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REPORTED BY:
UNITED STATES SENATE
Select Committee on Ethics

IN RE: ENSIGN INQUIRY
CONFIDENTIAL DEPOSITION OF
Monday, March 21, 2 011
Hart Senate Office Building
Suite 220
ft'


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1 Deposition of called f o r
2 examination pursuant to notice of deposition,
3 Monday, March 21, 2011, i n Washington, DC, at the
4 Senate Select Committee on Ethics, Hart Senate
5 Office Building, Suite 220, at 3:54 p.m., before


w i t h i n and f o r the
7 D i s t r i c t of Columbia, when were present on behalf of
8 the respective
9
ESQ

12 Gates LLP
13 1601 K Street, NW
14 Washington, DC 20006-1600
15 202-778-9000
On behalf of Senate Ethics Committee
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--continued--
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APPEARANCES (continued)
ESQ.
ESQ.
United States Senate Select
Committee on Ethics
220 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 2 0510
202-224-2981

On behalf of Senate Ethics Committee
United States Senate Select
Committee on Ethics
220 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 2 0510
202-
On behalf of Senate Ethics Committee
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P R O C E E D I N G S
Whereupon,
was called as a witness and, having f i r s t been duly
sworn, was examined and t e s t i f i e d as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY
Q Good afternoon.
A Good afternoon.

law f i r m of Gates. Our f i r m has been appointed
special counsel i n the preliminary i n q u i r y regarding
Senator John Ensign.
You've met us a l l o f f the record, but to
my l e f t i s
I have a long preamble to read to you that
we read to every witness. I f you have any questions
about i t , j u s t l e t me know.
A You don't need to, but I sense you w i l l
anyway. I'm very f a m i l i a r with depositions, but go

Q Well, t h i s preamble you may not have heard

5
1 before. I t ' s unique t o where we are here today.
2 A Okay.
3 Q Senate Select Committee on Ethics has
4 summoned you here today f o r deposition a witness
5 i n connection with the committee's preliminary
6 inquiry concerning Senator John Ensign. Our
7 questions and your answers w i l l be recorded by the
8 court reporter. Because t h i s i s a deposition before
9 a l e g i s l a t i v e branch agency, your statements today
10 are subject to the False Statements Statute, Section
11 1001 of T i t l e XVIII of the U.S.. Code.
12 A d d i t i o n a l l y , because t h i s i s a sworn
13 deposition, your statements are also subject to
14 penalty of perjury, both under Section of the
15 Supplementary Procedural Rules of the Select
16 Committee on Ethics, as well as Section 1621 and
17 1505 of T i t l e XVIII of the U.S. Code.
Thus you may not make any
19 false statements or knowingly mislead the committee
2 0 through your answers here today.
Also I want to l e t you know about some
rules regarding t h i s proceeding. Supplementary
2 3 Procedure Rule 8 dictates s t r i c t on
our part regarding the fact of t h i s deposition and
2 5 a l l statements made here today. This r u l e does not
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1 govern your discussions of t h i s interview, however.
2 I t ' s our expectation that no witness w i l l t a i l o r
3 statements or t a l k to other witnesses i n order to
4 give your testimony. We want the t r u t h , whole t r u t h
5 and nothing but the t r u t h .
6 We request you r e f r a i n from discussing our
7 questions and your answers w i t h anyone, other than
8 your attorney, and since you are an attorney, j u s t
9 t a l k to yourself. Do you understand that?
10 A Yes.
11 Q A d d i t i o n a l l y , pursuant to Supplementary
12 Rule 6, you are e n t i t l e d the opportunity t o inspect
13 the t r a n s c r i p t of your deposition i n the committee's
14 o f f i c e s and request t r a n s c r i p t i o n errors be
15 corrected through an errata sheet. I f you wish to
16 do t h i s , please contact us, you'd have to come back
17 here to do i t . We can't l e t the deposition
18 t r a n s c r i p t leave the room.
19 you want to take a break, l e t us know.
2 0 We'd ask you not do a break while a question i s
21 pending. We're not t r y i n g t o t r i p you up here.
22 We're both attorneys. I f I ask an i n a r t f u l
23 question, j u s t l e t me know and I ' l l re-ask i t .
24 (Exhibit i d e n t i f i e d . )

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Q

A
Q
A
Q
With a l l t h a t s a i d , I'm going to show you
Okay.
Does t h i s document look f a m i l i a r to you?
Yes, i t
I s i t the n o t i c e we sent to you to appear
here today?
A Yes, i t i s .
Q J u s t throw i t i n the middle.
S t a r t w i t h easy s t u f f . What's your
background?
A
Q And what employment have you had s i n c e you
completed
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gave me
c e l l phone, and I one afternoon picked i t up and
called i t , I would get the answering machine,
but I actually got him.
Q What happened -- that's Senator John
Ensign?
Q And what was his response?
A He -- there was the proverbial pregnant
pause. I detected him l e t t i n g out a sigh and said
why did he have to get. lawyers involved. And I
said, w e l l , he has. I j u s t need to know who your
representative would be.
And he said he would get back to me.

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4 Q Okay. Just to backtrack a l i t t l e . On the
5 i n i t i a l c a l l w i t h Senator Ensign, you said he had
6 sighed and said why do lawyers have to get involved?
7 Did he speak to you about anything else, about the
8 facts or settlements or anything of that nature?
9 A
10 Q Just I ' l l get back to you?
Yes. And I think i t was something more,

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where John came out and s a i d he
wasn't going t o run again f o r r e e l e c t i o n ,
heard t h a t John was f l y i n g back
t o Las Vegas from here, D.C., and he was going t o be
having a press conference, and|
was going t o admit a f f a i r p u b l i c l y .
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i d e n t i f i e d . )


Q Let me show you f i r s t see i f you've
seen t h a t document before.
A Yeah, I have seen t h a t .
Q what connection have you seen t h i s
document before?
A
Q
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( E x h i b i t i d e n t i f i e d .
BY
Q Just f o r quick housekeeping, can you
i d e n t i f y

A
Let's take a quick break.
You can go i n the anteroom. We'll come back on, see
i f we have anything f u r t h e r f o r you.
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THE WITNESS: I was going t o say, are we
2 g e t t i n g close?

4 (Recess.)


7 o Those notes r i g h t there we're showing you.
Q Yes. Thank you.
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That's a l l I have.
Thank you f o r your time.
THE WITNESS: You're welcome.
(Whereupon, a t 5:28 p.m., the d e p o s i t i o n

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I HEREBY CERTIFY t h a t I have t h i s
t r a n s c r i p t of my d e p o s i t i o n and t h a t t h i s t r a n s c r i p t
3 a c c u r a t e l y s t a t e s the testimony given by me, w i t h
the changes or c o r r e c t i o n s , i f any, as noted.
X
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11 Subscribed and sworn t o before, me t h i s day of
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My commission e x p i r e s :
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Notary Public
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C O N T E N T S
WITNESS
EXAMINATION
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EXHIBIT NUMBER
E x h i b i t i d e n t i f i e d
E x h i b i t i d e n t i f i e d
E x h i b i t i d e n t i f i e d
E x h i b i t i d e n t i f i e d
E x h i b i t i d e n t i f i e d
E x h i b i t i d e n t i f i e d
IDENTIFIED
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