr. Scarola was
12 cutting you off when you answered, so go ahead, answer
13 again.
14 MR. SCAROLA: I didn't understand the
15 question.
16 BY MR. GOLDBERGER:
17 Q. Do you understand the question,
18 Mr. Rothstein?
19 A. I'm not sure I do because you asked me if I
20 had a meeting when I met him and I think that meeting
21 him is a meeting.
22 Q. Well, there was a meeting, correct?
23 A. I most likely met him before I hired him. I
24 most likely talked to him before I hired him because
25 that was my general way of doing business. It's all
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