Government objections during the fifth day of Scott Rothstein's deposition made it clear he's not allowed to give any details on his affiliations with organized crime or his claims that he bribed cops and judges.
On the seventh day of his deposition -- the afternoon session of December 20 in the transcripts -- Rothstein was being questioned by attorney Mark Schnapp, who's representing TD Bank.
Schnapp went through objections to show on the record that Rothstein's not allowed to give details on certain things and also questioned Rothstein's dealings with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
It was a brief exchange that included a few interruptions from Assistant U.S. District Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio, so we'll publish that part of the transcript -- which seems pretty open to interpretation:
Q Have you been charged with any other crimes at the U.S. Attorney's Office?
A Not to my knowledge, sir, no.
Q Are you going to be?
A I certainly hope not.
Q So have you been given immunity from other crimes?
A No, sir.
Q What other crimes have you disclosed to the U.S. Attorney's Office that you have committed?
MR. LAVECCHIO: In a general way.
A Money laundering; extortion; bribing public officials, law enforcement.
Q You said law enforcement, do you mean bribing law enforcement?
A Bribing law enforcement; paying law enforcement to do illegal activity.
Q Tax?
A Interfering with the judiciary; tax evasion. Actually mine wasn't really tax evasion. I actually was inflating my taxes. I don't know what you call that. I wasn't actually evading taxes, I was overpaying my taxes. That's all I recall at this moment, I'm sure there may be more.
Q Now, I know I'm going to go through objections, but I just want the record clear. Which judges did you bribe?
MR. LAVECCHIO: Objection, privilege.
Q Which political officers did you bribe?
MR. LAVECCHIO: Objection, privilege.
Q Are you going to follow the U.S. Attorney's Office's instructions not to answer my questions?
A Yes, sir.
Q Which people did you threaten?
MR. LAVECCHIO: Objection, privilege.
Q Were you involved in any other schemes other than the ones that have been disclosed through these proceedings?
MR. SCHERER: What was the question?
Q Were you involved in any other schemes other than the ones that have been disclosed through these proceedings? I'll include there the Ponzi scheme and the issues with the fake judicial opinion.
MR. LAVECCHIO: I'm going to object given the way you've couched that question. Scheme is a very broad term.
Q Fair enough. Have you been involved in any other fraudulent act other than the activity that's been discussed during the course of your deposition?
A If you're including things I've been asked about that I've not been allowed to answer, then the answer is yes.
Q And with respect to your involvement in those activities do you expect to be prosecuted?
A I hope not.
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