YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 1 S W O R N S T A T E M E N T OF YOLANDA POLLARD Recorded on Wednesday, the 10th day of October, 2018, at the Law Offices of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, 909 Poydras Street, 28th Floor, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112. REPORTED BY: Gail G. Freese, CCR JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 2 1 I N D E X 2 Caption 1 3 Index 2-3 4 Appearances 3-4 5 Exhibits 5-7 6 WITNESS: Ms. Yolanda Pollard 7 EXAMINATION BY: 8 9 10 MR. COMAN JUDGE JOHNSON MR. LAWRENCE MR. IBERT 197 8, 211 17, 211 191 11 APPEARANCES: 12 13 14 15 REPRESENTING THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: SHER, GARNER, CAHILL, RICHTER, KLEIN & HILBERT MATTHEW M. COMAN, ESQ. 909 Poydras Street - 28th Floor New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 16 17 18 19 LAWRENCE & ASSOCIATES BY: J. C. LAWRENCE, ESQ. AND ANTHONY J. IBERT, ESQ. 303 South Broad Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70119 20 21 JUDGE CALVIN JOHNSON 5025 Willow Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70115 22 REPRESENTING ENTERGY: 23 24 25 ENTERGY SERVICES, INC. CORY R. CAHN, ESQ. Legal Services 639 Loyola Avenue JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 3 1 APPEARANCES - Continued 2 REPRESENTING ENTERGY: 3 4 5 6 CHAFFE McCALL BY: WALTER F. BECKER, JR. AND TERRY Q. ALARCON, ESQ. 1100 Poydras Street Suite 2300 New Orleans, Louisiana 70163-2300 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 EXHIBITS: 1 - ENO-NOPS006463-6464 - Email Thread (Top) 6/9/2016 Green-Brown to Rice, Huntley, Hall, Cragin, Barton Sub: Re: CT Strategy Meeting 2 - ENO-NOPS006753-6758 - Email Thread (Top) 7/27/2016 Huntley to Green-Brown Sub: Re: Thursday's Council Utility Committee Meeting - STAKEHOLDER REMARKS 25 3 - ENO-NOPS006788-6789 - Email Thread (Top) 7/26/2016 Pollard to BillR, Ehrhardt Sub: Re: Thursday's Council Utility Committed Meeting - STAKEHOLDER REMARKS 27 4 - ENO-NOPS006353-6460 - Email Thread (Top) 7/27/16 Pollard to Green-Brown, Sub: Thursday's With Council Utility Committee Meeting- STAKEHOLDER REMARKS - With Attachment: Entergy New Orleans Power Station New Orleans Residential Concerns About Protection Against Storms 5 - ENO-NOPS006659 - 12/6/2016 Email - GreenBrown to Pollard - List of Stakeholders For December 12th Meeting 6 - NAWTHORN001003-1006 - Email Thread (Top) August 13, 2017 Ashford to Hammelman, Walsh Sub: Shall We Talk 37 7 - ENO-NOPS000409 - Outlook Calendar 8/15/17 5:30 to 6:30 8 - ENO-NOPS00314-6318 - 8/16/17 Sub: Tweets From Last Night's Meeting 9 - ENO-NOPS000003 - Outlook Calendar 8/24/17 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Chanel Lagarde 10 - ENO-NOPS000324 - Outlook Calendar 8/29/17 3:30 to 4:00 - Suzanne Hammelman 11 - ENO-NOPS000008-11 - Memorandum Hammelman and Scott-Belli to Pollard - Re: Follow-Up Proposal 12 - ENO-NOPS000756-759 - Email Thread -TCNA Intervention re UD-17-04 Investigation and Remediation of Service Disruptions 13 - ENO-NOPS000005-6 - Outlook Calendar 8/31/17 4:00 - 4:30 - Campaign Strategy Discussion 14 - ENO-NOPS00007-28 8/31/2017 Email Pollard to Rice, Lagarde Sub: Hawthorn's Follow-Up Proposal 15 - ENO-NOPS000012 - Email Thread (Top) 9/5/2017 Pollard to Rice - Sub: Hawthorn's Latest JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 24 28 31 39 40 39 46 47 51 53 54 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 EXHIBITS - Continued 16 - Hawthorn000032-33 - Email Thread (Top) September 19, 2017 Pollard to Hammelman Sub: Re. Oct. Hearing 17 - Hawthorn000034-37 - Email Thread (Top) September 20, 2017 Pollard to Hammelman Sub: Re. Entergy New Orleans Information 18 - ENO-NOPS006854-6856 - Email Thread (Top) Pollard to Huntley, Green-Brown Sub: FW: Stakeholder Calls on NOPS 19 - October 3, 2017 Text Message Communications Rice/Pollard 71 20 - October 3, 2017 Email Thread (Top) Hammelman to Pollard Sub: FW: Yesterday's New Orleans Flooding - Reference to 75 21 - October 3, 2017 Email Thread (Top) Pollard to Hammelman Re: Revised Proposal 22 - Hawthorn000148-150 - Email Thread (Top) October 3, 2017 Hammelman to Swart Sub: Revised Proposal - QUESTION 23 - ENO-NOPS006833-6836 - Email Thread (Top) Pollard to Mercadel Sub: FW: NOPS SUPPORT AT OCTOBER 16TH PUBLIC HEARING ON NOPS - ASSIGNMENTS 81 23A- Hawthorn000163 - October 16, 2017 Email Hammelman to Swart Sub: FW: All Set! 85 24 - Hawthorn000160 - October 16, 2017 Email Thread (Top) Hammelman to Swart, Cohen Sub: FW: All Set! 25 - 3 Pages of Color Photos 26 - October 15, 2017, Text Message Communications Rice/Pollard 27 - Hawthorn000316-17 - Email Thread October 16, 2017 Hammelman to Swart Sub: Fwd: All Set! 28 - October 20, 2017 Text Message Communications Rice/Pollard 28A - Hawthorn000056 - Email Pollard to Hammelman Sub: Following Up 29 - ENO-NOPS006311-6312 - Email Thread (Top) Cavell to Rice Sub: The Lens 30 - Hawthorn000058-59 - October 23, 2017 Email Pollard to Hammelman Sub: Second Tweet, See Comments 31 - ENO-NOPS008573-8575 - Email Thread (Top) 10/23/2017 Cavell to Pollard, Green-Brown Sub: FW: (Sprinklr) Message Assigned JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 58 66 69 77 79 87 89 93 96 97 98 100 101 102 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 EXHIBITS - Continued 32 - ENO-NOPS006571-6572 - 10/24/2017 Email Thread (Top) Cureington to Pollard, GreenBrown Sub: FW: Docket UD-16-02 10-16-17 Public Hearing - Cards provided by persons who were unable to speak due to expiration of time 33 - ENO-NOPS006564-6570 - October 16, 2017 UC16-04 Public Hearing Public Comment Cards Of People Who Spoke (With Color Coding) 34 - Hawthorn00004 - January 11, 2018 Email Thread (Top) Pollard to Hammelman Re: Please call my cell when you get a minute 34A - January 11, 2017 Text Message Communications Rice/Pollard 35 - Hawthorn00005-6 - Email Thread (Top) January 19, 2018 Pollard to Hammelman Sub: Re: Feb 21 Hearing Options 36 - Hawthorn00014-15 - Email Thread (Top) Pollard to Hammelman Sub: RE: Please Review attached for next week113 37 - Hawthorn000016 - February 21, 2017 Email Pollard to Hammelman Re: Room Opens at 8:30 AM 38 - Hawthorn000198-199 - February 22, 2018 Email Thread (Top) Hammelman to Swart Sub: FW: Last Night 39 - ENO-NOPS005839-5840 2/23/2018 Email Thread (Top) Williams to Raymond, Green-Brown, Pollard Sub: RE: NOPS Support Speakers Feb 21 18 With Attachment 40 - ENO-NOPS006106-6127 - 2/27/2018 Email Doucette to Pollard Sub: Re: ENO Opposition Group Monitoring Feb 26, 2018 With Attachments 41 - Hawthorn000248 - March 5, 2018 Email Thread - (Top) Hammelman to Swart Sub: FW: Request for key points 42 - Hawthron000020-23 March 5, 2018 Email Thread (Top) Pollard to Hammelman Sub: Re: Request for key points128 43 - ENO-NOPS000548-549 - Email Thread (Top) 3/6/2018 Hammelman to Pollard Sub: Re: Request for key points 44 - ENO-NOPS000519 - March 8, 2018 Email Thread (Top) Pollard to Hammelman Sub: Re: Congrats! JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 106 107 108 109 110 114 119 123 124 125 130 131 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 EXHIBITS - Continued 45 - ENO-NOPS000133 - 3/23/2018 Email Pollard to Accounts Payable Invoices @ Entergy Sub: Please Process: Hawthorn Group Invoice 46 - ENO-NOPS000319-321 - 4/12/2018 Email Thread (Top) To: Franklin Sub: RE: Confirm Status Bright Moments Invoices137 47 - ENO-NOPS000249-252 - Email Thread (Top) 4/27/18 Pollard to Guidroz Sub: Hawthorn_ Entergy Contract 48 - ENO-NOPS000492-493 - Contract Change Order Pursuant to Contract No. 10529184 49 - ENO-NOPS000496-497 - Contract Change Order Pursuant to Contract No. 10529184 50 - ENO-NOPS006009-6014 - Hawthorn Fee Schedule With Attachments 51 - ENO-NOPS0005760 - 4/27/2018 Email Thread (Top) Pollard to Stein Sub: Fwd: Media Request 52 - ENO-NOPS005763-5764 - Email Thread (Top) 4/30/18 Pollard to Cragin, Guillot Sub: Fwd: Media Request - The Lens 53 - Entergy Update - Opposition - Article 54 - ENO-NOPS005953-5955 - Email Thread (Top) 5/1/2018 Pollard to Huntley, Rice, Cragin, Guillot, Freese Sub: UPDATED DETAILS MEDIA REQUEST: The Lens 55 - ENO-NOPS0000323 - Email Thread (Top) 5/3/2018 Raymond to Franklin Sub: RE: Invoice Approval 56 - ENO-NOPS005947 - 5/4/2018 Email Thread (Top) Rice to Ehrhardt Sub: Re: Lens: Actors paid to attend council meeting re: Power plant153 57 - ENO-NOPS005923-5924 - Email Thread (Top) 5/5/2018 Lagarde to Rice Sub: Statement to Lens and WWL-TV 58 - ENO-NOPS005737 - Email Thread (Top) 5/5/2018 Rice to West, Brown, Lagarde, Pollard, Cragin Sub: Fwd: Statement to Lens and WWL-TV 59 - ENO-NOPS005807-5808 - 5/5/2018 Email Rice to West, Brown, Cragin, Pollard, Huntley, Lagarde, Cavell Sub: C. Rice Statement re Lens FINAL 5/4/18 With Attachment 60 - Hawthorn000456 - Hawthorn Invoice 9/21/2017164 61 - Hawthorn000458 - Hawthorn Invoice 1/19/2018165 62 - Photocopies of Color Photos (8 Pages) JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 133 138 140 140 142 146 147 151 151 154 159 161 167 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 8 1 Gail Freese, a Certified Court Reporter in and 2 for the State of Louisiana, officiated in administering the 3 oath to the herein-named witness, and recorded the 4 following: 5 YOLANDA POLLARD 6 639 Loyola Avenue 7 New Orleans, Louisiana 8 after having first been duly sworn, was examined, and 9 did testify as follows: 10 11 12 13 14 15 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Ms. Pollard, please state your name and address for the record. A Louisiana Q Yolanda Pollard, 639 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, 70113. And Ms. Pollard, my name is Matthew Coman, and 16 along with Judge Johnson and other attorneys associated with 17 Judge Johnson, we have been retained by the New Orleans City 18 Council to investigate certain allegations made concerning 19 your employer, Entergy. 20 purpose for today's sworn statement? Do you understand that to be the 21 A Yes. 22 Q And with that, as I said before we went onto the 23 record, if you want to take a break at any time please let 24 us know, and we can do that. 25 We have some questions for you today, and we JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 9 1 would like to ask you about certain documents. 2 that, we'll get started. 3 And with Where do you work currently? 4 A I work for Entergy. 5 Q Which particular entity? 6 A I work for Entergy Services, Inc. 7 Q How long have you worked at Entergy? 8 A I've worked for Entergy for over 21 years. 9 Q A what roles have you filled during your tenure 10 at Entergy? 11 A 12 I have served as Communications Specialist, Communications Manager, Communications Director. 13 Q And what is your current job title? 14 A My current job title is Communications Manager. 15 Q How long have you held that particular title? 16 A I have held that particular title since 2012. 17 Q Now, we understand you recently changed 18 19 20 positions; is that correct? A I changed locations, office locations, that is correct. 21 Q 22 originally? 23 A And from where to where? Where were you I was based at the Entergy New Orleans 24 headquarters building. I'm currently at the Entergy 25 Corporation headquarters building. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 10 1 Q And when did that occur? 2 A During the last week of August I made that 3 lateral transition. 4 Q Why? 5 A There were some resource needs at our corporate 6 office within our Corporate Communications Department, and I 7 was asked to step in to cover some of those bases. 8 Q Who asked you to do that? 9 A I was asked by my immediate supervisor. 10 Q Which is whom? 11 A My immediate supervisor is Chanel Lagarde. 12 Q So same title but different location; is that 13 correct? 14 A That is correct. 15 Q And that was, you said, the last week of August, 16 this year, 2018? 17 A That is correct. 18 Q So before that transition, were you still 19 reporting to Mr. Lagarde? 20 A Yes, I was. 21 Q Who were you supervising, if anyone? 22 A I was supervising one Communications Specialist. 23 Q Which is who? 24 A The name of that employee is Charlotte Cavell. 25 Q Are you still supervising Ms. Cavell? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 11 1 A No, I am not. 2 Q While in that -- in your original role, I'll call 3 it "original role," meaning prior to this transition, did 4 you work with Charles Rice? 5 A Yes, 6 Q Are you working with Charles Rice now? 7 A I'm not correctly working directly with Charles 8 9 I worked with Charles Rice in that role. Rice. Q In that previous role, were you described and did 10 you fulfill the role as "project manager" for the NOPS Power 11 Station application? 12 A Yes, I did. 13 Q Do you still maintain that particular role? 14 A No, I do not. 15 Q Why not? 16 A I am currently working in our corporate office, 17 supporting general department needs and filling some 18 resources at that location. 19 Q Did that transition have anything to do, or 20 connected, or associated with the allegations that were 21 lodged against Entergy recently in May of this year, 2018? 22 A No, it did not. 23 Q Was your transition planned before it took place? 24 A I'm not aware of any discussions related to 25 planning the transition. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 12 1 Q How did you find out? 2 A I was informed by Chanel Lagarde. 3 Q And tell us about that. 4 5 What did he tell you and where were you when that took place? A I was actually traveling on business at that 6 point with Chanel, and I was informed at that point that 7 there were some resource needs in our corporate office that 8 he would like for me to cover. 9 10 11 12 Q A I actually started working on some of those tasks the very next day. Q 14 immediate? 15 A 17 How soon did that take effect? 13 16 And what was your transition period? Okay. So fairly -- Would you describe that as I would describe that as filling a need the very next day. Q When did you move offices? How soon after 18 Mr. Lagarde informed you that you would be doing something 19 different from what you had been doing? 20 A I reported to that office the following Monday, 21 and most of my belongings, or actually some of my belongings 22 were transitioned -- were just scheduled to be transitioned 23 over time. 24 Q 25 And my question is real simple: move your stuff out of your office? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE When did you That's really what I 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 13 1 meant. 2 A It probably occurred a week or so later. 3 Q You were out of town with Mr. Lagarde, he tells 4 you -- you correct me if I'm wrong -- he tells you you're 5 going to be doing something different. 6 town, back into New Orleans. 7 New Orleans office? 8 9 A office. You come back into You go back to your Entergy No, I did not go back to my Entergy New Orleans I worked typically out of the corporate office for 10 the Entergy New Orleans office on a regular basis, so that's 11 not unusual. 12 Q 13 Have you been back to your office at the Entergy New Orleans building since your transfer? 14 A No, I have not. 15 Q You didn't go back to collect your own 16 belongings? 17 A Tell us about that. My belongings were actually transported through a 18 moving company. I had some belongings already packaged as 19 part of some painting that was done in the office, and those 20 boxes specifically were moved. 21 Q Someone else did it then? 22 A Yes, that's right. 23 24 25 And that's not unusual as part of our normal course of business. Q How long were you officed, so to speak, at the Entergy New Orleans building? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 14 1 A I was located there since 2012. 2 Q And where did you come from before that, the 3 4 5 6 corporate office? A Yes, I did. I worked there prior to that time, over a period of 12 years. Q So when you transitioned from the corporate 7 office to the Entergy New Orleans office back in 2012, was 8 it the same exact transition; where you were told one day 9 and then the next day you just never showed back up at your 10 old office again? 11 A Yes, it actually was. 12 Q Okay. 13 A Chanel Lagarde did tell me at that time. 14 Q Did you have any -- For your Entergy New Orleans And who told you about that transition? 15 building, did you have any security passes, or codes, or 16 anything like that? 17 A I do. 18 Q Does that work at both buildings, or is it just 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I hold a security badge. isolated to one? A I'm assuming that it still works, but I have actually not tried to use the badge. Q While you were located at the Entergy New Orleans building, how close was your office to Mr. Rice's office? A My office was just around the corner of a hallway from Mr. Rice's office. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 15 1 Q Did you work with Mr. Rice on a consistent basis? 2 A Yes, I did. 3 Q But that is no longer, correct? 4 A At this time I do not work directly with Charles 5 Rice. 6 Q Have you worked with him indirectly, or at all? 7 A I may have -- I may have participated in company 8 conference calls, where I have heard his voice, but I have 9 not worked directly with him. 10 Q 11 What were the nature of those conference calls? BY MR. CAHN: 12 I don't want you to talk about the 13 substance of any of those conference calls if 14 they involve non-public information. 15 BY THE WITNESS: 16 Those were based on internal company 17 18 initiatives. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 19 Q Did it involve the NOPS Power Station campaign in 20 any fashion? 21 A No, it did not. 22 Q Have you received any documents evidencing this 23 change in your role? In other words, has the company given 24 you a piece of paper that says: 25 your change in role? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Here, Ms. Pollard, here's 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 16 1 2 A No. Any changes are typically documented through an electronic system. 3 Q And have you reviewed those? 4 A I have -- I have reviewed the placement of my 5 6 7 title under a different supervisor, not system. Q I thought Mr. Lagarde was your original supervisor and remains your supervisor. He was my supervisor. Is that incorrect? 8 A He is not my supervisor at 9 this time. 10 Q And who is? 11 A My immediate supervisor is Michelle Delery. 12 Q And what is her title? 13 A She is Director of Employee Communications and 14 Digital Media and Corporate Services, or something to that 15 extent. 16 Q And what type of work are you doing generally 17 now, as opposed to what you were doing before you 18 transitioned? 19 20 21 A I'm supporting internal company initiatives and communication strategy around those company initiatives. Q Like what? Just give us a for instance. 22 BY MR. CAHN: 23 I'm going to instruct her not to discuss internal 24 company initiatives on the record. 25 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 17 1 Q 2 These are secret initiatives? BY MR. CAHN: 3 They're non-public initiatives. 4 BY MR. COMAN: 5 Well, I'm asking her the question. So for 6 today you can either instruct her not to answer, 7 or she can answer the question; but for today, 8 it's her statement. 9 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 10 Q 11 initiatives? 12 So my question was: BY MR. CAHN: 13 I'm going to instruct her not to answer 14 15 16 17 Are these secret those questions. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Do any of those initiatives involve the NOPS Power Station campaign? 18 A They do not. 19 Q Did you receive a reduction in pay as a result of 20 your transfer? 21 A No, I did not. 22 Q Any reduction of benefits? 23 A No, I did not. 24 Q What are your long-term prospects at Entergy? 25 A I will continue to work for Entergy in my JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 18 1 2 3 corporate communications role. Q Have any Entergy executives or management discussed your future at Entergy with you recently? 4 A No. 5 Q And you may have said this before, but I'll ask 6 you again. 7 A No, I do not at this time. 8 Q Before your removal -- I'm sorry, transfer, did 9 I apologize. Do you supervise anybody anymore? you work with Ms. Toni Green-Brown? 10 A Yes, I did. 11 Q And how about Demetric Mercadel? 12 A Yes. 13 Q You've already mentioned Mr. Lagarde, 14 Ms. Cavell. 15 A Yes. 16 Q You've been with Entergy 21 years. 17 18 How about Gary Huntley? Where did you work before Entergy? A Prior to Entergy I worked for the University of 19 New Orleans; and prior to that First Commerce Corporation, 20 the parent company of First NBC in the past. 21 22 Q And you testified before that you were the project manager for the NOPS campaign, so to speak? 23 A Yes. 24 Q What did that campaign involve? 25 I know it took place over a couple of years, so I'm not asking for every JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 19 1 daily event, but broad strokes and kind of categories, what 2 did that campaign involve? 3 A The campaign involved developing strategy to 4 communicate the project to the general public, which 5 entailed planning, customer meetings, media relations, 6 social media, advertising, career and supplier development 7 fairs, web communications; a number of matters. 8 9 10 Q And who at Entergy New Orleans was involved in that effort -- in those efforts on a regular basis? A On a regular basis, most of the Entergy 11 New Orleans lead team was involved in the New Orleans Power 12 Station effort. 13 Q 14 speak? 15 A And who would be members of that lead team, so to The key members involved in the strategy and 16 execution were: 17 course, Brian Guillot, Toni Green-Brown, Seth Cureington. 18 19 20 Q Gary Huntley, Tim Cragin, Charles Rice of At some stage, Ms. Mercadel and maybe Mr. Dunn were involved, as well? A Yes, they were part of the New Orleans Power 21 Station Strategy Team, and they participated in the 22 execution of those plans. 23 24 25 Q And would that Strategy Team also at some point involve Kim Mitchell? A Kim Mitchell was not a part of the Strategy Team. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 20 1 She is actually a part of the Entergy New Orleans Lead Team. 2 Q And how about Patty Riddlebarger? 3 A Patty Riddlebarger is a vice president based at 4 our corporate office. 5 New Orleans Lead Team or the New Orleans Power Station 6 Strategy Team. 7 Q She was not a part of the Entergy At some point we do see, though, that she was 8 involved at some level, specifically I believe in dealing 9 with various community partners; is that correct? 10 A Yes, that is part of her role. And when called 11 upon, Patty worked with us to develop some plans around some 12 of the meetings. 13 14 15 16 Q What contractor and vendor did Entergy retain to assist in this campaign? A We had several vendors working with us, including the Ramey Agency. 17 Q And that's R-A-M-E-Y? 18 A R-A-M-E-Y, yes. 19 Q Okay. 20 A The Ramey Agency worked with us on advertising What did they do? 21 and some social media, as well as developing some customer 22 information. 23 Q Okay, that's one. 24 A We also had Bright Moments and the Ehrhardt 25 Who's the next one? Group, a public relation firm -- or actually two public JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 21 1 relation firms that worked together as part of the Strategy 2 Team. 3 4 5 Q And what type of activity, let's start with Bright Moments, did they undertake? A Sure. Actually, on more of a combined basis, 6 they worked on supporting media relations, customer material 7 development, some limited outreach efforts, some development 8 of information in response to media inquiries, and strategy 9 around schedules for our community outreach meetings. 10 11 12 Q So you've got the Ramey Agency, Bright Moments, Ehrhardt Group. A Who else? We also worked with another group called Public 13 Strategies, Inc., and they were responsible for developing a 14 website where customers or the general public could actually 15 submit letters of support for New Orleans Power Station. 16 Q Who else? 17 A We worked with the Hawthorn Group, as you know. 18 They actually helped us to identify members of the general 19 public who would publicly speak in support of the plant. 20 21 22 Q Any other contractors or vendors that you can think of at this point? A Yes, there was -- There's another contractor that 23 Charles Rice worked more closely with, Green Pastures, and 24 they provided some public affairs strategy around the 25 New Orleans Power Station. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 22 1 Q And on that point, what types of public relations 2 or affairs efforts were considered by Entergy in this 3 particular project? 4 A Well, we have an internal Public Affairs Team, 5 and that Public Affairs Team, actually based on people they 6 worked with on a regular basis, or people they knew or they 7 encountered, they worked to identify people who actually 8 understood the power plant proposal as well as supported the 9 power plant proposal. They also communicated with 10 neighborhood associations, community groups on a routine 11 basis. 12 in addition to the New Orleans Power Station initiative. 13 14 15 16 17 18 Q And that's as part of their regular jobs as well as Which particular items did you oversee, or did you oversee all of them in some respects? A I had oversight for all of the initiatives related to the New Orleans Power Station. Q And for the overall application effort, though, Mr. Rice would be ultimately in charge; is that correct? 19 A Yes, that is correct. 20 Q So at a certain level you would be able to make 21 -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- you would be able to make 22 certain decisions, but on others you would seek his ultimate 23 approval; is that correct? 24 25 A On some decisions, particularly related to my communications function, I made decisions. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE In some 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 23 1 instances he made decisions, and came to me and suggested or 2 directed me to carry out certain activities. 3 Q Okay. In the NOPS effort, was there involvement 4 from other Entergy entities; meaning Services, Inc. or 5 corporate? 6 A Yes. One of the examples I mentioned earlier was 7 Patty Riddlebarger, the Vice President of Corporate Social 8 Responsibilities; so Entergy employees covering areas such 9 as Patty's would have been involved. 10 11 12 13 14 Q Was generating public support an important component of Entergy's campaign? A Generating public understanding of the proposed power station was the key focus. Q Okay, let me ask it this way, let me know if you 15 agree or disagree with this statement: 16 Entergy to show support to the New Orleans City Council. 17 18 19 A It was critical for Yes, it was critical to show support, and that was based on the public's understanding of the proposal. Q Did Entergy ever recruit people to write letters 20 to the New Orleans City Council on behalf of the NOPS 21 application? 22 A We identified people who we understood supported 23 the New Orleans Power Station, and they in some instances 24 did submit letters of support. 25 Q Did Entergy, at any time, specifically request JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 24 1 those individuals, though, write letters? 2 A Yes, we did. 3 Q I'm going to show you what is marked as Exhibit 4 1. 5 BY MR. COMAN: 6 It is a two-page document with a Bates 7 number at the bottom. 8 Mr. Cahn. 9 10 And I have a copy for you, EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Take a moment to review that email communication. 11 If you want to start on Page 2 and come forward, and just 12 let me know when you're ready to answer a couple of 13 questions. 14 A Okay. 15 Q I see your name listed on here a couple of times 16 on these email threads, correct? 17 A Yes, that's correct. 18 Q And looks like both of them came from Ms. Toni 19 Green-Brown, correct? 20 A That's correct. 21 Q At the bottom of Page 1 it reads, correct me if 22 I'm wrong, "Please let us know if: 23 writers, etc. from Entergy supporters at the IRP public 24 hearing." 25 A You need speakers/letter So tell us about that. This is a request from Toni Green-Brown. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 25 1 Specifically, to my knowledge, she's asking -- she is 2 broadly asking what are the needs that you envision for the 3 upcoming meeting. 4 Q Okay. I'll show you another email thread which I 5 have marked as Exhibit 2. There are Bates numbers at the 6 bottom. 7 us know when you've had a chance to review that. It's a little bit longer, so take your time and let 8 A Okay. 9 Q If we could start at the back. 10 A Sure. 11 Q I believe the timing works that way. So the last 12 two pages, starting at the bottom, this is an email that you 13 typed and sent on July 26, 2016, correct? 14 A Yes. 15 Q And the subject line reads: "Thursday's Council 16 Utility Committee Meeting -- Stakeholder Remarks"? 17 A That's correct. 18 Q In the following paragraph, without repeating it 19 verbatim, you discussed the need for people drafting -- or 20 identifying stakeholders and drafting two-minute remarks for 21 each, correct? 22 A That is correct. 23 Q And who are some of these stakeholders, for 24 25 instance? A The stakeholders were, at the time, as I mention JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 26 1 here in this message, they were business owners, they were 2 nonprofit partners, they were consumer advocates; so they 3 were broad categories of stakeholders that we were looking 4 to identify. 5 Q And if we move to the previous page then, the 6 next email in the thread, this again is an email that you 7 would have drafted and sent the same day, just a few hours 8 later, correct? 9 A Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). Okay. 10 Q And you address it to "Team," and you say: 11 "Please move forward with drafting of remarks, emphasizing 12 reliability, cost and environment, correct? 13 A Yes. 14 Q And basically, in the last full paragraph at the 15 bottom there, before you sign off, you say: "Hope this gives 16 you some general direction for the various stakeholder 17 scripts and messengers to get drafts underway; Toni will 18 assign and provide scripts to the appropriate messengers. 19 Please let us know any questions." 20 correct? That's what it reads, 21 A That is correct, yes. 22 Q Who was drafting the scripts? 23 A This was directed to some of our support that we 24 had on the team, including the Bright Moments and the 25 Ehrhardt Group team. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 27 1 2 Q If we turn basically to the third page, Bates number 6755, at the bottom. 3 A Okay. 4 Q Do you see an email at the top from Mr. Rouselle? 5 A Yes, I do. 6 Q Where he attached: 7 Two additional statements (a single mother and Sassafras Restaurant)." Do you see that? 8 A Yes, I did do. 9 Q Who was the single mother? 10 A I don't recall. 11 Q From what I read in there, it appears that the 12 single mother is an unknown individual, and the script is 13 basically just written for someone of that profile in mind, 14 correct? 15 A That is correct. 16 Q If you'll look at Exhibit 3 -- 17 BY MR. COMAN: 18 -- with a copy for you, Counsel. 19 20 21 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q In fact, I think this email is actually self-contained in the previous one, correct? 22 BY MR. CAHN: 23 Right. 24 BY THE WITNESS: 25 Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 28 1 BY MR. COMAN: 2 Okay, we'll stick that on the side then. 3 One second, please. 4 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 5 Q I'll show you Exhibit 4. 6 A Okay. 7 Q As an overall, this email thread contains and 8 discusses various scripts for various individuals; is that 9 correct? 10 A That's correct. 11 Q And you were a party to those communications, 12 correct? 13 A Yes, I was. 14 Q And if we turn to Bates number 6357, the first 15 script that's kind of sideways on the paper? 16 A Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 17 Q It reads: "I'm a local resident who was displaced 18 after Hurricane Katrina." 19 person? Who was that? Who was this 20 A I don't recall. 21 Q In fact, from the overall email thread, and you 22 just let me know what you believe, but from the overall 23 email communication thread, which was a script that was 24 drafted for an unknown individual, for someone to use down 25 the road? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 29 1 A I don't know if that individual was unknown, but 2 many customers were displaced after Hurricane Katrina, and 3 so the Public Affairs Team may have identified someone. 4 don't know. 5 Q 6 I Is there any listing of an individual in that email communication whatsoever? 7 A I don't see a name here. 8 Q Okay, let's turn to the next page, Bates number 9 6358, the next script. And here it reads at the top, after 10 "Entergy - New Orleans Power Station: "Customer from an 11 Environmental Position." It doesn't list who the customer 12 is; is that correct? 13 A No, it doesn't. 14 Q The first sentence reads: "I am an avid supporter 15 of the environment." 16 A That's correct. 17 Q And in this email communication, is this person 18 identified anywhere? 19 A I don't see a name on here. 20 Q Okay, if you turn to the next page there is 21 someone who's identified from Signs Now, Michelle -- 22 A Michelle Gobert. 23 Q Do you know her? 24 A Yes. 25 Q What is Signs Now? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 30 1 A Signs Now is a local graphics and sign business. 2 Q So someone drafted, I guess one of your vendors 3 4 drafted this script for her to use, correct? A We drafted this script as some general ideas of 5 messages or points that she might consider as she stated her 6 own support for the plant. 7 8 Q Did she ever come and speak at any particular meeting? 9 A I don't recall. 10 Q Is Signs Now a vendor for Entergy? 11 A Yes, they are. 12 Q So Entergy provides Signs Now with money, 13 correct? 14 A Entergy pays Signs Now for services provided. 15 Q All right. And the last page, Bates number 6360, 16 if you could turn to that one? That one reads, at the upper 17 left-hand corner: "Entergy - New Orleans Power Station, East 18 New Orleans Homeowner," correct? 19 A That's correct. 20 Q And what does the next sentence read, please? 21 22 23 24 25 Could you read that out loud for us? A "I am" blank (address). I am a homeowner and lifelong resident of New Orleans." Q So again, an unknown person just to fill in the blank, correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 31 1 A This was a message that was developed to share 2 with someone so that they could state their own opinions or 3 thoughts about the New Orleans Power Station. 4 5 Q But that person is not listed or referenced anywhere in that email communication, correct? 6 A There is no name here. 7 Q In fact, as you stated, there's a blank, 8 literally a line, correct? 9 A There is a line here. 10 Q Go ahead and take a look, if you could, at what's 11 marked as Exhibit 5. 12 Ready, Ms. Pollard? 13 A Yes. 14 Q You received this email on December 6, 2016, 15 correct? 16 A Yes. 17 Q And the "Attachments" reads: 18 "List of stakeholders for December 12th meeting," correct? 19 A Where are you? 20 Q The "Attachments" part (INDICATING), "List of the 21 22 23 24 25 stakeholders" at the top. A Oh, the subject line, okay. I'm sorry, I thought you were referring to the file name. Q Right. And in this two-page attachment it has basically a grid or a chart on the left-hand side that says, JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 32 1 "Potential Speakers," correct? 2 A Yes. 3 Q Looks like it may be in Alphabetical order; is 4 that right? 5 A Yes. 6 Q Here it looks, at least by the count, that 7 Entergy identified 44 potential speakers, correct? 8 A Yes, there are 44 listed. 9 Q And did you attend the December 2016 NOPS 10 meeting? 11 A I don't recall. 12 Q Do you recall if you ever missed any meetings 13 14 15 before the City Council? A I have missed meetings before the City Council or the Utility Committee. 16 Q For NOPS though? 17 A Yes, that was a possibility. 18 recall. 19 attended every meeting. 20 Q We had multiple meetings. Okay. I just don't I don't recall if I I just don't recall at this point. Well, as the project manager, though, of 21 these 44 potential speakers that you-all identified, how 22 many of those, ball park obviously, how many of those people 23 spoke on Entergy's behalf at that December meeting? 24 A I don't know. 25 Q When you look at the list, can you identify JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 33 1 2 3 anyone? A The list in here shows who was confirmed. I have see that column here. 4 Q Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 5 A I recognize a name here, Howard Rogers, with the 6 New Orleans Council on Aging. 7 Q Okay. 8 A Many of these speakers or some of these speakers 9 may have spoken at different meetings across the timeline, 10 so I'm not sure that I would actually confirm speakers tied 11 to specific dates. 12 Q 13 Mr. Rogers. 14 Entergy's behalf, or NOPS', at any City Council meeting? 15 A How about just in general then? You mentioned In your mind, who can you picture speaking on I remember Thelma French, Howard Rogers, Noah 16 Lewis, William Bickham, Sean Bruno, Tangee Wall. Those are 17 some that come to mind as I'm looking over the list. 18 Q So I counted six, correct? 19 A Yes. 20 Q You agree with that? 21 A Yes. 22 this time. 23 Q William Bickham, who is he? 24 A William Bickham, as I recall, is someone who has 25 Those are some names that come to mind at either lived in or worked in New Orleans East. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 34 1 Q Does he have any other tie to Entergy? 2 A Not that I'm aware of. 3 Q How do you remember him, then, offhand? 4 A I remember that he approached us about he had 5 previously worked in New Orleans East, and he understood 6 kind of the mechanics behind a power station. 7 Q And how about Sean Bruno; who is that? 8 A Sean Bruno is a local community leader. 9 Q Is he part of any particular organization? 10 A He's a part of a number of organizations. 11 don't recall any specific one at this point. 12 13 I Q Okay. And how do you know him? Through working through Entergy? 14 A I recall that, as a community leader, he's 15 someone that the Public Affairs Team knows, and he actually 16 supported us through remarks or potentially letters that we 17 may have worked with him on. 18 Q Thelma French, who is that? 19 A Thelma French is a local community partner. 20 don't know her personally, but I do recognize the name. 21 22 23 I Q Do you know what organization she's connected A I believe she is with -- she is one of the local with? 24 nonprofit partners that supports Entergy through the Power 25 to Care. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 35 1 Q And Howard Rogers is Council on Aging? 2 A Yes, that's right. 3 Q And they were a community partner with Entergy, 4 correct? 5 A Yes, they are. 6 Q They apply for and receive funds from Entergy, 7 correct? 8 A Yes, they do. 9 Q Noah Lewis, who is that? 10 A Noah Lewis, I don't know him personally, but I do 11 recall that he is possibly a resident of New Orleans East or 12 somewhere nearby. 13 Q And Tangee Wall, who is that person? 14 A Tangee Wall, as I recall, is part of NORDC. 15 BY THE REPORTER: 16 I'm sorry -- 17 BY THE WITNESS: 18 NORDC, that's an acronym. 19 BY THE REPORTER: 20 Thank you. 21 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 22 Q Are they also a community partner with Entergy? 23 A Yes, they are. 24 Q Let's kind of fast forward. 25 time order. I'm going in kind of My small brain gets lost, so I have to go in JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 36 1 time order just to keep up. 2 Moving forward to August of last year, 2017, in 3 the summer of that year. In August, Charles Rice asked 4 Chanel Lagarde to arrange a meeting with the Hawthorn Group, 5 correct? 6 A Yes, he did. 7 Q And that was an effort to seek the Hawthorn 8 Group's assistance with this NOPS campaign, correct? 9 A That is correct. 10 Q Do you know John Ashford? 11 A I have crossed paths with John Ashford 12 periodically, as a part of the New Orleans Power Station and 13 just in general meetings, but I don't know him personally or 14 did not know him personally. 15 Q You met him? 16 A I have met him, yes. 17 Q Before meeting him that day, had your paths 18 crossed? 19 A Yes, they had. 20 Q In what regard? 21 A John Ashford and the Hawthorn Group, they are 22 familiar with utility issues, and on occasion they have 23 provided just general industry issue overview presentations 24 to Entergy. 25 Q Presentations on what topics? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 37 1 A A variety of utility topics. A variety of 2 general utility topics; everything from the future of 3 utilities to renewables; things of that nature. 4 Q How would you describe the Hawthorne Group? 5 they marketing, are they advertising, are they media 6 outreach communications? 7 describe them? 8 9 10 11 12 13 A Are In the business, how would you In the business I would describe them as a public affairs, media relations, strategic communications consultant group. Q What would be involved, from a broad perspective, to define the term "strategic communications"? A Strategic communications might involve looking at 14 all of the possible communications tactics and steps that 15 they might either suggest or provide as a service. 16 Q Okay. And was it your understanding that 17 Mr. Lagarde had also known the Hawthorne Group, in 18 particular Mr. Ashford, before the NOPS campaign engagement? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Let me show you what I'll mark as Exhibit 6. 21 Take a moment to review that four-page document, please. 22 A Okay. 23 Q This is an email thread that you received on 24 25 August 13th of 2017; is that correct? A Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 38 1 Q And I'll direct your attention towards the top of 2 that first page, Hawthorn0113. You received that from your 3 supervisor at the time, Mr. Lagarde; is that correct? 4 A That's correct. 5 Q It was actually a conversation that apparently 6 Mr. Lagarde and Mr. Ashford had had, and that Mr. Lagarde 7 forwarded on to you; is that correct? 8 A Yes, that's correct. 9 Q And Mr. Lagarde referred to you as that you were 10 running the campaign for Entergy New Orleans; is that 11 correct? 12 A Yes, that's correct. 13 Q At the bottom of that first page there, 14 Mr. Ashford writes a letter following, apparently, a 15 communication he had already had with Mr. Lagarde, where 16 Mr. Ashford references, "cut-outs." Do you see that? 17 A Yes, I do see that. 18 Q And is your understanding that Mr. Ashford was 19 the founder or cofounder, and is currently the CEO of the 20 Hawthorn Group? Is that correct? 21 A Yes, I understand that. 22 Q And do you know Ms. Hammelman; Suzanne Hammelman? 23 A Yes, I do. 24 Q Have you ever met her in person? 25 A It's possible I have, yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 39 1 Q Is it correct, though, that most of your 2 communications either took place by the telephone or by 3 email? 4 A That is correct. 5 Q And just a couple of days later, if you could 6 take a look at Exhibit 7, I believe there was a conference 7 call scheduled, correct? 8 A Yes. 9 Q And you see yourself listed on that Outlook 10 entry? 11 A Yes, I'm listed. 12 Q And that's for August 15th of 2017, correct? 13 A Correct. 14 Q And who are the other individuals listed as other 15 attendees? 16 A 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Suzanne Hammelman, Bryant Kinney, Jefferson Freemen, Larry Walsh, myself, Stephen Cohen. Q And who of those individuals worked for Entergy and who worked for the Hawthorne Group? A All of the individuals listed there I believe may work for the Hawthorne Group. Q No other Entergy people besides yourself are listed there, correct? 24 A I don't see any others. 25 Q What was discussed on this conference call? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 40 1 A During this conference call I shared the timeline 2 of developments since the initial proposal of New Orleans 3 Power Station, the related communication strategies, some of 4 the issues around or surrounding the New Orleans Power 5 Station proposal. 6 Q Okay. Did Mr. Rice ever express, my word, 7 "frustration" with Entergy's in-house ability to produce a 8 show of support at the board meetings? 9 A Mr. Rice expressed concern about having the 10 resources in-house to continue to reach out to the public 11 over an extended period of time. 12 Q To result in that end show of support, correct? 13 A Yes, that is correct. 14 Q And so you hired a vendor, correct? 15 A And so we scheduled a meeting with, or a call and 16 eventually a meeting with the Hawthorne Group to explore 17 some of the services and suggestions that they might 18 provide. 19 Q And I'm going to get back to that in a second. 20 But since I'm staying on a timeline here, go ahead and take 21 a look at Exhibit 8. 22 A Okay. 23 Q Is this an email that you received from your 24 25 subordinate at the time, Ms. Cavell? A Yes, that's correct. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 41 1 Q And it's dated August 16, 2017; is that correct? 2 A Yes. 3 Q And in the subject line it reads: "Regarding: - Tweets From Last Night's Meeting." Did I read 4 Just FYI 5 that correctly? 6 A Yes. 7 Q And this references a man by the name of Danil 8 Faust; is that correct? 9 A That's correct. 10 Q And who is he? 11 A Now I am aware of and am familiar with the name 12 Daniel or Danil Faust as someone who attended some of the 13 New Orleans Power Station meetings. 14 15 16 Q Was anyone at Entergy concerned with his opposition to the power station? A I was really not familiar with him at that time. 17 Other than the brief background here, I did not know who he 18 was beyond the social media posts here. 19 Q Why was your subordinate circulating it and 20 basically bringing up for discussion this one individual's 21 opposition then? 22 A It was not uncommon for, in her role as part of 23 monitoring social media, for her to share information that 24 customers were posting or that maybe she had seen on social 25 media. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 42 1 2 3 Q Have you ever discussed Mr. Faust with Charles Rice? A I may have mentioned Mr. Faust once or twice or 4 so with Charles Rice, but we have discussed many different 5 social media matters over time. 6 Q Did you and Mr. Rice ever discuss other 7 individuals or groups that were either interveners or that 8 were just opposed to the power station throughout this 9 process? 10 A Yes. 11 Q Like which ones? 12 A We probably -- We did talk about the Alliance for 13 Affordable Energy, who actually is an intervener in multiple 14 regulatory 15 Q Besides the Alliance, who else? 16 A The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice 17 18 19 filings and matters before the City Council. is another one Q And let's go back to the Alliance. Is there a -- Logan Burke, are you familiar with that person? 20 A Yes, I am. 21 Q Have you ever discussed Ms. Burke with Mr. Rice? 22 A Yes. 23 Q And she's with the Alliance; is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q and Deep south, who is that? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Do they have an 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 43 1 2 3 4 5 6 individual that sticks out in your head as being -A Yes. The leader of Deep South Center for Environmental Justice is Dr. Beverly Wright, I believe. Q How about Justice and Beyond, are you familiar with that entity? A Justice and Beyond, yes. I became familiar with 7 them much later in the timeline around the Power Station 8 proposal. 9 Q And who is their leader, so to speak? 10 A I don't recall the name right now. 11 Q Pat Bryant, does that ring a bell? 12 A Yes, that does ring a bell. 13 Q How about any other groups situated like that 14 15 that come to mind, that you-all would have discussed? A Another individual was Monique Hardin. She 16 presented information and intervened in the Power Station 17 proceeding. 18 Q As a individual, or with a particular entity? 19 A I'm not sure. 20 Q Any other opposition group, so to speak, that you 21 can think of? 22 A Those are the groups that come to mind. 23 Q All right. Kind of moving back to the Hawthorn 24 Group, let me show you what is marked as Exhibit 9. 25 an Outlook calendar entry that you are a part of, correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE This is 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 44 1 A That's correct. 2 Q And the appointment title is what? 3 A The appointment title is "NOPS Update." 4 Q And the organizer is listed as Chanel Lagarde; is 5 that correct? 6 A Yes. 7 Q In addition to yourself, I see Mr. Rice's name 8 and Mr. Ashford; is that correct? 9 A Yes. 10 Q And this is setting a meeting for August 24, 11 2017, correct? 12 A That is correct. 13 Q This was the in-person meeting where Mr. Ashford 14 traveled from Virginia down to New Orleans to meet with 15 you-all; is that correct? 16 A Yes. 17 Q And who else was present besides those listed 18 19 20 21 here, if anyone? A Those are the only individuals I recall participating in the meeting. Q What capabilities did the Hawthorne Group, 22 specifically at this meeting, discuss with you, or really 23 beyond this meeting? 24 that local vendors that Entergy utilized did not possess? 25 A What did the Hawthorn Group possess I don't think that there were any particular JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 45 1 services or areas of expertise that the local vendors did 2 not possess. 3 covered everything from media relations, to social media, to 4 outreach, polling. 5 possibilities. 6 7 Q The Hawthorne Group presented a proposal that It was a broad spectrum of That broad spectrum was -- would it be fair to describe it is robust? 8 A Yes, very robust. 9 Q Compared to the offerings of some of the other 10 11 vendors that y'all were already using? A I think some of the other vendors may have 12 provided some of those services. 13 just a broader proposal that in some way outlined here were 14 the Hawthorn 15 some parallels or some commonalities there. 16 Q There was just -- This was Group's capabilities. There may have been Because the other vendors, up to that point that 17 y'all were utilizing, Bright Moments, Ehrhardt Group, they 18 are local, correct? 19 A Yes, they are local. 20 Q And the Hawthorn Group doesn't even have an 21 office here, right? 22 A I don't know that. 23 Q If I told you they didn't, would you have any 24 25 reason to contest that assertion? A I don't contest it, but I don't know all the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 46 1 2 3 areas of their business. Q You've never been to a Hawthorn Group office in New Orleans, correct? 4 A No, I have not. 5 Q And Mr. Ashford lives in Virginia, or somewhere 6 up there; is that right? 7 A Yes. 8 Q I'll show you what I'll mark as Exhibit 10. 9 Are you ready? 10 A Yes. 11 Q This is another Outlook Calendar entry with the 12 Bates number of ENO-NOPS324. And you were a party to this 13 Outlook Calendar entry, correct? 14 A Yes. 15 Q And it says, "Appointment Title: 16 Ellen and Suzanne to call Yolanda," correct? 17 A Yes. 18 Q And Ms. Hammelman is listed there as the 19 organizer, correct? 20 A Yes. 21 Q And the date is for August 29th of 2017, correct? 22 A Correct. 23 Q The location, it lists a telephone number: 24 25 ; is that correct? A Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 47 1 Q Whose telephone number is that? 2 A That is my telephone number. 3 Q Your direct line or your cell number? 4 A Yes, that's my cell phone number. 5 Q And what was discussed on this call beyond what 6 7 you've already mentioned? A So during the meeting with John Ashford, the 8 complete plan that they proposed was shared with us. And 9 the call that I had with the Hawthorne team here on this 10 date was to discuss -- to kind of brief them on that meeting 11 discussion, and also look at what may be the possible next 12 steps, if any, at that point. 13 Q Go ahead and take a look at Exhibit 11. 14 A Okay. 15 Q This is a memorandum that Ms. Hammelman drafted 16 and sent to you; is that correct? 17 A Yes. 18 Q And from the date and from the narrative in it, 19 it looks like it was not just the same day but probably 20 following your telephone call; is that correct? 21 A Yes. 22 Q In this proposal it lists a number of items. 23 at the bottom of the first page, the last paragraph 24 starting, "First --." 25 starting the group as a Facebook community--" It states: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE And "First, we believe that Did you-all 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 48 1 ever engage the Hawthorne Group to start a Facebook 2 community? 3 A No, we did not. 4 Q And I kind of skipped a couple of things, so let 5 me go back up. 6 The second paragraph is, after your 7 communications, Ms. Hammelman, in this particular memo, 8 states: 9 organization," and it goes on. The big idea is to build a sustainable, independent Did you-all ever engage the 10 Hawthorn Group to create a sustainable, independent 11 organization? 12 A No, we did not. 13 Q On Page 2, without going through each and every 14 particular item there, they make various offerings and 15 suggestions, correct? 16 A Yes, 17 Q Did Entergy ever engage the Hawthorn Group to 18 19 they do. conduct any of those activities? A We did not engage them to support activities 20 based on this broader umbrella that they proposed here on 21 this page. 22 Q If you could turn to Page 3, at the top? 23 Ms. Hammelman writes: "Time is short, as we need to 24 organize a strong show of support for the October 16 public 25 hearing," and she moves on. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Did I read that portion of that 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 49 1 sentence correctly? 2 A Yes, that's correct. 3 Q And in the maybe mid to bottom section of this 4 page as well as spilling over to Page 4, this is ENO-NOPS 10 5 and 11, she basically lays out various bullet points, 6 correct? 7 A Yes, she does. 8 Q Let's start with the one in about the middle of 9 10 the page, where it says -- For that, the time frame is September of 2017; is that correct? 11 A That's correct. 12 Q And she also lists a dollar figure or dollar 13 figure range next to that, correct? 14 A Yes, sir. 15 Q And the first bullet point reads: 16 recruit one or more GrassTops champions --" 17 so forth. 18 that activity? "Identify and and so on and Did Entergy engage the Hawthorne Group to conduct 19 A No. 20 Q Secondly, "Settle on an organization name." 21 Well, there's no organization, there's no name, correct? 22 A That's correct. 23 Q "Incorporate as a non-profit 501(c)(4)." Entergy 24 did not engage the Hawthorn Group to conduct that activity, 25 correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 50 1 A No. 2 Q They also reference, in the next bullet point, 3 "Research, polling, targeting"; things of that nature. 4 Again, did Entergy engage the Hawthorn Group to conduct that 5 activity? 6 A No. 7 Q And it also lists, "Set up and populate an 8 advocacy website and Facebook page." 9 already addressed that, correct? And I think you've 10 A That's correct. 11 Q They also reference recruiting 3,000 to 5,000 12 We did not engage them on that. members online, correct? 13 A They reference that. We did not engage that. 14 Q And basically the last one, "Hire a campaign 15 manager, political field operations director and media 16 relations person/firm." 17 that activity, correct? You did not engage them to conduct 18 A We did not. 19 Q And on the last page, without going through each 20 and every one of those particular items, did you-all engage 21 the Hawthorn Group to conduct any of those activities 22 listed? 23 A 24 supporters. 25 Q We asked them to identify and turn out And that's listed about what, the second bullet JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 51 1 point under "October-November" time frame; is that correct? 2 A Yes. 3 Q Anything else on the page besides that? 4 A The only other item may be, "Meet with your team 5 to review strategy," but those were general calls or 6 conversations related to the item that we just discussed. 7 Q What was -- 8 A Which would be "identify, turn out supporters." 9 Q And it specifically reads: "Turn out supporters 10 in volume for hearings;" is that correct? 11 A That is correct. 12 Q Take a look at Exhibit 12, please. It's a 13 four-page email that I just have some questions about the 14 first page; but please feel free to review any part of it. 15 A Okay. 16 Q The second-to-last email on the first page, the 17 email that is written from Mr. Rice, could you take a look 18 at this particular email, please? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Were you a party to that conversation? 21 Did he send that email to you? 22 A Yes, I'm copied on that email message. 23 Q Read out loud, if you could, what Mr. Rice wrote 24 25 on that particular date. A "We have to get a strategy around this. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I am 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 52 1 going to work with Chanel to get an outside consultant, the 2 Hawthorn Group, to begin some type of campaign/strategy 3 against the Alliance." 4 5 Q Is that referencing the Alliance for Affordable Energy? 6 A Yes. 7 Q What caused Mr. Rice to type that particular 8 email? 9 A 10 I don't recall the specific scenario at this time. 11 Q Can you tell from the email that precedes that? 12 A It looks like it was in reference to something 13 related to -- When I see the acronym here "NA," that stands 14 for neighborhood association, and it references also the 15 petition. 16 Q Was this activity that Mr. Rice was 17 contemplating, was this separate and apart from the 18 activities that you had discussed -- that you-all had 19 discussed with Mr. Ashford when he came into town? 20 A Yes. 21 Q What was Mr. Rice contemplating? 22 that worked. 23 A Explain how I'm not sure exactly what he was contemplating 24 here. I think he was looking at what are some ways that we 25 could communicate some of the things that the company was JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 53 1 doing here on a local level, as well as some of the 2 New Orleans Power Station plans. 3 believe we had specifically narrowed down what type of 4 support the Hawthorn Group would exactly provide, so this 5 was a very general statement made by Mr. Rice. 6 7 8 Q At that point, I don't And this was the same; I believe someone set up a conference call for later that day. A 9 Someone set up a conference call. BY MR. CAHN: 10 Is this a good time for a break? 11 BY MR. COMAN: 12 Yes, that's fine. 13 (BREAK TAKEN) 14 15 Is that correct? EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Let me go ahead and hand you 13. So I have just 16 handed you what I have marked as Exhibit 13. 17 be an Outlook Calendar entry. 18 Ms. Pollard? 19 A Yes, that's correct. 20 Q And you are copied on this particular entry, 21 Is that right, correct? 22 A Yes. 23 Q The appointment title reads: 24 25 It appears to "Campaign/Strategy Discussion," correct? A Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 54 1 Q And among the attendees, including yourself, is 2 Mr. Ashford from the Hawthorne Group and Mr. Rice from 3 Entergy, correct? 4 A Yes. 5 Q And this was for August 31, 2017; is that 6 correct? 7 A That is correct. 8 Q And now, prior to that call, if you'll take a 9 look at Exhibit 14, it's an email with an attachment that is 10 a PowerPoint. Take your lime and just let us know when 11 you've had a chance to review it. 12 A Okay. 13 Q On Exhibit 14, this appears to be an email that 14 you sent on August 31, 2017 to Mr. Rice and Mr. Lagarde, 15 correct? 16 A That is correct. 17 Q And this is entitled, "Hawthorn Follow-Up 18 Proposal"; is that correct? 19 A Yes. 20 Q And without reading it verbatim, did you 21 circulate this PowerPoint follow-up proposal that the 22 Hawthorn Group had written to both Mr. Rice and Mr. Lagarde 23 in order to educate you all on what they were offering 24 before the conference call? 25 A Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 55 1 Q And in last sentence of the email you wrote: 2 "The Hawthorn Group developed this proposal based on last 3 week's meeting and a follow-up conversation with their 4 team." 5 A Yes. 6 Q This particular proposal, you correct me if I'm Did I read that correctly? 7 wrong, was not something that the Hawthorne Group developed 8 on their own in a vacuum, correct? 9 10 11 A They developed this based on hearing some of the issues and the environment that we explained to them. Q And like the other bullet points that we've 12 looked at on the previous email, it appears that this 13 PowerPoint and slide deck proposal mirrors many of those 14 particular tasks; is that correct? 15 A It does mirror some. Yes, that's correct. 16 Q And without going through each and every item 17 offered on here, and the time frame and the budget, did 18 Entergy engage the Hawthorn Group to conduct any of the 19 activities listed in this follow-up proposal? 20 A This proposal focuses on the development of an 21 over-arching organization, for the most part, and we did not 22 engage them to conduct that activity. 23 24 25 Q If you could take a look at Exhibit 15, a one-page email, ENO-NOPS12. And before I ask you any questions about that JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 56 1 email, I'm sorry, you circulated the proposal that day? 2 A Yes. 3 Q That Ms. Hammelman had revised. 4 were to have the call that same day. 5 that particular call? 6 A And then y'all What was discussed on During that particular call, the items that were 7 discussed included more information about the general 8 landscape here around the New Orleans Power Station, some of 9 the recent media coverage, some of the recent community 10 feedback. 11 kind of the broader landscape. 12 Q It was, again, another opportunity to lay out Did Mr. Rice express, during this telephone 13 conversation, an urgency to produce a show of support from 14 the public to the City Council? 15 16 17 A He discussed that item among many other just general scenarios across the year or so timeline. Q If you had to rank those in order of emphasis 18 from Mr. Rice's perspective and/or Entergy's perspective, 19 was crowd building number one? 20 21 22 A order of emphasis. Q 23 24 25 Really, at this point in time I don't recall the Okay. All right. If you could look at Number 15 again? I'm sorry. And let us know when you have had a chance to read that. A Okay, yes. Okay. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 57 1 2 Q So this email, ENO-NOPS 12, at the bottom here is from Ms. Hammelman to yourself? 3 A Yes. 4 Q And it's the following week, September 5, 2017; 5 is that right? 6 A Yes. 7 Q And she state: "I have revised the attached 8 slightly to respond to what we heard Charles say last week. 9 So our immediate goal has changed a bit, and the urgency for 10 crowd building and response is reflected." Did I read that 11 correctly? 12 A Yes. 13 Q So from that conversation that we were just 14 referencing with that PowerPoint slide deck, August 31, 15 2017, Ms. Hammelman must have been a part of that 16 conversation. 17 A Yes. 18 Q Was Mr. Ashford, do you know? 19 A I don't recall. 20 Q And then fast forward here a week later, she 21 revises it and mentions that Charles, Mr. Rice, wanted -- he 22 had an urgency for crowd building. 23 statement? 24 A That is a fair statement. 25 Q And then you respond to Mr. Rice, saying -- I JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Is that a fair 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 58 1 guess you forwarded it on to him, and then say in the top 2 that they have also -- 3 "has revised their September budget up a bit." 4 that? 5 A "they" being the Hawthorn Group, Why was At that time the focus on the actual October 6 hearing was probably more of the emphasis. 7 immediate focus and direction from Charles during that 8 conversation, they revised their budget based on the 9 resources they would need. 10 Q And given the Let me show you what I'll mark as Exhibit 16. 11 should be HAWTHORN 32 and 33. 12 two-page document, please. Take a moment to read that 13 A Okay. 14 Q This is an email exchange that you had with 15 It Ms. Hammelman, correct? 16 A Yes. 17 Q And the first email is dated September 18, 2017 18 at 5:39 p.m; is that correct? 19 A Yes. 20 Q This email appears to have followed a telephone 21 call; is that right? 22 A Yes. 23 Q Because Ms. Hammelman writes: 24 25 "Yolanda, thanks for calling." A Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 59 1 2 Q "And the answer is 'YES,'" all caps, "we can help turn people out for the Monday, October 16 hearing." 3 A That's correct. 4 Q Tell us about that October 16, 2017 hearing, and 5 obviously, beforehand, so to stay in time order. 6 that meeting set to be and why was there such a focus by 7 everyone? 8 A Sure. Sure. What was So the October 16, 2017 hearing was 9 focused on allowing the City Council members to hear the 10 general public's thoughts and opinions around New Orleans 11 Power Station. 12 been hearing was opposition, either covered in the media, or 13 social media, or otherwise, and this gave everyone the 14 opportunity and the platform to do that. 15 Up until that point, most of what they had The emphasis for Entergy New Orleans at that 16 point was, we needed the resources and place to help 17 identify support for the plant independently. 18 through a series of meetings over the course of more than a 19 year with community supporters speaking about the plant. 20 this point, our immediate focus was to make sure those 21 voices were heard during that hearing. 22 23 Q We had gone At And obviously Entergy spoke for itself, with its own employees throughout the process, right? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And then I think you mentioned, I don't know if JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 60 1 you said "third party" or something to that effect. 2 you mean by that? 3 4 A What do If you're referencing the third-party firm or the third-party supporters? 5 Q The supporters. 6 A Okay. In reference to the third-party firm, what 7 I'm referencing is an independent firm that's not exactly 8 tied to the community or to Entergy, but someone who could 9 reach out to potential supporters through the channels that 10 they indicated they had to speak publicly in support of the 11 meeting. 12 Q Where would these people come from? 13 A The people would come from the general public 14 here in New Orleans. 15 who had a stake in the future of the City. 16 Q They were customers, they were people At this point, so let's say beginning of October 17 of 2017, Entergy had, and specifically your department, had 18 been at this for several months, correct? 19 A Actually, we proposed New Orleans Power Station 20 in June 2016, so we had been supporting this for more than a 21 year. 22 Q More than a year, okay. And I believe you 23 referenced this earlier, had either Entergy on its own or 24 Entergy with its local vendors, lets say Bright Moments or 25 Ehrhardt, were you-all able to generate that public show of JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 61 1 support to kind of match the opposition that you referenced 2 earlier? 3 A Our internal team as well as some of the firms 4 that we had engaged had done a good job of generating that 5 support, but this had been a longer and more extended time 6 period than we anticipated. 7 need to engage someone who could really focus on that 8 specific effort. 9 Q So at that point we felt the Prior to that particular point -- and correct me 10 if I'm wrong, because you lived it and we did not -- Entergy 11 was able to convince community partners that Entergy had to 12 show up and express support? 13 A Based on our internal outreach, we had actually 14 reached out to some community partners, to some members of 15 the general public over a long period of time. 16 those same people and some of these names that you saw 17 earlier actually spoke or they supported the plant. 18 Q Okay. Some of And also, maybe with some trade 19 associations or organized labor, that particular category, 20 as well? 21 A Yes. There were members of the union, they were 22 retirees involved; any number of different types of people. 23 But again, those were the same individuals, for the most 24 part, who were taking time out of in days or evenings to 25 attend meetings; and this, again, was a longer than JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 62 1 2 anticipated effort. Q So let's take it by category. The community 3 partners, Entergy's community partners, meaning nonprofits, 4 right? 5 A 6 nonprofits. 7 Q 8 9 Some of those were -- Most of those were Entergy, your internal team, knew those folks, correct? A For the most part we knew those individuals, we 10 worked with them, our Public Affairs Team works with them, 11 has relationships with them. 12 Q Over time? 13 A Over time. 14 Q Same thing for the trade associations and 15 organized labor? 16 A That's correct. 17 Q And the Hawthorne Group is in Virginia? 18 A That is correct. 19 Q But we're all here, right? 20 A Their office is based in Virginia. As part of 21 conversations and even as part of email exchanges, they 22 indicated that they had local individuals plugged into 23 organizations and groups, and other initiatives here on a 24 local level. 25 Q And getting back to this particular email JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 63 1 communication here, Exhibit 16. 2 A Sure. 3 Q In addition to agreeing to "turn people out," for 4 this hearing, at the bottom, though, what did -- if you 5 could read out loud, what did Ms. Hammelman tell you in that 6 particular email thread? 7 A "I would caution you that we generally do not 8 recommend this type of stand-alone effort, and certainly 9 would not suggest doing it more than once. 10 be asked: 11 Who got them here?" Questions will Who are those people and why did they turn out? 12 Q Okay, let me stop you there. 13 A Okay. 14 Q When she wrote, "I would caution you that we --" 15 and she put the rest in bold, correct? 16 recommend this type of stand-alone effort." 17 stand-alone effort? 18 19 20 A "-- generally do not What was the The stand-alone effort was identifying speakers who would publicly support to plant in different settings. Q And then she followed that with: 21 be asked -- who are those people? 22 they turn out?" "Questions will And in all caps, "WHY did 23 A That's correct. 24 Q And also, the next sentence, "Who got them here?" 25 A Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 64 1 Q Then on the following page she provides, in 2 addition to some additional narrative, she provides what she 3 referred to as a "pricing menu," correct? 4 A Yes. 5 Q And that is listed on that piece of paper and 6 it's got various dollar figures next to bullet points. 7 the third from the bottom reads: 8 sign in and speak (10), $6,500"? "Optional - Supporters to 9 A Yes. 10 Q And right before that, it has. 11 the hearing (50 - 100) And "Supporters for $8,500 to $14,000;" is that correct? 12 A Yes. 13 Q And then, following that, if you could flip back 14 to the first page, you wrote to her that: 15 this approach with Charles." 16 Mr. Rice? 17 A "I have reviewed What did you discuss with I discussed with Charles their revised proposal, 18 specifically the areas that he had requested and was 19 interested in, and that was in generating additional and 20 identifying additional supporters to appear before the 21 hearing. 22 I discussed that with him. And I also discussed some of the other items that 23 they had proposed, that we were either not interested in at 24 the time or were not in a position to actually cover from a 25 resource standpoint. And he agreed, again, after exploring JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 65 1 2 some of the things that he had asked me to explore. Q We didn't see any documents where Entergy had 3 ever sent a roster, or potential speakers, or any type of 4 spreadsheet to the Hawthorn Group saying: 5 we generated," or "Here's what we put together over the 6 past, what, more than a year. 7 for you guys up in Virginia to get started in finding people 8 down here in New Orleans to show up and speak." 9 did that, correct? 10 A No, we did not. Hey, here's what Here's maybe a starting point Y'all never The goal here was to have the 11 Hawthorn Group independently reach out and identify 12 potential supporters for the plant. 13 Q And the first email exchange that we reviewed, 14 though, with the Hawthorn Group, which would be Exhibit 6, 15 that's where Mr. Ashford, when he's having that email 16 communication to Mr. Lagarde that gets forwarded on to you, 17 specifically referenced and used the term "cut-outs," 18 correct? 19 20 A I saw that term in there. But I'm not familiar with it, for the record. 21 Q You received that email, though, correct? 22 A Yes, I did. 23 Q And John Ashford is the CEO of the Hawthorn 24 25 Group, your vendor, correct? A He is. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 66 1 2 Q And he had that communication with your boss at the time, Mr. Lagarde, correct? 3 A He did. 4 Q Take a look at Exhibit 17. And this is a 5 four-page email communication with Bates labels Hawthorne 34 6 through and including Hawthorne 37. 7 when you've had a chance to review that. So just let us know 8 A Okay. 9 Q If we could start toward the back, the 10 second-to-last page? 11 A Sure. 12 Q And the first email thread starts on September 13 20, 2017 from Ms. Hammelman to yourself, and then you must 14 respond and give her some reference point, maybe on the 15 website; is that right? 16 17 18 A Yes, I directed her to a website that was populated with general public communications and materials. Q And then right above that, in her response or 19 reply email she discusses: "100 supporters at the hearing, 20 (who won't sign up to speak but know why they are there and 21 can respond to questions), $14,000; 10 supporters who signed 22 up to speak and have a 'prepared' statement about why they 23 support the power plant, $6,500;" is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q Who was going to prepare the statement, Hawthorn JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 67 1 Group? 2 A 3 4 5 Based on their process, it was either the Hawthorn Group or those individuals. Q But she put the word "prepared" in quotation marks, correct? 6 A 7 in advance. 8 Q Yes. "Prepared" I take to mean something drafted Sure. And she also referenced, as far as the 100 9 supporters, "Those people won't sign up to speak, but they 10 will know why they are there and can respond to questions"; 11 is that correct? 12 A That's correct. 13 Q All right. And then if you could flip to the 14 previous page, then your response was: "Just talked with 15 Charles. 16 would like to recruit 50 people and go with the t-shirts"; 17 is that correct? We'll pass on the petition option on this one. We 18 A That's correct. 19 Q And what was the petition options? 20 A We didn't fully explore that option, so I don't 21 know all the details. 22 their local people on the ground, securing signatures of 23 people who supported the plant. 24 know about it because we didn't fully explore it. 25 Q But apparently it involved having And that's really all I And in her response, the last part of her JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 68 1 response, still on that second page of Hawthorn35, she is 2 talking about price again, where it starts, "Plus --" 3 you see that? Do 4 A At the very top of the page? 5 Q I'm sorry, right here, Hawthorne 35 (INDICATING). 6 A Hawthorne 35, okay. 7 Q The sentence starting with, "Plus." 8 A I saw the plus sign. 9 Q "Plus the $7,500 management fee." Then she 10 writes: 11 quickly or the entire $17,000 in one invoice, your choice." 12 Which option did you choose? 13 14 15 A We can bill you for just the $9,500 that we need We only received one invoice related to the October engagement. Q Okay. If you flip to the first page of this 16 particular exhibit, your response was to her? 17 that? What was 18 A The first page? 19 Q Just the one at the bottom, please, at 8:07 a.m. 20 A Okay. 21 22 23 There are two responses here. "We'd like the 10 people to speak. What's that total up front?" Q And then she mentions the, "upfront," in the next e-mail; is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q What was her explanation about the upfront? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE What 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 69 1 2 3 was that money for? A That Hawthorn would actually cover upfront costs, so there was no need to worry about it. 4 Q What upfront costs was she referring to? 5 A I believe the upfront costs were associated with, 6 for instance, the t-shirts, and if there were any other 7 expenses associated with their time involved or other 8 matters. 9 Q Actually, in her e-mail she kind of breaks it 10 down, doesn't she, as far as her upfront? 11 "Hawthorn has to pay our ground team upfront: 12 supporters, $6,500 for the 10 speakers, and $1,000 for the 13 t-shirts," correct? 14 A Yes, that is stated there. She says: $8,500 for 50 And again, the ground 15 team costs I considered any labor or time involved in 16 identifying and speaking with those local individuals. 17 18 Q And then you write back that Charles commits to making sure they are paid, right? 19 A That's correct. 20 Q Go ahead and take a look at Exhibit 18. 21 A Okay. 22 Q Were you a party to this particular email 23 communication? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And this is referencing, and I believe you may JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 70 1 have testified concerning this particular group earlier, the 2 public strategy group? 3 A That's right. 4 Q And who runs that? 5 Who was your point of contact? 6 A My main point of contact there was Al Maiorino. 7 Q Okay. 8 spreadsheet? 9 A Yes. 10 Q Tell us about that. 11 A The stakeholder spreadsheet, as I recall, was a And this references stakeholders' What was that? 12 list of people that Al Maiorino identified that he might 13 reach out to around the New Orleans Power Station issue. 14 Q 15 spreadsheet? 16 A 17 18 19 And who maintained that particular list or that Actually, he generated that list based on research. Q And did you-all, I don't see any paperwork to this effect, ever share that with the Hawthorn Group? 20 A No, we did not. 21 Q In the top email there, listed next to your name, 22 9/28 of '17, you reference someone, "sharing a script with 23 us for review." 24 25 A What was that referencing? Al discussed with me how he might go about some of the outreach. He was not really as familiar with the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 71 1 area. 2 and so I was interested in how he was going to go about it. 3 4 5 He didn't really have as many established channels, Q And so what occurred with that particular activity? A So what occurred with that particular activity 6 was, he generated a list of basically leaders and people 7 that he had identified in the community to make phone calls, 8 reach out to them in some different ways to share 9 information with them about New Orleans Power Station. 10 Q Was he and/or his group, the Public Strategy 11 Group, successful in turning those individuals out to speak 12 on Entergy's behalf? 13 A I don't know the outcome of that. 14 Q And again, you-all did not share that particular 15 16 list with the Hawthorn Group, correct? A No, we did not. There's a possibility that any 17 member of the general public may have turned out as a 18 result, but I don't know the specific names of those 19 individuals. 20 Q Let me show what you I'll mark as Exhibit 19. 21 You've already testified to your particular cell number 22 that's listed. 23 A Yes. 24 Q What was Mr. Rice's cell phone number? 25 A What is his cell phone number? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I don't know his 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 72 1 cell phone. 2 Q 3 If I told you that records indicate it's 504-909-3404, would that be correct? 4 A That seems familiar. 5 Q And I'm assuming that at the time, and maybe to 6 this day, but while you worked with Mr. Rice, that you would 7 have his name saved in your phone, and vice versa. 8 A That's correct. 9 Q So when you received a text message or a phone 10 call from Mr. Rice, it would just appear, "Charles Rice," 11 correct? 12 A Yes. 13 Q And I'm assuming the same thing on his side? 14 A Possibly. 15 Q Y'all worked together on a regular basis; 16 otherwise if you just see a number, you don't know what it 17 means, right? 18 A Right. 19 Q And this is a document that references and lists 20 out October 3, 2017 text message communication. And it 21 contains Rice on one side, as well as Pollard. 22 moment to review those particular lines, please. Take a 23 A Okay. 24 Q And just for the record, I'll play Mr. Rice and 25 you play yourself, okay? And at 7:58 a.m. Mr. Rice writes JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 73 1 to you: 2 hearing?" 3 4 5 "How is Hawthorn looking getting people to the A What was your response, two minutes later? "They've committed to securing 50 people and 10 speakers." Q And one minute following that, at 8:01 a.m., 6 Mr. Rice writes: 7 get them." 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Hell, I would pay for more if they could At 8:26 a.m. Mr. Rice writes again, "If Hawthorn can get more people there, I will pay." What was your response at 8:32 a.m? A "75? t-shirt printing. Q They've crunched numbers for contract and Can check." One minute later, 8:33 a.m., Mr. Rice wrote: 14 "Don't care if it's extra 25k. 15 the foot shoulders," I believe that was probably an 16 auto-correct, to "-- soldiers we can muster." 17 18 This is war, and we need all What was your response at 12:50 p.m.? A "Hawthorn now securing 75 attendees and 10 19 speakers, all wearing t-shirts with supporting NOPS 20 messaging. Cost went from 23 to 29k." 21 Q And the "k" stands for thousands, correct? 22 A Yes. 23 Q And the last entry Mr. Rice wrote, at 1:30 p.m. 24 25 on that date, "Deal." A Is that correct? That's correct. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 74 1 2 Q You agree that this is a text message communication that you had with Mr. Rice on October 3, 2017? 3 A That is correct. 4 Q When this -- I'm kind of jumping for a little 5 bit. But on the topic of text messages itself, when the 6 allegation surfaced in the media concerning the activity 7 that we're discussing here today, at some point did you go 8 back and search your phone to see if you had any text 9 message exchanges with Mr. Rice concerning the NOPS 10 application? 11 A No, I did not. 12 Q No one asked you to perform that particular 13 function? 14 BY MR. CAHN: 15 Are you asking her for communications 16 between her and Entergy's attorneys? 17 BY MR. COMAN: 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 No, I'm asking exactly what I asked her. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Did anyone ask you to perform that function, to go back and look? A No one asked me to perform that function and go back and look at my text messages. Q At some point, I'm assuming you turned your phone in to someone; is that correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 75 1 A Yes, I turned my phone in to our attorneys. 2 Q Did you get the phone back? 3 A Yes, 4 I did receive my phone back. And going back to your earlier point, I was asked 5 to look back for any related power station messages as I was 6 asked for my phone, if there were any, that I might need to 7 provide those. 8 Q And did you find any? 9 A I did. 10 Q But I mean -- 11 A But independently, I did not, if that's what 12 As a part of the phone scan, yes. you're referring to. 13 Q Correct. 14 A Independently, I did not go back through my phone 15 16 17 to look for power station related messages. Q Take a look at Exhibit 20. And it's just a one-page document, Hawthorn 1. 18 A Okay. 19 Q And this is an email exchange that you had with 20 Ms. Hammelman from the Hawthorn Group, correct? 21 A Correct. 22 Q And it's dated the same day as the text messages, 23 October 23, 2017; is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And Ms. Hammelman, looks like she forwarded to JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 76 1 you a new article. Is that what it appears to be? 2 A Yes. 3 Q And on this piece of paper you see the name "Adam 4 Swart; adam@crowdsondemand.com"? 5 A Yes, I see that. 6 Q So this is an email that you received from 7 Ms. Hammelman that listed Crowds on Demand in conjunction 8 with the Hammelman Group, correct? 9 BY MR. CAHN: 10 I'm going to object. What do you mean when 11 you say, "in conjunction with the Hammelman 12 Group"? 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q The name "Crowds on Demand" is on this piece of paper, correct? BY MR. CAHN: As a carbon copy on a prior e-mail. BY MR. COMAN: If you'd like to testify, Mr. Cahn -BY MR. CAHN: I just want to make sure that you're 22 accurately representing the record. 23 BY MR. COMAN: 24 25 My question is exactly that. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 77 1 2 Q Are the words "Crowds on Demand" listed on this document that you received on October 3, 2017? 3 A The words "Crowds on Demand" as part of an email 4 address down in the bottom of the email as a carbon copy is 5 actually listed here. 6 Q Correct. 7 A I recognized two names: 8 Steven Cohen at that time. 9 Hawthorn Group. 10 Q Right. Susan Hammelman and They both are employees of the And they were on the previous email, 11 correct; Mr. Cohen, who you do know, at least over the 12 telephone? 13 A I have had conversations with Mr. Cohen, and 14 Susan Hammelman, and those are the two email addresses or 15 names that I recognize on the email. 16 17 Q And within those same names, though, is listed this other individual, Adam Swart, correct? 18 A There is this other individual, Adam Swart. 19 Q Right. 20 And his email address is Adam@crowdsondemand.com? 21 A Yes, that's what is listed here in the CC line. 22 Q Okay, Exhibit 21. 23 email communication, please. 24 45. 25 A Take a look at this two-page And this is Hawthorn 44 and Okay. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 78 1 2 Q If we could -- I'm sorry, if you could take out Exhibit 19, as well, and kind of stick it right next to it? 3 A Sure. 4 Q Now, this appears to be an email communication 5 that you had with Ms. Hammelman on that same date, October 3 6 of 2017? 7 A Yes. 8 Q And correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like 9 when you juxtaposed the text message communications from 10 earlier that morning that you had with Mr. Rice, then 11 there's a break in time, and then there must have been a 12 telephone call that you made with Ms. Hammelman, and then 13 the email. 14 A Yes, that's correct. 15 Q And so in that particular email -- 16 BY MR. COMAN: 17 18 19 20 21 Well, strike that. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q What did you ask Ms. Hammelman following Mr. Rice's directive? A Following Mr. Rice's directive, I asked her to 22 identify and secure 75 attendees and 10 speakers. 23 changed the numbers that we were initially requesting her 24 team to work on. 25 Q We She writes back to you, following the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 79 1 conversation, correct me if I'm wrong, in the last paragraph 2 of that first page: 3 hearing, and an additional 10 people who will sign up to 4 provide two to three minute testimony." "We will turn out 75 supporters for the 5 A That's correct. 6 Q And I guess she also quoted you a different 7 price; is that correct? An increase in price? 8 A Yes. 9 Q And then I think maybe she asked you to clarify 10 whether or not it was in addition to, and y'all had that 11 discussion; is that right? 12 A Yes, that's correct. 13 Q So more people, more money, correct? 14 A Based on whatever their calculation was, however 15 they come up with these numbers, this was her proposed fee. 16 Q And y'all agreed to that fee; is that correct? 17 A Yes, we did. 18 BY MR. COMAN: 19 20 21 One second here, I'm sorry. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Let me show you what's marked as Exhibit 22. 22 It's a three-page email communication starting with Hawthorn 23 148 through and including 150. 24 a chance to review it. 25 A Let us know when you've had Okay. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 80 1 Q And this looks like it's a continuation of the 2 previous email we just looked at in Exhibit 21. 3 appears that on that same day at 3:26, starting on that 4 first page and spilling over to the second page, you asked 5 her about her opinion on whether union leaders should also 6 wear an orange t-shirt? 7 A Yes, I did. But it I asked that question because it 8 appeared that the union leaders may wear the same color 9 t-shirts, their own shirts. 10 Q And Ms. Hammelman, in response says, "Sounds 11 fine." 12 questions about 'Who are these people?'" 13 you on that same day, correct? And then in quotes she says, "That will lessen the She wrote that to 14 A Yes. 15 Q And what did you ask her in response? 16 A I asked her: "How do the participants you're 17 securing answer questions about their support and 18 affiliations if asked by the media?" 19 Q Did Ms. Hammelman, either in this email or 20 eventually, advise you that these, "additional supporters" 21 and/or speakers were to avoid the media. 22 general -- 23 A Was that the The general idea and concern there was that I was 24 not sure or had not been provided an explanation around how 25 the speakers they identified would either be able to explain JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 81 1 Entergy's relationship with the Hawthorn Group or how they 2 were contacted. 3 speakers were comfortable explaining how they were 4 identified or why they were there. 5 6 7 Q And I wanted to make sure any of those Right. Because these were people that you didn't know, correct? A I did not know the individuals, and I wasn't sure 8 that they were in a position, other than explaining their 9 support for the plant, that they were in a position to 10 explain; well, who is the Hawthorn Group? 11 Group works with Entergy, and this is how I was contacted 12 about supporting the plant. 13 14 15 Q The Hawthorn And so that caused you concern even before the hearing, correct? A Well, it caused me concern because, again, if it 16 had not been explained to them or they did not clearly 17 understand it, then they may not be able to explain it as 18 part of a media response. 19 Q Right. 20 I'll show you what I'll mark as Exhibit 23. 21 BY MR. COMAN: 22 This is, for the record, ENO-NOPS6833 23 through and including 6836. 24 BY THE WITNESS: 25 Okay. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 82 1 2 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And this is an email, correct me if I'm wrong, 3 thread, communication that you were a part of, and it spans 4 both October 11th and October 12th of 2017; is that correct? 5 A That's correct. 6 Q And these are all, as evidenced by the subject 7 line, "NOPS support at October 16th Public Hearing on NOPS 8 Assignments"; is that correct? 9 A Yes. 10 Q So this is a communication in reference to 11 Entergy gathering and showing support for Entergy and/or the 12 NOPS plant at this upcoming meeting, correct? 13 A Yes. 14 Q And tell us about, just in general, what do you 15 16 recognize about this communication and what did it involve? A What I see here is a list of some of the 17 organizations and individuals that our Public Affairs Team 18 was contacting. 19 Q For what purpose? 20 A As the subject line indicates, for New Orleans 21 22 23 24 25 Power Station support at the October 16th hearing. Q And are these community partners, so to speak, listed in this grid? A Community partners and individuals; some I know, some I recognize, some I'm not familiar with. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 83 1 Q And if you could go to the last page of this 2 particular exhibit? You referenced Kim Mitchell previously 3 in your testimony, correct? 4 A Yes. 5 Q And on this email it says her title is Community 6 7 Development Program Representative. A What does that entail? So as part of community development, she works on 8 a number of initiatives involving volunteerism, involving 9 charitable contributions, involving our Power to Care 10 initiatives to support customers and assist them with bill 11 payments. 12 13 14 15 16 Q And what role did she fulfill before that particular title? A Prior to that title she served as an executive assistant to Charles Rice. Q And on this last page, where it reads, "Dear 17 Community Partner:" 18 read that out loud, please? 19 A What was the first sentence? Could you "As a company that's been here for the community 20 for many years and contributed millions of dollars to 21 hundreds of non-profits to support their progress, we find 22 ourselves in need of your assistance." 23 24 25 Q And later on in this communication there was some discussion about scripts and/or talking points, correct? A Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 84 1 2 Q But in the last email that's listed here, you advised against that; is that correct? 3 A Yes. 4 Q Do you know how many people, just offhand looking 5 6 7 at this, attended? A I don't know a particular number. I recognize maybe a few of the organization names. 8 Q Howard Rogers? 9 A I have already mentioned Howard Rogers, the Black 10 Chamber of Commerce, TCA or Total Community Action. 11 recognize those names. 12 Q I But of the people that you do recognize or don't, 13 but as far as wound up -- Who of these people, if any, wound 14 up attending that October 16th meeting and speaking on 15 Entergy's behalf? 16 A Again, all of the meetings sort of roll together 17 for me, so I can't pinpoint, necessarily, which individuals 18 attended which meetings. 19 mentioned, those individuals may have attended that 20 particular meeting or any of the other meetings. 21 Q But the names that I just And although in this particular instance you 22 advised Ms. Mercadel, I believe, "Hey, don't worry about 23 scripts and talking points, people are just on their own," 24 that was a practice, though, that y'all had undertaken 25 previous to this, correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 85 1 A We had provided some general messaging and some 2 general thoughts around New Orleans Power Station. 3 point in time, again, because we had exhausted resources 4 over so many meetings, and we were covering so many bases, 5 we did not have the resources to generate specific points 6 again for those individuals. 7 familiar with the issue, they were in a position to 8 formulate their own ideas, thoughts, opinions in support of 9 the plant. 10 Q 11 12 At this And again, as they became more And we previously, we've reviewed some of those scripts that Bright Moments had written, correct? A Yes, those were scripts that were general 13 suggestions of here's some of the key areas that you may 14 want to address. 15 may have used some specific points in the scripts and added 16 their own thoughts. 17 Q Some used the scripts, some did not. Some And tell us about the October 16th meeting, then. 18 And I'll ask you to do one better than that. 19 you Exhibit 23-A. Let me show 20 A Okay. 21 Q This is an email, correct me if I'm wrong, that 22 you sent on October 16, 2017, at 10:36 a.m. to 23 Ms. Hammelman. 24 A Yes. 25 Q Did Ms. Hammelman and/or Mr. Ashford attended the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 86 1 October 16 meeting? 2 A No, they did not. 3 Q And in this email you write: "Thanks for all 4 your help. 5 that the AFL-CIO will also attend tonight and may try to 6 secure center area seats as they did last time." 7 time" are you referencing there? 8 9 10 11 12 13 A We should be all set for tonight. Please know What "last They may have attended a previous Utility Committee or other regulatory meeting, and voice their support for the plant. Q And is there a particular priority for center area seats at City Council? A From a general public standpoint, there is 14 sometimes a preference because you are actually seen in that 15 frame. 16 Q 17 18 19 Or it could go either way; maybe you don't want to be seen, right? A Either way. It could go either way. But that was their plan that they communicated to me. 20 Q "They" being the Hawthorn Group? 21 A Actually, the Union. The Union had their own 22 plans to attend and support the plant. 23 working with their membership, and this was a plan that they 24 communicated to me. 25 Q Okay. And so they were And then you write in that next sentence, JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 87 1 "I think there's room for both groups to sit in that center 2 section, maybe with some overflow (a good thing)." 3 you referencing there as far as "both groups"? 4 A What are "Both groups" meaning the union group based on 5 the plans that they had shared with our team as well as any 6 speakers that the Hawthorn Group had identified. 7 room for them to sit in that chamber. 8 9 Q There was And you continue on that same day, October 16th at 4:35 p.m., Exhibit 24. 10 A Okay. 11 Q And this looks like just a continuation of the 12 email that we just looked at in 23-A? 13 A Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 14 Q And it appears that you wrote back to 15 Ms. Hammelman: 16 the Council chambers with signs and going inside. 17 group there yet?" 18 19 20 A "Hearing that the opposition is arriving at Whose group are you referencing there? I'm referencing any of the individuals the Hawthorn Group identified to speak in support of the plant. Q And you wrote first that you were hearing 21 opposition is arriving. 22 learn that information? 23 Is our A Who were you in contact with to A number of people who may have either walked 24 past, driven around, nearby. 25 people that they were arriving, either outside or in the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I was hearing from a number of 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 88 1 vicinity. 2 Q 3 speak? 4 A And who is "they," the opposition groups, so to People who were clearly in opposition to the 5 plant, based on signs they were holding, maybe waiting 6 outside. 7 8 Q Groups that you-all had seen and heard from previously, correct? 9 A Over a series of more than a year. 10 Q And that goes back to the concern that Mr. Rice 11 had, correct? 12 A That's correct. 13 Q And I believe you testified to this, but did you 14 attend that 10/16/2017 public hearing? 15 A I did attend the October 16th public hearing. 16 Q And who did you walk over with? 17 A I walked over with Al Maiorino. 18 Q Who did you sit with when you were at the 19 meeting? 20 A I sat next to Al Maiorino. 21 Q Did you see Mr. Rice at that particular hearing? 22 A I did see him walk into the hearing area. 23 Q What was your role that night, if any, besides 24 being there? 25 A I was covering multiple roles that night. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE There 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 89 1 was media activity, social media activity. In addition, all 2 of the Public Affairs Teams and all of the efforts that they 3 had made to identify and turn out speakers, so I was also 4 doing, as well just monitoring the overall comments when I 5 was in or around the room. 6 Q Did you wear an orange t-shirt? 7 A I did not. 8 Q I'll show you what I'll mark as Exhibit 25. 9 10 three photographs with no Bates number attached. It's Take a look at all three, if you could. 11 A Okay. 12 Q In the first photograph -- I'm sorry, if I could 13 just step over here. 14 chambers and the audience, correct? 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 A So this is a view of the Council That's a view of a portion of the Council chambers. Q And just for reference, the City Council and the dais would be to the left of the photograph? A Yes, the City Council members are not pictured here in the photograph. Q The people depicted in this paragraph on the 22 first page of Exhibit 25, on the right-hand side in the 23 back, rear, with those orange t-shirts, do you recognize any 24 of those individuals? 25 A I do not recognize these individuals in this area JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 90 1 right here. 2 Q 3 If we could turn to the second page? Do you recognize Mr. Rogers from Council on Aging? 4 A Yes, I do recognize him. 5 Q And he's dressed in a suit, correct? 6 A Yes, he is. 7 Q And how about this gentleman here in this grey 8 suit, do you recognize him? 9 A I don't know him by name. No, I don't. 10 Q And how about these individuals in the orange 11 t-shirts, sitting behind Mr. Rogers, do you recognize any of 12 those individuals? 13 14 15 A I don't recognize the individuals immediately behind Mr. Rogers. Q Now, those individuals that are in orange 16 t-shirts, did anyone tell you who they were? 17 suspect who they were? 18 group of let's say 20, 30 people clad in orange t-shirts 19 that you had been a part of that particularized effort? 20 How did they get the t-shirts? 21 A Did you What did you think when you saw a The t-shirts were suggested by the Hawthorn 22 Group, and they provided the slogan and the color 23 suggestion, designed by the Hawthorn Group. 24 Q And those were shipped to you, correct? 25 A Actually, the t-shirts that were shipped to me, JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 91 1 we had a discussion that we would have employees, retirees 2 and other community members who were also attending, and 3 that they might wear the t-shirts, as well. 4 Q So how did these folks hear, that you did not 5 know, non-union, non-retirees that you just mentioned, how 6 did they get those t-shirts? 7 8 A I'm assuming they were provided by the Hawthorn Group, based on our discussion. 9 Q But all t-shirts went to Entergy? 10 A No. Only a portion of the t-shirts went to 11 Entergy. 12 the Hawthorn Group based on their local outreach, and only a 13 certain amount of the overall order was shared with Entergy 14 to provide to their employees -- to our employees, retirees 15 and community members. 16 The balance of the t-shirts were handled through Q If you'll turn to that next page, the last page 17 of that exhibit, those two white males pictured there. 18 you know those individuals? 19 A No, I don't. 20 Q They're at the meeting though, correct? 21 A Yes, it looks like this is an image of the 22 meeting. 23 Q And if you would turn back one photograph? 24 A And I also see in this image, there are 25 Do employees. I do notice here one that's clear in the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 92 1 picture. She's wearing an orange T-shirt. And that goes 2 back to my point earlier, we had employees also wearing the 3 orange t-shirts. 4 Q Sure. Sure. 5 A Okay. 6 Q And if we could go back to the first photograph, 7 the same white male with the lumberjack-type shirt is 8 standing in the back, correct? 9 A Yes. 10 Q How many, would you say, of the people clad in 11 the orange t-shirts, percentage-wise, would you have 12 recognized that night and wouldn't recognize? 13 A I don't actually have a clear percentage in mind, 14 but I do know that we had employees, and retirees, and other 15 community members wearing t-shirts, and some were not. 16 recognized most of those individuals. 17 Q I The people photographed in Exhibit 25, besides 18 that one individual in the orange t-shirt, the one employed, 19 you don't recognize those orange clad t-shirt members, 20 correct? 21 A Some individuals wearing the orange colored 22 t-shirts in the front row and second row, those are actually 23 union members I have seen before. 24 25 Q Okay. How about those individuals seated behind Mr. Rogers on the second photographs in Exhibit 25? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 93 1 2 A As indicated before, I don't recognize the individuals seated behind Mr. Rogers. 3 And there's an area of the Council chambers here 4 that's not actually in view, and we did have some community 5 members, and employees and retirees on that end who were 6 wearing orange t-shirts or may not have been wearing orange 7 t-shirts, they're just not in this individual picture here. 8 9 Q Right. In fact, Mr. Rice, if I'm correct, basically got three sizes -- three sections in that 10 audience: You've got the right-hand side, if I'm with my 11 back to the Council. 12 photographed there, right? 13 A The right-hand side is what's The right-hand side is in clear view. Some of 14 the middle section I can actually see, but most of the 15 entire third section I do not see here. 16 Q And the third selection, correct me if I'm wrong, 17 was where Mr. Rice and some of the team members were; is 18 that correct? 19 A I do know that Mr. Rice sat in that section. 20 Q And at that meeting during that time frame, take 21 a look at Exhibit 26. Take a look at this document here. 22 A Okay. 23 Q This purports to be and is a text message 24 communications between yourself and Mr. Rice, dated October 25 16 of 2017; is that correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 94 1 A That's correct. 2 Q And let's do the same thing again. 3 and I'll play Mr. Rice. 4 5:30 p.m. that night? You play you What did you write to Mr. Rice at 5 A "What do you think?" 6 Q And not on this particular text message, but 5:30 7 8 9 10 11 was when the meeting started; is that correct? A I don't recall the actual start time of that meeting. Q If I told you that it was to be 5:30 to 7:30, two hours pretty much on the dot, does that sound familiar? 12 A That sounds familiar. 13 Q In fact, the video file online shows two hours 14 and two minutes, to be exact. 15 A Okay. 16 Q So, anyway, you said, "What do you think?" 17 Mr. Rice wrote back one minute later, 5:31 p.m, "Looks 18 fabulous." 19 And And then Mr. Rice wrote again a few minutes 20 later: "Hawthorn came through. 21 further engage." Let's figure out how we can What was he referencing there? 22 A 23 referencing. 24 plans for arrangements in place with the Hawthorn Group. 25 Q At that time I did not know exactly what he was We had no additional arrangements in place or He was impressed by the turnout. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Fair statement? 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 95 1 A He was impressed by the turnout overall; we had 2 employees, retirees, community members, as well as it 3 appeared that we had some people attending identified by the 4 Hawthorn Group. 5 6 7 Q Right. Because he specifically mentioned in this text message exchange the Hawthorn Group, correct? A He mentioned the Hawthorn Group, also knowing 8 that the Hawthorn Group planned the t-shirts, and we also 9 had community members and employees with their presence 10 11 there in the t-shirts. Q Right. The one difference, though, from what you 12 had already testified to and described as the, let's say, 13 pre-October 16 efforts at public hearings. 14 employees were involved previous, correct? Entergy 15 A Yes. 16 Q Retirees, correct? 17 A Yes. 18 Q Organized labor, correct? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Some community partners? 21 A That's correct. 22 Q And up to that point he was not overly pleased 23 24 25 with Entergy's efforts to garner and show support, correct? A pleased. I would not characterize it is not being overly I believe that he thought we needed to identify JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 96 1 additional people. 2 employees or the same people supporting the effort, and so 3 this was just an extension of that effort. 4 5 6 Q It was not necessarily the same So the concern that you testified to earlier, he was not expressing, though, that night, correct? A No, he was not expressing concern that night. We 7 had all worked really hard up to that point and over the 8 course of more than a year, so he would never have expressed 9 displeasure with that effort. 10 Q And in the text message, though, he did not 11 reference -- no offense to you, but he didn't say Yolanda, 12 you've done a great job? 13 14 15 A No, he didn't. I didn't expect him to express that. Q He didn't say or state, man, Demetric really 16 killed it tonight. 17 efforts. 18 He didn't mention that, correct? A He didn't reference other Entergy He referenced solely Hawthorn's efforts, correct? He referenced solely Hawthorn's efforts, which 19 actually we folded into Entergy's overall efforts for the 20 presence there that night. 21 Q Take a look at, if you could, Exhibit 27. 22 A Okay. 23 Q And this looks like, to me -- 24 25 BY MR. COMAN: And this is, for the record, Hawthorn 316 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 97 1 2 3 and 317. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q It's two-page email communication, in additional 4 to a previous e-mail that we have already seen; is that 5 right? 6 A That's correct. 7 Q And the one addition was following the meeting 8 with Ms. Hammelman you wrote to her, "Great turnout tonight. 9 There was a supportive sea of orange. Many of our employees 10 and nonprofit partners also wore the t-shirts. 11 all your support!!!" Thanks for You wrote that, correct? 12 A Yes, I did. 13 Q All right. 14 Exhibit 28. 15 20, 2017 text message communications," again between 16 yourself and Mr. Rice; is that correct? And take a look at what I'll mark as This is a one-page document entitled "October 17 A That's correct. 18 Q And I'll play Mr. Rice one more time. At 10:15 19 a.m. he texted you, "Let's discuss Hawthorn getting people 20 there for December 13." And you wrote back what? 21 A "Okay." 22 Q One minute later, correct? 23 A Yes. 24 Q What's he referencing there. 25 What's December 13th? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 98 1 A He was referencing a meeting that may have been 2 on the Council's schedule for December. 3 specific agenda item, but that was what he was referencing. 4 5 6 Q I don't recall the Was that a City Council meeting, or was that -- Is he referencing the evidentiary hearing? A I don't recall specifically which meeting it was, 7 but I do know that we did not engage the Hawthorn Group for 8 any December meetings. 9 10 11 12 13 Q You did contact them, though, correct, regarding that additional December potential engagement? A I may have mentioned the possibility to them, but we did not engage them for any December meetings. Q And what did Mr. Rice tell you about what he 14 wanted from the Hawthorn Group for this December meeting? 15 What was he contemplating? 16 A I'm not sure that we actually discussed any 17 specifics around -- I don't recall right now any specifics 18 that we discussed around a December meeting. 19 something that he mentioned at this point, and I just don't 20 recall details of further discussion around it. 21 22 Q This was just Okay, we'll go over some emails, and maybe it will sound familiar to you. 23 I'm going to show you what's marked as Exhibit 24 28-A. It should be Hawthorn 56. 25 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 99 1 2 Q This is an email that you wrote on October 20th, that same day, correct? 3 A Okay. 4 Q If we juxtapose the text message from the 5 morning, it was at 10:15 and 10:16 a.m., and then you were 6 emailing Ms. Hammelman: 7 need for turnout during a December meeting. 8 with details when confirmed." 9 "Let's keep in touch about possible I'll follow up So you reach out to her after he says, "Hey, -- 10 A Yes. 11 Q -- Ms. Pollard, we may want them. Let's discuss 12 Hawthorn getting people there. 13 other information were you able to provide or did you have 14 at that time to say, hey, this is what we're looking for, 15 besides what he wrote? 16 A You contacted her. What I don't recall any specific plans that were 17 discussed immediately after this email. 18 those at that point. 19 the possibility that I wanted to make her aware of at that 20 point. 21 Q 22 Okay. hearing at all? I just don't recall It was only a meeting date, and just Were you involved at the evidentiary It would have been at the Pan Am Building? 23 A No, I did not attend. 24 Q Do you know who did on Entergy's behalf? 25 A We may have had some of our regulatory attorneys JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 100 1 attend, butI actually did not attend the -- the -- since 2 you're referencing that one now, no, I did not attend that 3 meeting, and for that reason I was not involved with the 4 Hawthorn Group on arranging any particular support or 5 speakers. 6 7 Q And that same day, I'll show you Exhibit 29. Look at that. 8 BY MR. COMAN: 9 It should be ENO-NOPS6311-6312. 10 BY THE WITNESS: 11 12 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 13 Q This is an email communication that you were part 14 of, correct? 15 A Yes, I'm copied on this email. 16 Q And it seems to have started with an October 20, 17 2017 email from Ms. Cavell, referencing an article in the 18 Lens NOLA, correct? 19 A Yes. 20 Q And I believe Ms. Cavell re-types a quote that 21 was attributed to Mr. Rice from the October 16 meeting, 22 correct? 23 A Yes, she did. 24 Q And that quote that was at least in the article 25 attributed to Mr. Rice was: "I think we've got them JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 101 1 outnumbered," correct? 2 A Yes. 3 Q Did Mr. Rice ever make any similar comments to 4 5 you or anyone else in your presence? A I did not sit near Mr. Rice that night. As we 6 indicated earlier, he sat on the far side of the room, so I 7 was not there to actually hear this type of comment. 8 9 10 11 12 Q Was this comment consistent with his impression after the meeting or at any time? A His impression after the meeting was that we had all done a good job, and so it was consistent with that. Q Okay. Thank you. 13 (OFF RECORD DISCUSSION) 14 (LUNCH BREAK TAKEN) 15 16 17 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Here I'm going to show you what I have marked as Exhibit 30, with a copy of your counsel. 18 BY MR. COMAN: 19 20 It's a two-page email, Hawthorne 58 and 59. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 21 Q And this is the email that you sent, correct, 22 Ms. Pollard? 23 A Yes, I sent this email. 24 Q Dated October 23, 2017, correct? 25 A That's correct. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 102 1 Q And it says, "Here is the second tweet by the 2 same individual we discussed, with comments." 3 individuals were you referencing there? 4 5 6 A handle. Q What The individual I was referencing was actually the I don't see it all right here. And I believe that, even though it's hard to tell 7 from the second page, it's the same individual, Dan Faust. 8 Does that sound correct? 9 A That sounds correct. I wasn't really familiar 10 with Dan Faust beyond we have seen random tweets, but I 11 didn't really know him as an individual. 12 13 14 Q What caused you to send this to Ms. Hammelman? What were the comments? A I wanted her to be aware of -- There were -- I 15 don't see the actual tweet here, but there was someone who 16 was actually 17 supporters, or why those supporters were there. 18 some reason this was associated with any of her group's 19 effort, I wanted her to be aware of it. 20 21 22 Q stating things about supporters and paid And if for Let me show you Exhibit 31. BY MR. COMAN: And that's a three-page document starting 23 with ENO-NOPS 6573 through and including 6575. 24 BY THE WITNESS: 25 Okay. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 103 1 2 3 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And you are a party to this conversation, correct? 4 A Yes, the email was sent to me. 5 Q By Ms. Cavell? 6 A Yes, the email was sent by Ms. Cavell to my 7 attention. 8 Q 9 And on the first page of this email of October 23rd, seems to be something taken from the internet with the 10 words: "So I got the verbal confirmation I needed. 11 were paid protesters for Entergy at City Council, $60 paid 12 two hours later at Dave and Busters"; is that correct? 13 A Yes, that's what this reads here, and it seemed 14 to be just a random comment. 15 coming from or why anybody would say that. 16 Q I wasn't sure where that was But Ms. Cavell sent this to you, and this was the 17 same day that you were having a discussion with 18 Ms. Hammelman, correct? 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A There Yes. I brought this to her attention to let her know this is what we're seeing here, why are we saying this. Q And as discussed before lunch, this comes a couple of days after the 10/16 meeting, correct? A This was about a week or so after the 10/16 meeting. Q So within that time frame, within a week, six JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 104 1 days to be exact, there are discussions, or allegations, or 2 noise, whatever you want to call it, in the atmosphere, so 3 to speak, that some of these supporters were paid to attend 4 and/or speak, correct? 5 A What I recall seeing at the time was some of the 6 social media posts, again random posts, among other things 7 that were stated about the meeting. 8 9 10 Q But specifically on Exhibit 31 at the bottom, it alleges that Entergy paid protesters 60 bucks two hours later at Dave & Busters, correct? 11 A This is an allegation stated here. 12 Q And did Entergy cancel the Hawthorn Group's 13 14 contract? A No, we did not, because we had not confirmed 15 anything about how this was related to anything to do with 16 the Hawthorn contract, nor did we believe that the Hawthorne 17 Group had done anything like this, nor had we instructed 18 them to do anything like this. 19 20 21 22 23 Q Anywhere in the materials or emails did you ever caution the Hawthorn Group to refrain from such activity? A No, we never discussed payment to any one of the speakers. Q When these allegations surfaced in the particular 24 emails that we're looking at here, 30 and 31, you didn't 25 attempt to stop payment on Hawthorn's invoices, correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 105 1 A No, I did not stop payment on the Hawthorn's 2 invoice because we had no reason to believe that any such 3 transaction had taken place. 4 arrangement. 5 never thought that this was part of any scenario that we 6 would be involved in. 7 8 9 Q This was never part of the I never directed anyone to pay anyone, so we Well, you brought it up to her in the email, correct? A I brought it up to her so that she was aware that 10 this was being said, and we did not believe that this was 11 actually part of their effort. 12 Q 13 the emails? 14 A What discussions did y'all have, if any, beyond The only discussions that we had was: Here's 15 what I'm seeing, is this anything that you have discussed 16 with your team? 17 And she said no. 18 true, and she wasn't sure where it was coming from. 19 20 21 Q Is this anything that you typically do? And she thought that it was -- it was not Is that conversation reflected in any document that you can point us to? A I am not sure. I don't recall the documents. I 22 mean, we had many email exchanges, many phone call 23 conversations. 24 here's what I'm seeing, is this something that maybe you're 25 aware of or that your team may be aware of. We may have had a phone conversation about JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 106 1 2 Q But the email, if you look at Number 30, if you have it before you? 3 A Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 4 Q That's the extent of that email communication 5 (INDICATING)? 6 A Yes. 7 Q Just you sent it to her, and that's it? 8 A I sent it to her because I wanted her to be 9 10 11 aware, for some reason if she was not aware, that this was actually some of the local chatter. Q Following that October 16 meeting, did Entergy 12 basically track those individuals that had shown up both in 13 favor of and in opposition to the power plant? 14 A I learned that someone on the Entergy New Orleans 15 team had tracked it. 16 but someone was asked to track the individuals speaking. 17 Q It was not at my request or direction, Take a look at Exhibit 32, if you could. 18 that basically references it. 19 communication, correct? I think You are part of that 20 A Yes, this was -- The email was forwarded to me. 21 Q Right. And I think, as the attachment reads, it 22 says: "10/16/17 public hearing, cards of persons who did not 23 speak provided to parties," correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And there's a large number of people here. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I'm 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 107 1 assuming it's people on the docket, because the docket is 2 listed. 3 4 5 6 A Is that a fair representation? I'm not familiar with all the docket participants, but it's a fairly large list here. Q Okay. produced to us, Exhibit 33 -- 7 BY MR. COMAN: 8 Which, for the record, is ENO-NOPS 6564 9 10 11 And then what we did find and Entergy through and including 6570. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And it's a document listing that I believe, 12 correct me if I'm wrong, originally came from the City for 13 that other email, possibly the Curo clerk or Curo staff. 14 And then Entergy, or someone at Entergy, to your earlier 15 testimony, basically gave a color-coded scheme to it: 16 for support, red for opposed and yellow not listed; is that 17 correct? 18 19 20 A This document appears to be color coded, and it lists speakers. Q And in the upper right-hand corner you see a kind 21 of legend there, where green is for support, red for 22 opposition; is that correct? 23 A Yes, I see the list or the key. 24 Q Key, correct. 25 Green That's a better term. And following the -- We've got the 10/16/17 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 108 1 public hearing that we have already discussed, and then 2 there was an evidentiary hearing in December, which we have 3 discussed, as well. 4 Following that, it appears from the records that 5 the next public hearing date is the Curo meeting or hearing 6 set for February 21st of 2018; is that correct? 7 A That is correct. 8 Q And so, safe to assume that, with those same 9 efforts that Entergy undertook for the October 16th meeting, 10 you-all at Entergy were looking to replicate that for the 11 next meeting? 12 A At the request and direction of Charles Rice, I 13 reached out to the Hawthorne Group to support our outreach 14 efforts. 15 Q 16 BY MR. COMAN: 17 And for the record, this is a one-page 18 19 20 21 22 And let me show you, to your point, Exhibit 34. document with Bates label Hawthorne 4. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Is this where you communicated by e-mail with Ms. Hammelman in anticipation of that 2/21 hearing? A I don't recall the specific reason for the 23 communication on January 11th. 24 related, I'm not sure. 25 Q It may or may not have been Well, was the Hawthorn Group and Ms. Hammelman JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 109 1 performing any other functions for Entergy? 2 A No, not at the time. 3 Q And this is dated January 11th of 2018, correct? 4 A Yes, it is. 5 Q All right. 6 34-A. 7 BY MR. COMAN: 8 And for the record, this is a document 9 dated January 11, 2018 with that title, "Text 10 11 12 13 Let me show you what is marked as message communications." EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q These are text messages that you had with Mr. Rice; is that correct? 14 A Yes. 15 Q And I'll play Mr. Rice again, one more time. 16 at 11:25 a.m. Mr. Rice texted you: " Think we can get 17 Hawthorn to get us 20 people?" So What was your response? 18 A "Will check." 19 Q And at 11:37 a.m. Mr. Rice said, "Make it 30." 20 What was your response? 21 A "Got it." 22 Q Then, if we look back at Exhibit 34, as far as 23 the timing, side by side, you spoke to her at -- Were you 24 having conversations with her at some point in that 25 afternoon? Is that correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 110 1 A 2 5:51." 3 Q 4 5 According to this I said, "Talked to Hawthorn at But I'm staying with the email. We're talking about the same date, same communications, right? A Yes. So I asked her to call me, and that was 6 following the text exchange with Mr. Rice requesting the 7 services of the Hawthorn Group. 8 9 Q And pursuant to his directive, you spoke to Ms. Hammelman, and then you got back to him at 5:51 p.m., 10 where you said, "Talked to Hawthorn. 11 estimate"; is that correct? They will send us cost 12 A That's correct. 13 Q I'm going to show you Exhibit 35. 14 BY MR. COMAN: 15 For the record, this is a two-page email 16 communication Bates labeled Hawthorne 5 and 6. 17 BY THE WITNESS: 18 Hold on a second, there's one more page 19 20 here. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 21 Q Sure, take your time. 22 A Okay. 23 Q And the record appears to state that January 12, 24 2018 is the beginning part of this conversation where 25 Ms. Hammelman provided you with, again, "a pricing menu," to JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 111 1 borrow her term, correct? 2 A Yes. 3 Q And in fact, the subject line reads: 4 "February 21 Hearing Options," correct? 5 A Yes. 6 Q And again she lists out so many supporters, so 7 many speakers with a price relative to those particular 8 items, correct? 9 A That is correct. 10 Q And then in response, on the first page, the 11 bottom paragraph, the middle part, you state: "I discussed 12 with Charles --" 13 Charles, let's go with 30 supporters and 10 speakers for the 14 February 21 Utility Committee meeting," correct? 15 A Yes. A few days later, "I discussed with I took a while to get back to her because I 16 manage communicates around multiple issue, and at the time 17 we had several things going on, but I did follow-up with her 18 at some point to confirm. 19 Q And then on the second page it's got a different 20 monetary amount; one for 5 speakers is $4,600 and for 10, 21 $6,700, correct? 22 23 24 25 A That is correct. This is a calculation based on how they conduct their outreach. Q For the February 21st meeting, anticipation of that, did Entergy also seek assistant from nonprofit JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 112 1 2 entities as you-all did for that 10/16 meeting? A We -- We were to identify support in the 3 community just as we did before; employees, retirees, other 4 community members. 5 Q But specifically for community partners, so to 6 speak, did you-all make an effort to obtain the assistance 7 of those entities or someone on behalf of those entities to 8 show up and say nice things about Entergy? 9 10 A We asked some of our community partners to show up and speak in support. 11 Q For example, which ones that you recall? 12 A For example, it was some of the same community 13 partners that we talked about earlier. 14 time, some may have not. 15 individuals -- I mentioned Howard Rogers earlier, I 16 mentioned Tangee Wall with Joe Brown Park/NORDC. 17 individuals that we invite, but not everyone is always 18 available. 19 Q 20 Some may have had Over time, many of the same Those are And how many of those, approximately, wound up showing up and spoke on Entergy's behalf? 21 A I don't really know an approximate number. 22 Q Did you contact any of those entities personally, 23 or was that more Ms. Mercadel, Mr. Dunn? 24 A That was actually more of the Public Affairs 25 Team's role. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 113 1 Q Who is on that team, again? 2 A That is Toni Green-Brown, Demetric Mercadel and 3 Alex Dunn. 4 Q 5 BY MR. COMAN: 6 I'll put a sticker. 7 8 9 10 I've got what I'm going to show you as 36. so I apologize in advance. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Take a look at that email dated at the top February 15th of 2018. 11 BY MR. BECKER: 12 What's the Bates on that? 13 BY MR. COMAN: 14 Bates number Hawthorne 14 and 15. 15 what it says, Cory? 16 BY MR. CAHN: 17 18 19 I'm missing my copies, Is that Yes. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And my question is this: On the 15th, about the 20 middle on that first page, you were contacting Ms. Hammelman 21 and Mr. Cohen and giving them the arrival time; is that 22 correct? 23 A That is correct. 24 Q And you specifically state: 25 "It may be best to arrive before 9:00, since there may be a line of people JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 114 1 waiting for doors to open. 2 Thoughts?" Where did you get that information about the 3 start time? 4 A At that point, I believe the information would 5 have come through -- There were public notices or agendas 6 out there, as well as there was discussion among the Entergy 7 New Orleans Team, so that everyone was on the same page 8 about arrival times. 9 10 11 Q Was there a change in the arrival time at some point, or some discussion of that? A I believe there was a change in the arrival time 12 or in the timing of when the doors would open. 13 have been a change. 14 15 Q Let me show you Exhibit 37. There may Take a look at that one-page email communication, Bates labeled Hawthorne 16. 16 A Okay. 17 Q At the bottom email, it's dated February 20, 2018 18 from Mr. Huntley at 6:04 p.m., correct? 19 A Correct. 20 Q And he stated: "I've received confirmation that 21 the room will open at 8:30 a.m. Let's get as many of our 22 folks there ahead of the bus from NO East." 23 First, where would you have received this 24 information that the room would open at 8:30 a.m., as 25 opposed to 9:00? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 115 1 2 A I don't know where he would have received that information from. 3 Q And what bus is he referencing, if you know? 4 A I don't know about specifics around a bus, but I 5 saw information here, and I saw that there was an intent to 6 open the room at a different time. 7 8 Q But you don't know what bus he's talking about or who's on that bus? 9 A I don't know about any specific details around a 10 bus. 11 protesters or opposition to arrive from New Orleans East, 12 but I don't know any specific details about a bus. 13 We do know that there were plans for some of the Q From what you saw and heard, was Entergy 14 concerned with having its supporters arrive before and ahead 15 of the opponents for the Power Plant? 16 A We just wanted to make sure that supporters in 17 the room had an opportunity to express their comments about 18 the Power Station, just as anyone else would. 19 20 21 Q But what do the supporters have to do with the opponents in the room? A Well, everyone, whether they supported the plant 22 or opposed the plant, would be seated in the room, and we 23 wanted to make sure that everyone had an opportunity to 24 express their thoughts around the power station. 25 Q You were concerned with supporters, not the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 116 1 opponents. 2 A That's someone else's job, correct? I was concerned with just making sure, or our 3 team wanted to make sure that everyone was aware of the time 4 the doors would open; so that our team members, anyone who 5 was actually 6 to enter the meeting. 7 8 Q attending the meeting would actually be able But your concern was focused on supporters of Entergy and the power station, not on other people, correct? 9 A I was not in direct communication with the other 10 people, so there was no way that I could communicate a time 11 to those individuals. 12 Q Correct. 13 A Yes, I did. 14 Q Who did you sit with? 15 A I sat with some of the individuals associated 16 And did you attend that meeting? with the Ehrhardt Group. 17 Q Like whom? 18 A Malcolm Ehrhardt, Erin Doucette and team. 19 Q And that was a long meeting, much different than 21 A It was a very long meeting. 22 Q Right. 23 A Yes. 24 Q Were you able to come and go in and out of that 20 25 -- 6 hours and 29 minutes, at least video. auditorium room? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 117 1 A Yes, I did. On that day I was actually handling 2 media interviews. 3 I actually came in and went out of the room as I needed to. 4 5 6 Q I actually stepped out to -- for breaks. At any point outside of that room, did you see a line of people waiting to get in, trying to get in? A I saw a line of people as we were arriving that 7 morning. And this was prior to the doors opening, there was 8 a line of people. 9 I saw people sitting and not necessarily in line, but I saw people -- At periods during the day 10 outside of the door; and also people who were standing there 11 making comments, shouting different things. 12 those things as I was in and out handling media interviews. 13 Q I observed And from the video, though, it does appear, not 14 that the video screen is perfect, because it's a big room 15 and it's only from one particular vantage point, it did 16 appear that there were a number of empty seats inside. 17 Is that your recollection? 18 A There were a number of empty seats inside. I 19 recall as some individuals, even employees, came and filled 20 in, sat down, there were other supporters who came in and 21 sat down on both sides; some people who oppose the plant, 22 some people who supported the plant. 23 24 25 Q Was there security outside of the room that was managing people coming and going? A There was security standing at the door, managing JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 118 1 the number of people due to safety reasons, yes. 2 3 Q something, or some kind of person counter? 4 5 A Q 7 right? 8 A 10 No, I don't recall if someone was using a clicker. 6 9 Did you see anyone with like a clicker or Now, that room has doors on both sides, left and I'm not very familiar with that room, it was probably my first time in that room, but I believe there may have been a second door. 11 Q 12 entrances? 13 A There may have been security at both entrances, 15 Q And how were you able to come and go if there was 16 a line then? 17 A 14 Did you see security outside the room at both yes. During the times when I typically stepped in and 18 out, there was not always a line. There were some people 19 who were just standing around outside, and it was not 20 necessarily a line preventing me from entering. 21 was open, and the entranceway was open at some points when I 22 stepped out. 23 Q So the door And where did those security personnel, where did 24 they appear to be from? Were they from the building or from 25 a law enforcement agency? Did they have uniforms on? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 119 1 A They wore uniforms, and it was my understanding 2 they may have been tied to the actual building, but I'm not 3 sure. 4 Q Okay. 5 A I didn't understand them to be Entergy security 6 officers. 7 Q Were they NOPD or -- 8 A I don't recall that they were NOPD. 9 Q I'll show you what's marked as Exhibit 38. 10 BY MR. COMAN: 11 For the record, Exhibit 38 is Bates labeled 12 13 Hawthorne 198 and 199. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 14 Q Are you ready, Ms. Pollard? 15 A Yes. 16 Q You were a party to these conversations, correct? 17 A I was a party to conversations with Susan 18 19 Hammelman here on this email. Q And if we can start going back in time with the 20 second page, February 22nd, she sends you an email -- so 21 it's the following day. 22 to New Orleans for that meeting? Again, did Ms. Hammelman come down 23 A No, she did not. 24 Q Same thing for Mr. Ashford, correct? 25 A No, he did not. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 120 1 Q And the following day, though, she's asking -- 2 the subject line is "Last night," and she is asking about 3 feedback for turnout/speakers, correct? 4 A Yes. 5 Q And in your response, which is on the first page, 6 Hawthorne 198, in part you stated: "I was a little surprised 7 that some," italicized "folks wore the orange t-shirts 8 again. 9 commented about paid supporters." An opponent wore a marked-up orange shirt and 10 So let's take them one at a time. 11 What was your concern with the orange t-shirts? 12 A Specifically, as part of our discussion for the 13 February 21st meeting, we had discussed that individuals 14 would not wear the orange t-shirts again, because we had 15 already made that statement during the October meeting, and 16 there was no reason, really, for them to do the same thing 17 or repeat that again. 18 were a couple of people who actually wore the orange T-shirt 19 again. 20 Q 21 22 And so I was surprised that there That was not the intent. Were you concerned when you saw the orange t-shirts a second time? A Well, I was only concerned that this was not part 23 of the discussion or agreement with the Hawthorn Group, and 24 so somehow there was a miscommunication about that point. 25 Q And during the meeting, you make reference to it JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 121 1 in this email, this Dan Faust individual appeared and spoke 2 at the microphone, correct? 3 A I knew that there was an individual who had 4 spoken at the microphone wearing an orange shirt. 5 time I did not realize, or actually hear, there was a lot of 6 noise in the room, that it was Dan Faust; I just knew that 7 it was an individual wearing an orange shirt. 8 9 10 Q At the When you saw him speak at that meeting, he made reference in the beginning of his remarks to a friend of his having been paid for the October 16th meeting, to attend? 11 A Yes, he did make some remarks to that extent. 12 Q Okay. 13 14 15 16 17 18 Now, that matches the internet chatter that you-all had circulated on October 23rd, correct? A To some extent, it did reference some of those comments. Q When you hear him make these comments now, live and in person, did that cause you any concern? A Yes, it did. And I went back to Suzanne 19 Hammelman to ask about it, because I said, "Well, this is 20 coming up again, and I know this was not part of our 21 discussion. We're not aware of any payments." 22 Q Where is that in this email thread? 23 A I don't think it's in the email thread. I seem 24 to recall a conversation that we had around that particular 25 issue. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 122 1 2 Q Because on this email thread, correct me if I'm wrong, you bring up two issues: One, the t-shirts -- 3 A Um-hmm (Affirmative Response). 4 Q -- and then two, the comment about paid 5 supporters. 6 A Yes. 7 Q But the rest of the conversation does not discuss 8 the accusation of any paid supporters, but y'all do discuss 9 the t-shirts, correct? 10 A 11 Yes, we discuss the t-shirts here. And also, it appears that in this email she 12 forwards the information to an individual named Adam Swart. 13 And I was not aware that she was sharing this information 14 with Adam Swart. 15 16 17 Q I did not know who he was. You were on the email thread with him, though, previously, that we discussed. A But I did not know that individual, I did not 18 recall that email or the name. 19 individuals associated with the Hawthorn Group. 20 Q I was only familiar with the And as to the t-shirts in her relay to you that 21 same day, February 22nd, she says in part: 22 an individual decision - based on the fact that we wanted to 23 make sure some of the same people showed up, because that is 24 what would happen organically." 25 A "I expect it was Do you see that? Yes, I do. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 123 1 Q And I read that correctly? 2 A You read that correctly. And she -- She appeared 3 to suggest that someone might just happen to wear a t-shirt 4 again just because they wanted to, just by choice, and 5 perhaps that they had no specific control over it. 6 7 Q And your response to her was: at this point." "No action needed Did I read that correctly? 8 A That's correct. 9 Q Take a look, if you can, at Exhibit 39. 10 BY MR. COMAN: 11 And for the record, it's Bates labeled -- 12 It's a two-page document, ENO-NOPS5839 and 5840, 13 without the attachment. 14 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 15 Q Were you a party to this email communication, 16 Ms. Pollard? 17 A Yes, I'm listed here. 18 Q And my only point in this is just to bring up 19 that Entergy continued, as they did with the 10/16 meeting, 20 as far as the 2/21 meeting, tracking those speakers that 21 supported Entergy, correct? 22 23 24 25 A Some members of the team tracked the individuals speaking during the meeting. Q Because that's what both the subject and attachment lines reference, correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 124 1 A That is correct. 2 Q And this email is dated February 23, 2018, two 3 days later, correct? 4 A Yes. 5 Q As part of the NOPS overall power station effort, 6 did Entergy either monitor personally or pay anyone to 7 monitor opposition groups? 8 9 10 11 A We had, in addition to our own effort to monitor the opposition, we also had some of the members of our team who were monitoring as just part of our overall strategy. Q 12 I'll show you Exhibit 40. BY MR. COMAN: 13 Which for the record is Bates labeled 14 ENO-NOPS 6106 through and including 6127. 15 And it's a larger packet, but I just have a 16 couple of basic question, so let me know when 17 you're comfortable. 18 BY THE WITNESS: 19 20 21 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And this is just an example. 22 email is dated 2/27/2018. 23 communication, correct? And I believe the You are a party to this 24 A Yes. 25 Q In fact, it was sent to you by Erin Doucette that JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 125 1 you referenced earlier in your testimony from the Ehrhardt 2 Group, correct? 3 A Yes. 4 Q And this is an example of the, "Opposition group 5 6 monitoring"; is that correct? A This is an example of monitoring, not only 7 opposition groups, but also industry and other related 8 issues in general. 9 10 Q What does the subject line, though, read specifically on the first page of this email? 11 A The subject says: "ENO Opposition Group 12 Monitoring." 13 industry issues, in addition to the opposition group 14 monitoring. 15 Q What was provided to us covered a variety of In addition to the reports on the internet, or 16 tweets, or a combination thereof back in October of 2017, 17 reports began surfacing on the internet again in March of 18 2018 that Entergy had paid people to attend and/or speak on 19 Entergy's behalf, correct? 20 21 22 23 24 25 A There were some news reports or questions around that time, correct. Q And I'll show you what is marked as Exhibit 41. BY MR. COMAN: It's a one-page document, Bates labeled Hawthorne 248. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 126 1 BY THE WITNESS: 2 3 4 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And this is an email, at least the bottom portion 5 of this page is an email that you drafted and sent, is that 6 correct, to Ms. Hammelman? 7 A The bottom portion of the email comes from 8 Ms. Hammelman. 9 Ms. Hammelman to Adam Swart, who I now know was associated 10 with Crowds on Demand, but did not know that at the time. 11 12 13 14 15 Q The top portion of the email is sent by But Exhibit 6 shows you were on that email, correct? A I was on an email, but did not scroll down to see his name or association with the project. Q And this e-mail that I'm referencing is the one 16 in this particular document, Exhibit 41, that you drafted 17 Monday, March 5, 2018 at 6:57 p.m. Do you see that? 18 A Yes. 19 Q And the subject line -- What did you write in the 20 subject line? 21 A I wrote, "Request for Key Points." 22 Q And in this e-mail, correct me if I'm wrong, at 23 least the portion that's shaded in below, this is something 24 that you saw on the internet somewhere? 25 A This was -- I saw this somewhere out there. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 127 1 was shared with me, yes. 2 Q How was it? Because I don't see it on there. 3 A And I don't recall. There was so much chatter 4 and things coming in from different places, I don't remember 5 where it was specifically from. 6 7 Q But the shaded-in area is not your words, this is something that you saw? 8 A This is something that I saw somewhere. 9 Q And that shaded-in portion reads: "Entergy pays 10 $120 to people to come to City Council meetings and say that 11 they support Entergy's request for rate increases and plant 12 approvals. 13 the City Council meeting March 8th if community people are 14 allowed to speak." We have proof of this that will be presented at Did I read that correctly? 15 A Yes, you did. 16 Q And then you forwarded this on to Ms. Hammelman 17 and said: "Hi Suzanne, this statement below is circulating 18 in an email distributed by some opponents," and you continue 19 on. 20 that our leadership could have on hand for this issue? 21 response points would be used to address questions from City 22 Council members or others, only if asked. 23 one of the opponents wore a marked-up orange t-shirt to the 24 February 21st Utility Committee vote. 25 signed non-disclosure agreements and a meeting at Dave & "Could you share with me by Wednesday some key points JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE The For background, He also referenced 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 128 1 Busters to pay people I think $60 as part of his comments." 2 3 that's what you wrote and sent to Ms. Hammelman, correct? 4 A I wrote that because I was concerned that we were 5 seeing this again, and we may potentially get questions. 6 And I needed to understand what was happening, why were we 7 hearing this again? 8 understand that we did not make any arrangements to pay 9 anybody, and I needed the Hawthorn Group to explain that. 10 Q And I needed our leadership to But you didn't ask her in the email if it was 11 true or not, you simply asked her for response points if 12 Council members were to ask the question. 13 confront her and say, "Is this true?" 14 A You didn't I actually had conversations with her about what 15 is this, why are we seeing this? And that's why this was 16 about key points. 17 that this did not happen. 18 my leadership why they are continuing to see this. This continued to surface. You have said I need to be able to explain to 19 Q Is what you just said anywhere in this email? 20 A It is not in the email. 21 an entire 22 23 24 25 Q I don't consider Emails record of everything that has been said. And let me show you, later that night, Exhibit 42. BY MR. COMAN: And for the record, it's a multi-page JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 129 1 document Bates labeled Hawthorne 20 through and 2 including 23. 3 BY THE WITNESS: 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q In response to your request, Ms. Hammelman went ahead and sent you response points, correct? A She provided response points, including the statement that Entergy did not pay anyone for their support. Q Was that in the response point, or it's actually in the "For your background" part? A I consider it a response point, because I know 13 that to be the truth, and my leadership team knew that was 14 the case. 15 for their support, which was what we actually said; that 16 there was no arrangement that anyone would pay someone for 17 their support. 18 19 20 Q And so she confirmed Entergy did not pay anyone Right. But Entergy's not paying anyone, because Entergy is paying the Hawthorn Group, correct? A That's correct. We paid the Hawthorn Group to 21 identify speakers. 22 Entergy did not pay anyone for their support; which we knew, 23 and I needed to make sure that there was an understanding on 24 their end, that none of this payment issue was happening. 25 Q What she confirms here, again, is that Take a look at Exhibits 43 -- JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 130 1 BY MR. COMAN: 2 -- which is a two-page document Bates 3 4 labeled ENO-NOPS 548 and 549. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 5 6 Q And it looks like a continuation of a previous email that we have already seen. 7 A Okay. 8 Q So this is an email exchange that occurred on 9 10 March 5th and March 6th of 2018, following the accusation, correct? 11 A Yes. 12 Q And we have already seen the accusation part on a 13 previous email. 14 was: 15 previous hearings, remember? 16 those." 17 And her top response there at 1:05 a.m. "The Dave & Busters and disclosure statements are from A I'll dig up my response on She sent that email to you, correct? Yes, she sent that email. And what she's stating 18 there is that the rumors or allegations around Dave & 19 Busters and references to disclosure statements was 20 something that we had previously seen. 21 Q Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE)? 22 A And so it was the same -- From her perspective, 23 24 25 it was the same rumor that's coming up again. Q And she's referencing that she had discussed this rumor with you? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 131 1 A She's referencing that we had discussed, as we 2 pointed out earlier, that we discussed these rumors and they 3 were not true, and they are coming up again. 4 Q But what she wrote was this -- correct me if I'm 5 wrong -- that Dave & Busters and disclosure statements are 6 from previous hearings, remember. 7 on those." 8 9 A I'll dig up my response What she's stating here is that I've seen these same rumors before. 10 Q My question is: 11 A You read that. Did I read that correctly? And my response is she is 12 stating, she's referencing the previously posted social 13 media post, and she's asking me to recall that this has been 14 posted on social media before; and that she cleared up that 15 those were rumors. 16 17 Q Is that listed -- What you just said, is that listed in her email? 18 A It was part of our conversation. 19 Q Part of the email conversation or part of a 20 separate conversation? 21 A It was part of a separate conversation. 22 Q Is that in writing or is that something verbal? 23 A It was something verbal. 24 Q I'll show you Exhibit 44. 25 BY MR. COMAN: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 132 1 For the record, it's a one-page document, 2 Bates labeled ENO-NOPS 519. 3 BY THE WITNESS: 4 5 6 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And this is -- I'm assuming this is following the 7 full City Council vote on the NOPS Power Station; is that 8 correct? 9 A Yes. 10 Q And you are basically informing her yes, it 11 passed; is that correct? 12 A Yes, I did. 13 Q And she states, in response at some point: "It 14 15 sounds like they didn't ask the questions," correct? A She states that there, and she is asking me if 16 the issue has come up again, because she knew that we were 17 concern about being associated with some of the rumors that 18 were out there. 19 Q And what was your response to her, if any? 20 A I said no, they didn't go there. They didn't ask 21 the questions. 22 associated with something that we had not arranged. 23 Q And we were concerned that we were being In one of the documents that we reviewed there, 24 was there a reference to an allegation, an assertion that 25 Entergy reduced financial support for WBOK because of its JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 133 1 coverage of the NOPS Power Station campaign: 2 correct? 3 A That is not correct. 4 Q You've heard that before. 5 BY MR. CAHN: 6 Which document are you referring to? 7 BY MR. COMAN: 8 I think it's in the opposition monitoring 9 at some point; maybe a Facebook screen shot or 10 11 Is that something like that. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 12 Q You've seen or heard of that before? 13 A I've seen or heard of that issue. We had some 14 issues with WBOK and their coverage of Entergy in general, 15 and some statements that were made about many issues, not 16 solely about the power station. 17 Q I'm going to show you Exhibit 45 -- 18 BY MR. COMAN: 19 -- being a one-page document, Bates numbered 20 ENO-NOPS 133. 21 BY THE WITNESS: 22 23 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 24 Q You were a party to this communication, correct? 25 A Yes. I actually wrote this communication to JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 134 1 submit the Hawthorn Group invoice. 2 Q And this was on March 23 of 2018, correct? 3 A That is correct. 4 Q So despite the rumors and despite the 5 allegations, despite the concern that we have already talked 6 about at length here, you did not stop any payment to the 7 Hawthorn Group. 8 accounts payable, correct? 9 A In fact, you helped facilitate that with I provided the invoice for processing because 10 these were rumors. 11 circumstances that the Hawthorn Group or anyone had paid 12 someone to attend. 13 I moved forward with processing the invoice. 14 reason to believe, based on what the Hawthorn Group had 15 shared and had confirmed, and actually denied doing, that I 16 should hold up any type of payment to the Hawthorn Group. 17 Q I was told under no certain So under -- under those circumstances, There was no And those particular assurances, I'll call them, 18 that you're referencing in your testimony, you're 19 referencing claiming that those took place verbally, because 20 we don't see those in the documents. 21 BY MR. CAHN: 22 I'm going to object, Counsel. 23 forty -- 24 BY MR. COMAN: 25 In Exhibit You can ask your questions separately, but JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 135 1 -- 2 BY MR. CAHN: 3 -- Exhibit 42 it specifically statements what 4 Ms. Pollard previously said, which is contrary to 5 your statement. 6 7 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And I'm talking about the conversations that you 8 had with her where you allege that you confronted her with 9 these allegations and asked her, is that anywhere like in an 10 email communication? 11 A Yes, it is. 12 Q Where? 13 A The Hawthorn Group denied paying anyone. And 14 when I did say to them, "Well, we're still seeing these 15 rumors out here," they said that these individuals were 16 delirious or lying. 17 these payments had not occurred, we moved forward with 18 processing the invoices. 19 20 21 22 Q And so based on their reassurances that Where did you think these people were coming from? A The Hawthorn Group indicated that they were identifying -- Are you referencing the supporters? 23 Q Yes, the people in the orange t-shirts. 24 A Okay. 25 The Hawthorn Group committed to identifying speakers based on their local contacts, based on JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 136 1 the channels that they had established with local groups, 2 and organizations and grassroots efforts. 3 Q From Virginia? 4 A They indicated in writing that they had local 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 people on the ground working with local organizations. Q And they were able to do that in two weeks time, correct? A Because they had established channels to carry out that activity. Q But my point is, the time frame was two to three weeks, correct? 12 BY MR. CAHN: 13 Object. 14 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: That's not accurate. 15 Q Well, what was the time frame? 16 A I don't recall the exact time frame, but they 17 indicated on the very front end that they had established 18 channels, local people on the ground who worked with local 19 organizations in grassroots efforts, so it would have taken 20 very little time to actually use their existing channels to 21 identify those individuals. 22 Q And those e-mail threads -- I'm sorry, those text 23 message threads that we earlier covered were on October 3, 24 2017, and the meeting was October 16th; October 16, 2017, 25 correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 137 1 BY MR. CAHN: 2 3 4 5 6 Wait, which emails? EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Text messages were October 3rd, between you and Mr. Rice, and the meeting was October 16th? A And during meetings and discussions even prior to 7 October 3rd, there was discussion about their local channels 8 and established contacts here in New Orleans and local 9 people on the ground, so those were already in place. And 10 that would have even given them an opportunity to start 11 thinking about what those resources and what those 12 activities might look like. 13 Q So following the two meetings in that April 2018 14 time frame, did you participate in a revision of a contract 15 change order with the Hawthorn Group? 16 17 18 19 20 A I participated in finalizing a contract change order with my Supply Chain Team. Q I'll show you what is marked as Exhibit 46. BY MR. COMAN: And it looks like it's four pages in 21 length; Bates labeled ENO-NOPS319 through 322. 22 BY THE WITNESS: 23 Yes. This is -- Yes. So it references 24 Bright Moments invoices, but it's also 25 referencing the Hawthorn invoice. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 138 1 2 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And tell us about this process. I think we 3 understand part of it, but tell us about the invoicing, and 4 payment, and contract process of Entergy and what we're 5 looking at here. 6 A So the Hawthorn Group had an initial contract 7 with a set scope of work that was associated with the 8 October engagement. 9 for the February meeting, the process entailed working with 10 our supply chain group to basically replicate that document 11 but extend the date or the timeline of the service. 12 a process that works through a system that I don't work in 13 every day, but I work with someone who actually uploads or 14 provides the details around the contract in that system. 15 16 17 18 19 20 Q As part of the subsequent engagement And in basic form, this is you trying to get Hawthorn paid, correct? A This is the process that covers payment for Hawthorn or any vendor. Q Right. And this is dated, at least the front of it, is April 12th of 2018, correct? 21 A Yes, it is. 22 Q All right. 23 24 25 That is Let's look at Exhibit 47. It's a three-page document. (OFF RECORD DISCUSSION) (BREAK TAKEN) JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 139 1 2 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Looking at Exhibit 47, if we could, please, 3 Ms. Pollard, it's an email that's kind of printed off 4 sideways. 5 here. 6 Friday, April 27, 2018 to Tanner Guidroz and cc'ing 7 Ms. Franklin; is that correct? And really, any questions are on the first page At the bottom of the page you sent an email on 8 A Yes, I did. 9 Q And the preamble to this was a contract change 10 order that Mr. Guidroz -- who is I believe a procurement 11 specialist. 12 A Yes. 13 Q -- that Mr. Guidroz had forwarded on after it had Does that sound accurate? 14 been populated, and he had forwarded it on to Ms. Hammelman 15 for her signature, and I think she signed it? 16 A Yes, she did. 17 Q And then there was a change that took place to 18 19 that previously executed contract; is that correct? A Yes. Upon review of the scope of work, I noticed 20 that there was just a random question in there that actually 21 wasn't a part of the original scope of work, and really was 22 not intended to be in there. 23 additional statement in their that did not need to be in 24 there, because it was not included in the original scope of 25 work, and we were only extending the original contract. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE And there was also an 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 140 1 2 3 Q And what line did you request to be deleted from the contract change order? A There was a line in here -- There were two lines, 4 actually: 5 was not meant for the final contract scope of work language; 6 and that was -- I don't see the actual line here. 7 8 9 Q One was just a random comment or question that It's on the front page on that bottom email, where it begins, "Thanks, Tanner." A So included in the attachment and reflected in 10 the attachment, which I don't see here, there was one 11 statement that asked about confirming if the plans for the 12 arrival time were okay, and that was just a question that 13 Suzanne was asking me, that was not part of the scope of 14 work; and that was just a random question that needed to be 15 deleted. 16 The second item was also a statement about talk 17 point and testimony will be vetted. 18 included in the original contract scope of work, and for 19 whatever reason it was in this statement. 20 discussion that Suzanne and I had been having over the 21 course of a number of months, it was not intended for the 22 final scope of work. 23 Q And again, that was not And it was just And let me show you these two different contract 24 change orders. 25 as 49. One is Exhibit 48, and the other as listed JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 141 1 A Yes. 2 Q Okay. 3 BY MR. CAHN: 4 Wait, which one is 48? 5 BY MR. COMAN: 6 48 is ENO-NOPS 492 to 493. 7 8 9 10 And Exhibit 49, for the record, is ENO-NOPS 496 and 497. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And my questions are really just as to what is contained in Section 1A, and the difference between the two. 11 A Yes. 12 Q And in keeping with your email, just so we're on 13 the same page, which is marked as 47, you first see talk 14 point and testimony will be vetted, and it's actually on 48 15 listed as, "Talking points and testimony will be vetted," 16 then it goes on to talk about signs. 17 So Exhibit 48 was the first version, correct? 18 A Yes. 19 Q And then Exhibit 49, though, is the next version 20 21 following your request to Mr. Guidroz, correct? A Yes, that was the final version. Again, the 22 statement, "Talking points and testimony will be vetted," 23 was not in the original contract, and it was actually 24 unclear or vague what that actually meant, so I was just 25 trying to make sure that it was consistent with the scope of JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 142 1 2 3 4 work that we were extending into the second contract. Q And that's the specific line that you wanted deleted, correct? A This is the specific line, as well as the line 5 where it was actually just a question, "Please let us know 6 if this is not enough time." 7 statements in there that was not considered official scope 8 of work language. 9 Q 10 And so there were just Take a look, if you could, at Exhibit 50, 5-0 -BY MR. COMAN: 11 Which is a multi-page document starting 12 with ENO-NOP6009 through and including 6013. 13 BY THE WITNESS: 14 15 16 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Let's start with the first page here, 6009. This 17 narrative at the top as well as the grid, along with the 18 prices and the total of $32,142, who drafted this particular 19 document? 20 A This was drafted by the Hawthorn Group. 21 Q And how does it wind up within Entergy's system, 22 so to speak? 23 A 24 25 The statement was used by our administrative assistant to place into the Entergy system. Q Do you have access to AssetSuite? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 143 1 A I do, but I don't work in it every day. It's not 2 part of -- It's not part of my regular routine. 3 typically rely on those who work in that system every day to 4 go into that system. 5 Q We And on the following pages here, this looks like 6 screen shots, so to speak. On 6010 it has a screen shot for 7 -- it says "Contract" for the Hawthorn Group, correct? 8 A Which page? 9 Q 6010, the second page. 10 I'm sorry. See at the top where it says "Contract" in the upper left-hand corner? 11 A Yes. 12 Q And then the following is requisition? 13 A Yes. 14 Q And then the following is approval, then followed 15 by change request, then change request screen. And then on 16 the second-to-last page it has typed in, "Scope." 17 see that? Do you 18 A Okay. 19 Q Who would type these letters, these words on this 20 21 piece of paper? A The words typed in would have been the 22 administrative assistant, who has access, or who goes into 23 that system on a regular basis. 24 25 Q And then on the last page it contains a description at the top of the screen shot with management JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 144 1 fee, supporters, signs, speakers, with monetary items right 2 next to it, correct? 3 A That is correct. 4 Q And then do you see on this screen who is the 5 ultimate approver, who ultimately approved this particular 6 expenditure? 7 A Let's see. 8 Q I see three names. 9 Correct me if I'm wrong: Tanner Guidroz, do you see that? 10 A Yes. 11 Q And that would have been an action date. Now, 12 procurement, he doesn't have the authority to approve an 13 expenditure; is that correct? 14 A No, he's does not. 15 Q And then your name is listed underneath 16 Mr. Guidroz's, "Yolanda Pollard," but you don't have access 17 to AssetSuite, correct? 18 19 20 21 22 A I have access, but I don't work with it on a regular basis. Q Why was your name listed then in there? Is it just because you were the project manager? A Just as the project manager, and to move the 23 project or to move the request along, but I'm not the 24 ultimate approver. 25 Q And Mr. Rice approved this particular JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 145 1 expenditure; is that correct? 2 A Is this associated with the February meeting? 3 Q I believe it is, because it says, "601 Poydras 4 5 6 Street" on the second-to-last page. A Okay, and the amount for this specific one. I'm just trying to make sure -- 7 Q Right. 8 A Mr. Rice approved the invoice associated with the 9 10 October hearing. He did not approve the invoice associated with the February hearing. 11 Q Why not? 12 A He did not approve it because at that point we 13 were made aware of the situation, the situation around 14 potential payments or possible payments to supporters, and 15 so he did not approve the February invoice. 16 Group was not paid for that service, and they actually were 17 directed to -- or they were directed to return to money for 18 services associated with the October hearing. The Hawthorn 19 Q Go back one page. 20 A Okay. 21 Q To the second-to-last page and the typed-in 22 scope. 23 A Okay. 24 Q In the narrative it says, "For an upcoming 25 New Orleans City Council Utility Committee meeting to be JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 146 1 held at 601 Poydras Street." That's the Pan Am Building. 2 A Yes. 3 Q So this is in reference to 2/21? 4 A Yes, this is in reference to 2/21, and that 5 6 invoice was never approved. Q Take a look at Exhibit 51, if you could. 7 So on April 27, 2018, Mr. Stein, from The Lens NOLA, sent an 8 email to Ms. Cavell that she forwarded on to you, correct? 9 A 10 April 27th. 11 Q Yes, he sent an email at 4:09 p.m. on Friday, And he writes in that email: " I'm writing a 12 story for The Lens about people allegedly being paid to show 13 up to Utility Committee meetings to show support for 14 Entergy's proposed power plant," correct? 15 A Yes, that's what it reads. 16 Q And she forwarded it to you at some point; is 17 18 19 that correct? A She forwarded the email to me at some point during that day, and -- I'm looking. 20 Q So that's the 27th? 21 A At some point, after she received the email at 22 23 24 25 4:09 p.m., she forwarded it to me. Q Right. And you responded to him, asking him what his deadline was? A I responded at 9:35 p.m., asking what's his JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 147 1 2 3 deadline. Q That's probably 10:09 and 35 seconds, but it doesn't make a difference. 4 A I responded to him at 10:09 -- 5 Q That's fine. 6 A -- p.m, and asked him what is his deadline. 7 Q All right. 8 please? 52. 9 A 52? 10 Q Yes, ma'am. 11 And take a look at Exhibit 52, It's a two-page document. BY MR. COMAN: 12 And for the record, it's Bates labeled 13 ENO-NOPS 5763 and '64. 14 BY THE WITNESS: 15 16 17 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And this looks like a continuation of that email 18 prompted or originated by Mr. Stein concerning allegations 19 that Entergy paid people. 20 to that invite, correct? 21 A Mr. Rice did not want to respond He said that he was not wanting to respond 22 because he wanted to see more details, and we didn't have 23 details to address specifically what was being said in that 24 media inquiry. 25 Q Well, he continued on, and he said: "And then I JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 148 1 still don't know if we should." 2 correct? 3 A He wrote that, as well, Well, because at that point, you know, we had 4 actually involved our legal team and others who were looking 5 into this. 6 -- not only through our legal team, but also through the 7 Hawthorn Group. 8 Group had denied paying anything to anyone. 9 Q And so we needed to find out more from not only Because we were -- Again, the Hawthorn Did you have discussions with Mr. Rice at this 10 time in addition to and separate from these email 11 communications? 12 BY MR. CAHN: 13 Let me just caution you about disclosing 14 communications where legal members were present. 15 BY THE WITNESS: 16 I may have had some discussions around that 17 18 time as a team with Mr. Rice. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 19 Q And what did he say? 20 A During that time we would have had some of our 21 legal team members there, and so those are attorney-client 22 privileged discussions. 23 24 25 Q And you-all do not wish to waive any particular privilege that y'all are claiming then; is that correct? A No, we don't. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 149 1 BY MR. CAHN: 2 Let me just say, Matt, that it's Entergy's 3 position that we are not waiving attorney-client 4 privilege at this time. 5 BY MR. COMAN: 6 Right. 7 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 8 9 Q Look at Exhibit 53. If you could review those documents, please? 10 BY MR. COMAN: 11 For the record, they are ENO-NOPS 5960 12 through and including 5964. 13 BY THE WITNESS: 14 15 16 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q So at the top left-hand corner of the first page 17 of 53 it says, "Entergy Update," and it says, "Opposition - 18 Article," and has a website address. 19 are these documents here? 20 A What is this? What These are documents based on some of our media 21 and social media monitoring that we actually do every day as 22 just a part of our daily process. 23 24 25 Q This event, this incident, though, was out of the ordinary, correct? A Which incident are you referring to? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 150 1 2 3 Q These allegations that are contained in this particular document here (INDICATING). A It was out of the ordinary in that we have never 4 been through anything like this before, and we never would 5 have been involved in anything like it. 6 Q But you would agree this was not a run of the 7 mill opposition article that is referenced in this 8 particular document, correct? 9 support their gas plant. 10 11 12 13 This is paid actors to This was something that, fair statement, caused you-all concern? A Of course we were concerned, because it was not something that we would either condone or participate in. Q 14 Take a look at 54, please. BY MR. COMAN: 15 Which for the record is ENO-NOPS Bates 16 number 5953 through 5955. 17 BY THE WITNESS: 18 19 20 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q On the first part of this, actually the first 21 page, this is a May 1, 2018 email from Mr. Stein to 22 yourself, correct? 23 A Yes. 24 Q And he wrote: "I few --" he may have meant an 25 "A"; but it says, "I few more details about the story: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE We 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 151 1 have three people who spoke to us, saying that they were 2 paid to show support for and make speeches in favor of 3 Entergy's gas plant in New Orleans East. 4 Garrett Wilkerson and Daniel Taylor, hired them. 5 screenshots of Facebook messages confirming much of what 6 these people told us." 7 8 Let me ask you a question: or involved with Entergy in any way? 9 10 11 They say two men, We have "Were these men hired Best, Michael Stein." And you then received this and circulated this to other people at Entergy, correct? A That is correct. I circulated it to members of 12 my lead team as well as our legal team, which was handling 13 this matter at that time. 14 15 16 17 Q You never forwarded this to Ms. Hammelman, correct? A I don't recall forwarding this to Ms. Hammelman or having additional contact with her at this point. 18 Q Let me show you Exhibit 55. 19 A Okay. 20 BY MR. COMAN: 21 22 23 24 25 And this is, for the record, ENO_NOPS 323. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q This starts with an email from Ms. Franklin on May 1st of 2018, correct? A Yes, this is on May 1st. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 152 1 Q And she says: "Hi Tara. The invoice for the 2 Hawthorn Group is ready for Charles' approval in AssetSuite. 3 Thank you, Didara." 4 sorry. 5 A She pronounces it Dee-a-dra. 6 Q Okay, Dee-a-dra. 7 That's easy. I'm I can remember that. 8 9 How do you pronounce her name? And then Ms. Raymond, who is Charles Rice's executive assistant, correct? 10 A That's correct. 11 Q -- writes back: "Thanks for the heads up - 12 Charles is out of town but I will get him to review when he 13 returns on Monday!" 14 A Did I read that correctly? That's correct. And I forwarded -- or the 15 invoice was forwarded through the system. 16 automatic process. 17 there for approval or to decline. 18 there, including the decline, is noted in the system. 19 that was part of the process at this point. 20 make sure that the process was closed out. 21 22 23 Q It's kind of an And at that point the invoice is sitting Any action taken in And We needed to Is there an email traffic or record that shows -- Did you send an email to anyone saying stop the presses? A I did not send an email. I had a conversation 24 with Charles Rice, indicating that he should not approve the 25 invoice for the Hawthorn Group. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 153 1 Q When was that, ball park? 2 A When was that conversation? 3 Q Yes, ma'am. 4 A I don't remember the exact date, but -- I was 5 actually traveling at that point, but I did reach out to 6 him, and I told him that the invoice was in the system but 7 that he should not approve the Hawthorn invoice. 8 Q That was a telephone conversation? 9 A That was a telephone conversation. 10 Q Take a look at 56, please. This appears to be an 11 email from Mr. Ehrhardt, where he copied a hyperlink and 12 sent it to Mr. Rice regarding an article; is that correct? 13 A That's correct. 14 Q And he said, "Didn't want you to be surprised by 15 this"; is that correct? 16 A Yes. 17 Q And Mr. Rice responded, and you were copied on 18 it: "Saw it, thanks." 19 A Yes. 20 Q And that's May 24th of '18? 21 A That's correct. 22 Q And that was -- What's the timing of Mr. Rice's 23 email at the top? What's the time? 24 A The time of his email was at 9:31 p.m. 25 Q Look at Exhibit 57. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 154 1 BY MR. COMAN: 2 For the record, this is Bates labeled 3 ENO-NOPS 5923 and 5924. 4 BY THE WITNESS: 5 6 7 Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And before I ask you questions about 57, if you 8 could look again at 56, I'm sorry, where Mr. Ehrhardt sends 9 that NOLA link about the article, and Charles Rice says, 10 "Saw it, thanks," at 9:31 p.m. 11 communications with Mr. Rice following that news article, 12 and specifically about the news article? 13 A Did you have any I was talking to multiple people that day: 14 Chanel, I may have had a conversation with Charles. 15 recall if it was before or after he may have seen that 16 article. 17 18 Q I don't Would that have been on the telephone verbally, or through text, or who knows? 19 A I don't recall. 20 Q Did you continue to exchange test messages with 21 22 Mr. Rice throughout the spring of 2018? A Throughout the spring of 2018? I would consider 23 that the April through June time, or March through June time 24 frame. 25 Q Sure. Yes, ma'am. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 155 1 A Yes, I did. 2 Q Why didn't we receive those text messages? 3 you change phones? 4 A I actually had -- I had a previous phone that I 5 used, as well as a current phone. 6 that I had. 7 don't have. 8 Q 9 Did to today. 10 It was a very old phone I don't know what text messages you have or Well, you've seen the ones that you've testified Those are the ones we have. When did you change phones? 11 A I changed phones during the February time frame. 12 Q So the number, you kept the same number? 13 A Yes, I still have the same number. 14 Q But different device? 15 A Different device. 16 changed phones to upgrade to a newer phone. 17 18 A very old device, and I Q So which phones did you turn in to Entergy as part of this investigation? 19 A I turned in both phones, and that was a legal 20 matter that was handled from there. 21 it. 22 23 Q That's all I know about But physically, and that's the part I'm asking you, you turned in two phones? 24 A I turned in two phones. 25 Q The old one? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 156 1 A Yes. 2 Q And the new one? 3 A Yes, I did. 4 Q Same phone number? 5 A Same phone number. 6 Q What was the old one, like a 4, 5, 6 or 7 something? 8 A It was either a 4 or 5. 9 Q And now what's the new one? 10 A It's a new one, yes. 11 Q Not that I remember. 12 they up to now? 13 A I think it's an 8. 14 Q Okay, fair enough. 15 16 Is it 9, or 10, or what are So when you get this new phone, you exchanged text messages with Mr. Rice from time to time? 17 A Yes, 18 Q And during the spring you had the -- When I say 19 I did. "spring," maybe a little earlier, you had the 2/21 meeting? 20 A Yes, I did. 21 Q That was a large event, correct? 22 A I had the February 21st meeting took place, yes. 23 Q I know it took place. We all know it took place. 24 Would you consider that a prominent event in the NOPS Power 25 Station application process? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 157 1 2 A That was the Utility Committee meeting in consideration of the proposal. 3 Q So that would be a yes? 4 A Yes. 5 Q And then following, a couple of weeks later, the 6 full vote before the Council, correct? 7 A Yes, that is correct. 8 Q Another large event? 9 A In March. 10 Q In a long-running project that you pointed out 11 March. Yes, that's correct. earlier that you were the project manager for? 12 A (SHAKES HEAD AFFIRMATIVELY) 13 Q So we would expect to see some text message 14 communications between yourself, and Mr. Rice and others, 15 correct? 16 A I don't know what you would see. I do know that 17 I changed phones during that time. My previous phone had, 18 at that point, a corrupt battery, and it no longer held a 19 charge. 20 Q Right. But the new phone is good to go, correct? 21 A There's nothing wrong with it. 22 wrong with my new phone. 23 to my legal team. 24 25 Q There's nothing It was a phone that I turned over At the time that all these allegation surfaced that we just looked at with Mr. Stein, The Lens, and the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 158 1 other episodes there, you had the new phone at that time? 2 A I changed phones in February. 3 Q Okay. 4 A So in late February I believe, or early March, 5 and so that would have been prior to the time frame of The 6 Lens article surfacing. 7 Q Let me show you 57. 9 A Yes. 10 Q All right. 8 11 You have that in front of you? Have you had a chance to look at it, or did I interrupt you? 12 A Yes, I did look at this one. 13 Q Now, you were a party to this conversation, 14 correct? 15 A Yes. 16 Q And the bottom email is dated May 4th of 2018, 17 correct? 18 A That is correct. 19 Q Copying you and sent to Mr. Rice; is that 20 correct? 21 A Yes. 22 Q This is a proposed statement; is that right? 23 A This is a proposed statement. 24 Q Or it's a statement, either way. 25 A Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 159 1 Q Go ahead and turn to the second page, if you 2 could. 3 me if I have read it correctly: "Entergy New Orleans had no 4 knowledge of individuals or organizers of an effort to seed 5 an audience." The beginning sentence in the last paragraph, tell Did I read that correctly? 6 A Yes, that is correct. 7 Q And then Mr. Rice, if you flip to the first page, 8 Mr. Rice forwarded this to your supervisor, Mr. Lagarde, 9 correct? 10 A Yes. 11 Q And Mr. Lagarde responded -- What was his 12 Yes. response, if any? 13 A Mr. Lagarde? 14 Q At the top, yes, ma'am. 15 A Mr. Lagarde said, "I like it." 16 Q Now let me show you 58. 17 A Okay. 18 Q Go back to 57, if you could just for a moment, 19 I'm sorry. 20 "Entergy New Orleans had no knowledge of individuals or 21 organizers of an effort to seed an audience." 22 statement true or false? 23 A Let me know -- The sentence that I read out on the second page: Is that I don't believe that statement is true based on 24 my -- Well, let me step back. 25 true based on my understanding of what "seed an audience" JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I believe that statement is 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 160 1 is. "Seed an audience" is -- I don't use it in my everyday 2 work, but it's -- It's not something that we use just kind 3 of in our everyday language. 4 Q What do you take it to mean? 5 A "Seed," based on what I have heard of that term 6 nationally, but I don't use it often, so it's not part of my 7 everyday lingo, means that someone would intentionally pay 8 someone or arrange for -- make arrangements for people to be 9 paid to be there, or to participate in something; and it's 10 not something that we would do or that we would participate 11 in. 12 Q Just so I can get this straight, you believe that 13 -- You received the word "seed" to equal payment in some 14 fashion? 15 A It's -- Again, it's not a term that I use in my 16 everyday work. 17 term "seed," it means that someone did something 18 intentionally in terms of paying someone or making 19 arrangements, or something that is even -- I associate the 20 word "seed" with something that's possibly unethical. 21 22 Q But based on my limited knowledge of the Does it say anything about payment in this particular statement? 23 A No. 24 Q It uses the words "seed an audience," correct? 25 A Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 161 1 2 3 4 Q And it uses the word "audience"; in other words, to produce an audience? A It says what it says. "seed" to mean something different. 5 Q 6 your mind? 7 A So "seed" somehow means payment, not produce, in In my mind, because it's not a term that I use in 8 my typical daily work. 9 affairs lingo, but not mine. 10 11 It says "seed," and I take Q It's part of, you know, maybe public Then in 58, I think you should have that in front of you, as well? 12 A Okay. 13 Q This is that same morning, it's May 5 at 12:25 14 a.m.. Mr. Rice is then, what, circulating this to others in 15 the group listed, correct? 16 A Yes. 17 Q And if you turn to the second page of this 18 document, 5738, it's got that same "seed an audience" 19 sentence. Do you see that? 20 A Yes. 21 Q And then look at Exhibit 59. 22 A Yes, okay. 23 Q And this, again, is now May 5, 2018, same morning 24 25 but now a few minutes later, 1:11 a.m.; Is that correct? A Yes, this is 1:11 a.m. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 162 1 2 Q individuals, including yourself; is that correct? 3 4 And it's an email sent by Mr. Rice to several A Yes, he shared this email with me as part of the group that received the email at that time. 5 Q If you turn to the second page there? 6 A Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 7 Q The "Seeding an audience" sentence now was 8 changed to: 9 New Orleans did not pay anyone to attend the Council "As we have stated previously, Entergy 10 meetings or direct anyone to attend public meetings." 11 That's the change, is that correct, between the two 12 statements? 13 A There is a change right there. As I indicated 14 previously, "seed an audience" is not something that we 15 typically use in our everyday business or in things that we 16 handle on a routine basis. 17 was to explain our perspective of what "seeding an audience" 18 is. 19 paying someone, and this is what is defined here in the 20 statement. And so I believe the effort here As I said earlier, I know of "seeding an audience" as 21 Q Who changed the statement? 22 A I don't know. I was not involved in the 23 discussions at that time, or at that time of morning. 24 not involved directly in the discussions among our upper 25 management team members. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I was 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 163 1 Q Who was involved in changing the statement? 2 A I don't know. 3 Q You never had a conversation with Charles Rice 4 regarding the change in statement? 5 A I did not. 6 Q This statement listed on 5808, in that particular 7 line, the last portion of it says: " Entergy New Orleans did 8 not pay anyone to attend the Council meetings or direct 9 anyone to attend public meetings." In that last clause, 10 Entergy is denying directing anyone to attend public 11 meetings. 12 Is that true or false? BY MR. CAHN: 13 I think you need to read the rest of the 14 paragraph and put it into context. 15 BY MR. COMAN: 16 17 I'm asking my questions. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 18 Q So I'm asking you about that. Does that clause, 19 "-- direct anyone to attend public meetings," is that true 20 or false? 21 A That is true. We did not direct anyone. We 22 invited people to speak in support of the plant. Some had 23 time or interest, some did not. 24 not. 25 encouraged our supporters to take time from their workday, Some attended, some did As we indicate in the rest of that paragraph, we JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 164 1 from their evenings, from their routines. 2 able to do that, some did not. 3 be able to attend, but I will be happy to submit a letter to 4 the City Council." 5 not direct anyone to attend the public meetings. 6 Q 7 Some said that, "I may not But that is a true statement, we did Go ahead and take a look at Exhibit 60. BY MR. COMAN: 8 This is a one-page document, Bates labeled 9 10 Some people were Hawthorn 456, and addressed to you. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 11 Q It's an invoice from the Hawthorn Group, correct? 12 A Yes. 13 Q And listed here, it says first the invoice date 14 is 9/21 of '17; is that correct? 15 A That's correct. 16 Q And listed under the word "Invoice" it says: 17 "Services for September 20, 2017 to October 20, 2017. 18 Hawthorn management fee, $7,500. 19 $24,530." Out of pocket expenses, Did I read that correctly? 20 A That is correct. 21 Q What were the out of pocket expenses? 22 A The out of pocket expenses would have been those 23 items associated with the effort, the time, the labor 24 associated with identifying and reaching out to individuals 25 in the community. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 165 1 2 3 Q Do you know what that consisted of besides what you just testified to? A That is part of the Hawthorn Group's proprietary 4 process, and it's part of their service that they provide to 5 clients. 6 Q 7 Take a look at 61. BY MR. COMAN: 8 9 10 11 Bates labeled Hawthorn 458. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Same question. That's a second invoice; is that correct? 12 A Yes. 13 Q And this Hawthorn managing fee is listed as 14 $5,000, and communication expenses listed at $17,400; is 15 that correct? 16 A That is correct. 17 Q And specifically, the invoice references, 18 "Services for February 21, 2018 event"; is that correct? 19 A That's correct. 20 Q Ms. Pollard, were you interviewed as part of an 21 investigation that Entergy itself conducted? 22 A Yes, I was. 23 Q And who interviewed you? 24 A Members of my legal team interviewed me. 25 Q What were their names? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 166 1 A Karen Freese, Wendy Robertson and Cory Cahn. 2 Q And when did that occur? 3 A That occurred during the second week of May. 4 Q Do you know if that interview was recorded, 5 either audio, video or both? 6 A I don't. 7 Q Are you aware that HBO ran a segment on the John 8 Oliver show regarding, quote, "Entergy's Astroturfing"? 9 A Yes. 10 Q Did you watch it? 11 A Yes. 12 Q Was Charles Rice transferred or removed as 13 President of Entergy New Orleans? 14 A I don't know. 15 Q Did you ever ask him? 16 A No. 17 Q Where does he work now? 18 A He works at the Entergy corporate headquarters 19 building. 20 Q Same building you're in now? 21 A Yes. 22 Q When was the last time you saw him? 23 A Probably a couple of weeks ago, just walking 24 towards the elevator. 25 time. I don't believe he saw me at that JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 167 1 Q Have you had any discussions with Mr. Rice 2 following his transfer, re-assignment? 3 personal matters. Regarding NOPS, not 4 A No. 5 Q Has anyone at Entergy told you what will happened 6 to you, from a personal standpoint, following this 7 investigation? 8 A No. 9 Q Have any other Entergy employees involved in this 10 matter been re-assigned? 11 A I don't know. 12 Q Would you agree, do you agree or disagree with 13 the following statement; that this episode was an unforced 14 error or Entergy's part? 15 16 A I agree. It was nothing that we planned or intended. 17 BY MR. COMAN: 18 Can we go off the record? 19 (BREAK TAKEN) 20 21 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q I want to show you what I'll mark as Exhibit 62, 22 and that's eight pieces of paper, eight photographs. 23 only have one copy. 24 if you could. 25 A And I Take a moment and scroll through those, I just have a couple of questions. Okay. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 168 1 2 Q Do you know any of those particular individuals depicted in those photographs? 3 A I don't know these individuals personally, no. 4 Q And those photographs were taken from, or they're 5 still shots from a video from the 10/16/17 meeting, okay? 6 A Okay. 7 Q And those are the same t-shirts that we were 8 9 discussing previously, correct? A 10 Yes, they are. BY MR. CAHN: 11 I don't think so. 12 BY MR. COMAN: 13 14 15 I think one of them -- One of them does not, that's correct. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q And so let me ask you, besides that one, any of 16 those individuals, even the man who doesn't have the orange 17 t-shirt on, do you know him? 18 A I don't believe I know that individual. 19 Q Okay. And from the NOPS perspective, the power 20 plant itself, is it going to -- We understand it will have 21 nothing to do with anyone in Jefferson Parish, let's say; 22 anyone outside of Orleans Parish. 23 A Is that correct? I would say it does have something to do with the 24 region, because the power station provides grid stability 25 for the region. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 169 1 Q That's opposite of what we have heard from other 2 Entergy witnesses. 3 of opinion? 4 A Is there some cause for that difference It's not a project that is directly tied to 5 Jefferson Parish from a regulatory perspective, but I 6 believe that the New Orleans Power Station benefits the 7 region. 8 Q Is the power that's generated from the 9 New Orleans power station that's going to be built or that's 10 slated to be built, will that supply Jefferson Parish or any 11 other parishes outside of Orleans Parish whatsoever? 12 A It provides power in general that is spread 13 across or it's put on the grid. 14 benefits the region because if New Orleans and its residents 15 do well and benefits from the economic development, the 16 region benefits. 17 Q Right. I believe the project also And for an economic development, I get 18 that part, so put that aside. 19 household in River Ridge, let's say, for instance. 20 NOPS Power Station going to help my power? 21 22 A I'm talking about I'm a Is the I believe the power station generates power for the grid in general, and so it benefits the region. 23 Q We've been told the exact opposite though. 24 A That's my belief; that it benefits the region. 25 Q If Toni Green-Brown, or Ms. Mercadel, or somebody JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 170 1 in that position would have the exact opposite statement 2 from what you just said, can you explain the difference? 3 A No, I can't explain the difference. 4 Q Okay. And so those individuals, though, that 5 spoke at the October 16, 2017 meeting. 6 those speakers, correct? You were present for 7 A Yes. 8 Q And you watched and heard the comments that they 9 10 offered, correct? A Yes. I heard some, not all. Again, I was 11 handling multiple responsibilities over the course of those 12 two meetings, so I may not have heard all of the comments. 13 Q Did you notice that those individuals 14 photographed there had all been reading statements that were 15 either typed or on their telephones? 16 A I didn't take notice of it in particular because 17 a number of individuals, either supporting the plant or 18 opposing the plant, were reading comments that they had 19 either on their phones or written out. 20 Q When you saw those particular individuals listed 21 there -- or photographed, I'm sorry, in Exhibit 62, did you 22 either comment to anyone or did you have the personal 23 thought internally, geez, I wonder who these people are? 24 25 A I did not comment to anyone questioning who they were, no. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 171 1 Q None of the comments that those particular 2 individuals made stuck out in your mind as being odd in any 3 fashion? 4 A These were people expressing their opinions about 5 the plant, and I was not calling or labeling those comments 6 in any way that particular evening. 7 took their time, from my understanding, to come out and 8 express their thoughts and opinions about the power station. 9 10 11 Q You understand that those people have admitted, at least some, that they have been paid for their services? A 12 I understand that some have admitted that, yes. BY MR. COMAN: 13 I don't have any further questions. 14 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 15 Ms. Pollard, again, you really are 16 impressive. 17 BY THE WITNESS: 18 I mean that. Thank you. 19 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 20 I mean that sincerely. 21 BY THE WITNESS: 22 23 These were people who Thank you. EXAMINATION BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 24 Q You've been with Entergy 21 or 22 years? 25 A About 21 years. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 172 1 Q 2 years? 3 A 21. And Charles Rice has been with them how many I don't know the exact number, but I know he's 4 been with Entergy in various capacities for, I don't know, 9 5 or 10 years or so. 6 Q And if Ms. Mercadel, and Mr. Dunn and 7 Ms. Green-Brown and you, the four of you, you add up the 8 number of years you've been with Entergy, you would get well 9 over 150. 10 BY MR. LAWRENCE: 11 12 13 Don't be offended. EXAMINATION BY JUDGE JOHNSON: Q Dunn is at 40; 40 years; and I think 14 Ms. Green-Brown, 37 or 36 years, you see? 15 plays out. 16 Entergy. 17 the kind of years that you have collectively or individually 18 been with Entergy; Charles Rice just simply hasn't. 19 A And that math So the group of you have really been with But Charles Rice hasn't, not in terms of years, Charles Rice has been with Entergy for a shorter 20 period of time than some of these individuals you have 21 named. 22 Q Absolutely. 23 One of the things that we have learned, at least 24 I have learned about Entergy in this process is that Entergy 25 has the capacity to maintain documents for certain kinds of JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 173 1 projects, in terms of historical information. 2 collects, I'll use that word, and therefore maintains 3 historical documents? 4 5 6 So Entergy A Yes, we do to some extent. Based on guidelines, Q And those guidelines center around something that yes. 7 is significant. This is something significant and, as a 8 historical record of Entergy, because these are historical 9 documents. 10 A They are historical documents. 11 word, "significant." 12 matter or case significant over another. 13 14 Q That was your I don't know if I could rate any one But the entity called Entergy would want to maintain its own history. 15 A That is correct. 16 Q Sure. And so a project as significant as NOPS, 17 and my words again, "significant as NOPS," would be a thing 18 to maintain a record of. 19 A Would that be accurate? You know, there were so many documents, emails, 20 materials produced, I don't know the guidelines around every 21 piece of information that was produced over now a two-year 22 period. 23 piece of information. I can't say that they would actually maintain every 24 Q But they obviously would maintain some? 25 A They might maintain some. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 174 1 Q And because of the nature of the project, and the 2 fact that the entity called Entergy would want to maintain 3 its own history of things itself. 4 itself. 5 A This is its history of Sure, we might maintain some. Again, there are 6 guidelines in place. I don't know all the specific 7 guidelines, but they might maintain some documents. 8 Q Who would know the guidelines? 9 A Any number of people in the company, I'm just not 10 11 familiar with the specific guidelines at this time. Q Give me -- Can you just give me a guess in terms 12 of the hierarchy at Entergy, who would know the guidelines 13 for maintaining historical documents? 14 A Our legal team might. 15 Q Can I ask him? 16 A He may or may not know. 17 direct line of work every day. 18 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 19 I'll ask him later. 20 21 22 That may not be his (OFF RECORD DISCUSSION) EXAMINATION BY JUDGE JOHNSON: Q Again, involved in the NOPS project going back to 23 '16, when the NOPS project actually formalized and started 24 to the end of it, which is '18 -- 25 A Um-hmm (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 175 1 Q -- Ms. Mercadel was involved in some aspects, 2 Mr. Dunn was involved. 3 the answer is yes? And you're shaking your head, but 4 A Yes. 5 Q Ms. Green-Brown was involved? 6 A Yes. 7 Q You were involved? 8 A Yes. 9 Q Chanel Lagarde was involved? 10 A Chanel Lagarde is my supervisor. 11 Q Sure. 12 A But the actual Strategy Team was primarily based 13 I was listening for the list, I'm sorry. at Entergy New Orleans. 14 Q And again, the Strategy Team was made up of? 15 A Made up of Public Affairs, Legal, Regulatory. 16 Q Give me the people. 17 A Public Affairs, you just mentioned a few of those 18 individuals: 19 Dunn. 20 Regulatory 21 Huntley. 22 Q Public Affairs? Toni Green-Brown, Demetric Mercadel, Alex It was also made up of some of our Legal and Team members: Tim Cragin, Brian Guillot, Gary Those are just some examples of those individuals. And in terms of the need to inform the public 23 around it, the need to inform the public around NOPS and the 24 need that New Orleans had for NOPS, that need was mainly 25 with Ms. Mercadel, Mr. Dunn, Ms. Toni Green-Brown, you, but JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 176 1 2 also Bright Moments? A Yes, we engaged the support and services of 3 Bright Moments and the Ehrhardt Group as part of our efforts 4 to inform the public. 5 Q Also DMM? 6 A DMM not as part of the regular Strategy Team, but 7 they provided a service like setting up some refreshments 8 for meetings, things of that nature. 9 Q They also were engaged in the effort around -- I 10 think, the effort to fix some aspects of problems Entergy 11 was having on the street, and informing neighborhoods about 12 those efforts that Entergy would engage in on the streets of 13 New Orleans in terms of fixing things. 14 A Yes, DMM has been engaged in providing updates or 15 reaching out to customers as we've done some distribution 16 and transmission service work. 17 18 19 20 21 Q Is a part of that effort, DMM would hire people to assist in that? A Yes, they employ certain individuals who actually help with that effort. Q Fact is, they employed lots of them over the 22 course of time. 23 about, they employed lots. 24 25 A In just the two-year period we were talking They have actually grown their business over time. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 177 1 Q Sure. 2 A Since I was introduced to DMM, probably two or 3 4 5 6 three years ago, they have grown their business. Q From around 2015 to 2018, when you say "those three years" -A That probably covers the time frame over which I 7 have actually known of DMM. 8 their business, but I have become familiar with them. 9 10 11 Q I don't know every aspect of Green Pastures, how were they involved in the effort? A Green Pastures was engaged by Charles Rice, and 12 they provided some public strategy, public affairs strategy 13 guidance to specifically Charles Rice; and over time to some 14 of the NOPS Strategy Team. 15 16 17 Q And was part of their effort lobbying City Council members? A I know that they had some conversation with City 18 Council members to provide them with background, just as we 19 were trying to inform the public about the project, as well. 20 21 Q One of the things that Entergy does as a matter of course is engage with the City Council members. 22 A That is correct. 23 Q And actually, Entergy has a team whose purpose is 24 to engage itself with City Council members; is that 25 accurate? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 178 1 A That is accurate. We have several members of our 2 team who engage with the City Council or staff at any 3 particular time on topics ranging from hurricane prep to 4 power care, customer bill, or support, or donations; things 5 like that. 6 Q 7 Now, those entities, Green Pastures, is an entity operated by Bob Tucker. 8 A Yes, I know the name Bob Tucker. 9 Q And DMM is Dotty Reese and Margaret Montgomery? 10 A Yes, I'm familiar with Dotty Reese and Margaret 11 Montgomery. 12 Q And those three individuals are individuals who 13 are very imbedded in the City of New Orleans. 14 an accurate statement? 15 A Would that be I have probably worked more closely with Dotty 16 Reese and Margaret Montgomery as part of previous Entergy 17 projects, or just in the community in general. 18 became familiar with Bob Tucker as part of his work on the 19 New Orleans Power Station, and Charles Rice interacted with 20 him as part of that engagement. I only 21 Q And Bright Moments is Bill Rouselle? 22 A Bright Moments is led my Bill Rouselle. 23 Q And he and it is another entity that is very 24 25 imbedded in the City of New Orleans? A Yes, I think that's an accurate assessment. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 179 1 Q Those groups are imbedded in the City of 2 New Orleans, very connected to the City of New Orleans; and 3 you have Ms. Antoinette Green-Brown imbedded in the City of 4 New Orleans. 5 Would that be accurate? Part of that embedment is her job for Entergy. 6 A That is accurate. 7 Q The same applies to Alex Dunn? 8 A That is accurate. 9 Q Because his job is truly to be as engaged in the 10 City of New Orleans, people in the City of New Orleans. 11 That's just part of his chief responsibilities; is that 12 correct? 13 A That is one of his responsibilities, one of Toni 14 Green-Brown's responsibilities. 15 service matters. 16 different roles and responsibilities as a small team. 17 Q They also handle customer They are stretched across many, many One of the things that I have learned is how much 18 they love Entergy. 19 love Entergy, how committed they are to Entergy and how much 20 they want Entergy to be all that it can be for the City of 21 New Orleans. 22 these words, I'm impressed with that. 23 sincerely. 24 25 I mean that sincerely, how much they I'm impressed with that. I'm not just saying I mean that But they were not good enough to get people engaged for the October 16th hearing of the City Council JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 180 1 separately or collectively, they were not engaged 2 sufficiently in the City of New Orleans to be able to do 3 what Hawthorn arguably could do. 4 accurate? They were not. Is that 5 A 6 good enough. 7 Q Able enough? 8 A They are imbedded in the City of New Orleans, but 9 I probably wouldn't characterize it as not being they are very small team that had basically carried most of 10 this outreach on this project for a much longer extended 11 period of time than anticipated, and they needed the 12 additional resources and support to reach more members of 13 the community. 14 Q So the stack of cards that Ms. Mercadel produced 15 that was handed over to the City Council, that was obtained 16 from people who had attended meetings that Ms. Mercadel, 17 Mr. Dunn and Ms. Toni Green-Brown had attended, that wasn't 18 sufficient enough to get people's butts in those seats for 19 October 16th. 20 A That wasn't sufficient? These were people who signed cards during a 21 variety or in a variety of settings, ranging from evening 22 meetings, community events. 23 could not necessarily make the time to attend meetings 24 during the day, during the workday or during the evenings 25 when we participated in hearings. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE But all of those individuals 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 181 1 Q And you asked them that, and they said to you, 2 no, they couldn't? 3 said, you asked them that and they said to you no, they 4 couldn't? 5 A You asked them that? What you just I didn't necessarily ask them that directly. 6 just knew that it was a very difficult task to have three 7 individuals cover an entire city footprint. 8 9 Q I I didn't just say three, I said Bill Rouselle, Dotty Reese and Margaret Montgomery. I said Bob Tucker. I didn't just say 10 three. I didn't just say three, I said 11 all of them collectively were not sufficient to be engaged 12 by Entergy to get 60 people in a room. 13 sufficient? 14 A All of them were not All of them -- All of them had their plates full. 15 The people that they typically would connect with were 16 people they may have known or may have been introduced to. 17 The effort to have the Hawthorn Group support this 18 initiative was based on having someone independent to reach 19 out to other members of the community. 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q So Hawthorn -- From your thought process in August of '17, Hawthorn would be sufficient to do that? A Hawthorne would be sufficient to supplement the efforts of the individuals that you just mentioned. Q The individuals I just mentioned were not equipped, and I'm going to use the term "weaponized" to get JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 182 1 2 people in the seats on October 16th? A In addition to all of their other roles and 3 continuing to support New Orleans Power Station, they did 4 not have the extra time to pursue additional people, 5 different people than we had already seen in the previous 6 meetings. 7 additional people, because we were seeing, or having, or 8 inviting some of the same people to participate. 9 Q We wanted to have someone independently identify So they were not weaponized with money to get 10 people in the seats; weaponized with money to get people to 11 the microphone to talk. 12 13 14 A They were not? I would never say that money was involved. Q Yes or no to my question, though? given money to achieve that result? 16 BY MR. CAHN: 17 I'm going to object, Judge. 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 This was their -- This was their -- 15 19 Yes or no? Were they What do you mean, "given money"? EXAMINATION BY JUDGE JOHNSON: Q Were they given resources to achieve that result, called money? A It was part of their compensation as an employee to do their jobs. Q So let me turn on this side. weaponized to do that. So Hawthorn was Hawthorn was given money to do that. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 183 1 2 Is that an accurate statement? A Hawthorn was paid to provide a service to 3 identify people who could publicly support the plant. 4 was part of the resources available above and beyond the 5 standard number of people that we had on this ongoing 6 extended project. 7 Q This Matt asked a question and you answered it in 8 terms of did you ever actually tell Suzanne Hammelman that 9 no one was actually to be paid or receive money to do any of 10 those activities you were paying Hawthorn to achieve. See, 11 I'm trying to state the question correctly, because we know 12 the ultimate result; people did receive money, right? 13 A We know that now, yes. 14 Q You know that? 15 A Yes, we know that. 16 Q And Matt asked the question was Suzanne Hammelman 17 at Hawthorn ever told specifically no one was actually to 18 receive money to achieve that result. 19 supposed to receive money to achieve that result? 20 A No one was actually I never did address that directly with her 21 because it was never any of my expectation that that would 22 happen. 23 scenario to address that directly with her as we were 24 discussing contracts, proposals. 25 scenario that I considered to even address that with her. I never even considered that as part of the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE That was never part of the 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 184 1 Q And so after the 16th of October of '17, and 2 before the December 13 of '17 meeting, you at least had 3 heard something, I'm going to use the vernacular, "in the 4 wind" that people were paid to be at that meeting on the 5 16th? That you heard something about it? 6 A Yes, I heard or saw rumors. 7 Q Rumors or something about that. 8 A Yes. 9 Q And then you asked or told Ms. Hammelman at 10 Hawthorn: That ain't ever going to happen in my house. 11 Don't do that. 12 hear any words from you or anyone at Entergy to that thing 13 called Hawthorn, that Hawthorn, this is not the way we roll. 14 We don't pay people to come, we don't pay people to speak. 15 Did you say that to Suzanne? That should never happen. I don't want to 16 A 17 reiterated: 18 explain to me why am I seeing this, because this was never 19 part of our agreement. 20 21 Q I said to her that our arrangements -- I This is what we asked you to do. And at that point you said: I need you to And it will not be, because I'm telling you now, don't do that? 22 A My understanding was that they were not. 23 Q But did you tell her that? 24 A Yes, I did. 25 Q Did you tell her don't do that? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 185 1 A Well, I told her don't do that, but I said it in 2 a way that it is my expectation of you that this will not 3 happen, it's not the way that Entergy does business. But I 4 don't think it was -- At that time they were rumors. And so 5 I don't think it was necessary to emphasize that in the 6 conversation, because they were rumors, as so many other 7 things were rumors at that time. 8 that she checked with her people here locally, and that it 9 had not happened. 10 Q And she had already said There were a couple of instances, at least one I 11 remember, maybe more, when Matt was asking questions about 12 phone calls or conferences, phone calls that you had, and 13 whether in fact you made notes of the calls. 14 question. 15 A Okay. He asked that Maybe it was in reference to the 16 conference calls that I had when I was actually on the phone 17 explaining and laying out for them: 18 or so timeline has looked like. 19 them, and so I was basically doing the talking. 20 have been doing the note taking, because they in turn were 21 coming up with some ideas and proposals. 22 23 24 25 Q Here is what this year I laid out the issues for They may Did you memorialize that conversation, though, for your own purposes? A I did not. Again, I was basically telling a story across a timeline. To the extent that it was JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 186 1 memorialized, it was in my words in explaining to them 2 here's the environment that we're dealing with. 3 Q There were questions by Matt about the proposal 4 that Hawthorn made, the proposal that would have been a 5 healthy six figures if implemented, and those questions also 6 included the fact that Hawthorn said: 7 than what Entergy actually agreed upon. 8 statement, right? 9 you this is a better idea than doing it the way Entergy 10 11 This is a better idea That's an accurate Hawthorn, in essence, in writing, said to chose to do it? A The Hawthorn Group proposed a broad spectrum of 12 possible approaches that we didn't necessarily ask of them. 13 It was their broader proposal that was very costly, and we 14 did not engage them to handle all of those different 15 activities. 16 Q 17 18 proposal? A Whose decision was it not to accept that Whose decision was that? I acted based on the request and direction of 19 Charles Rice. 20 Hawthorn work with us to identify public speakers. 21 22 23 Q He identified the specific need to have So it was Charles Rice's decision to go with what eventually happened, not yours? A It was not my decision. He approached me in 24 preparation for both meetings, and suggested that we ask 25 Hawthorn to work with us to identify supporters. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 187 1 2 A Again, the decision to go with what actually happened was Charles Rice's decision? 3 A Yes. 4 Q We can just get to, now, the spring of '18. And 5 again, you are engaging with Ms. Hammelman around what had 6 taken place in '16; that is the October 16th hearing, what 7 had taken place, and engaging her in conversations around 8 what potentially can happen in the 21st of February meeting? 9 A Yes. 10 Q That's where we are now. 11 A Okay. 12 Q And at that point in time, again, the same old 13 question again: 14 anyone at Entergy to Hawthorn, what the parameters of your 15 agreement with Hawthorn was as regards getting people in the 16 seats and getting people to speak; what those parameters did 17 include and what they didn't include? 18 A Yes. Was there then a point made by you or We reviewed what those parameters were as 19 per the scope of work that they had outlined and committed 20 to. 21 22 23 Q And you also engaged them, at that point, what the parameters didn't include? A We talked about some of the issues that we had 24 seen with the October meeting, and I was reassured at that 25 time that there were no issues, those were rumors, she had JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 188 1 confirmed it with her staff, and so we moved forward with 2 plans for the February meeting. 3 Q So you didn't feel the need, even then, to say to 4 Ms. Hammelman or anyone at Hawthorn, we are not paying for 5 people to come, and we're not paying for people to speak? 6 A Again, this was not part of the scenario or the 7 expectation, and so they were advised or directed to stick 8 with what they had outlined as part of their scope of work. 9 Q So there wasn't any need to remind them of that? 10 A They were well aware of the rumors that were out 11 there, and -- and -- and had denied that anything like that 12 was occurring. 13 Q And there wasn't any need on your part, or 14 Charles' part, or anyone's part at Entergy to just be 15 straight up and tell them? 16 A We weren't straight up -- We did not even 17 envision this as part of the scenario because we knew what 18 we had engaged them to do. 19 20 21 Q Did you ever -- Did you ever work with Suzanne Hammelman before this particular project? A I worked with her as part of the solar project 22 that we have out in New Orleans East, on a very limited 23 basis, across maybe a few days or so. 24 Q And did you ever work with her on anything else? 25 A She has worked or she and the Hawthorne Group JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 189 1 have worked with Entergy over, you know, over times in the 2 past. 3 part of discussions or just mentions of, okay, and so we're 4 looking at what you're doing in New Orleans as a part of all 5 of this. 6 contractual agreement prior to the New Orleans Power 7 Station. 8 9 10 11 12 Q I don't know the details of those, but I had been a But I had never worked with her as a part of a And did you ever work with Hawthorn, not necessarily her but any other individuals at Hawthorn around any other projects? A I have never worked with any of the other Hawthorn Group employees. 13 John Ashford presented kind of a utility industry 14 overview during one of my department meetings, but that did 15 not entail working with him. I sat and listened. 16 Q Did you Google Hawthorn? 17 A I did not. 18 Q While sitting here, I put just a Google search 19 in, and the Google search was, "Astroturfing and Hawthorn." 20 And what came up was a 2009 article. 21 Bonner's long history of deceitful grassroots lobbying," and 22 it has and he was an entity that was hired by Hawthorn. 23 that's what I was reading here. 24 25 It's "Astroturf King And BY MR. CAHN: What did you Google? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 190 1 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 2 I Googled "Astroturfing Hawthorn." 3 And he was hired by Hawthorn. 4 up on the Google search. 5 you want to see it (INDICATING). 6 BY MR. CAHN: 7 No. 8 BY THE WITNESS: 9 That's what came I can show it to you if I did not associate the Hawthorn Group with 10 astroturfing. 11 with the term to actually type "Hawthorn 12 astroturfing." 13 was not part of the arrangement. 14 I wasn't really familiar enough That was not an expectation, it EXAMINATION BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 15 Q I understand. 16 A It was not part of the arrangement. 17 18 19 20 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: I don't have anything else. BY MR. LAWRENCE: Let me say that you are a consummate 21 professional. You and your team really have done 22 great work. 23 BY THE WITNESS: 24 Thank you. 25 BY MR. LAWRENCE: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 191 1 That you-all approached this thing in a 2 workman-like fashion, from your perspective, for 3 sure. 4 EXAMINATION BY MR. LAWRENCE: 5 Q Now, you are from the City? 6 A I was not born here. 7 Q But you're familiar with the City? 8 A Yes, I have worked in the City, I have lived in 9 10 the City for a period of time, over my many years in the area. 11 Q You were at UNO, you were there for how long? 12 A At Entergy New Orleans? 13 Q No, University of New Orleans. 14 A A very short period of time. Across 1999 to 15 2000, but most of career has been in corporate 16 communications. 17 18 Q You're familiar with the area east of 510 and south of Lakeforest Boulevard? 19 A Yes, I am. 20 Q 510 would be where the expressway or where a 21 portion of that crosses Chef Highway and passes by your 22 facility at Michoud; am I right? 23 A Yes. 24 Q And are you familiar with the population there? 25 A I actually lived in the Michoud area. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Upon my 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 192 1 initial arrival to New Orleans I had relatives who lived in 2 that area, and lived with them for a period. 3 Q You mentioned that you-all encouraged supporters 4 and did things with supporters. I think you mentioned 5 business people, community groups. 6 groups and businesses did you-all reach out to in that area 7 having to do with this project? How many community 8 A I really don't know specific numbers. 9 Q Can you tell me of any that you reached out to in 10 that area? 11 A I know that we have worked with the East 12 New Orleans Business Group, East New Orleans -- I don't know 13 the exact name right now, but there's a commission that's 14 based there, we have worked with them. 15 community partners like Joe Brown Park. We've worked with 16 Q That wouldn't be in that area. 17 A I'm sorry? 18 Q They wouldn't be in that area. 19 A Okay. 20 I'm sorry. 21 Q 22 23 I was just thinking of New Orleans East, I'm thinking about the area surrounding the facility. A I don't know the specific details on that. Our 24 Public Affairs Team actually tracked more of the specific 25 areas and addresses than I did. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I'm sorry, I just don't 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 193 1 know. 2 Q You lived in the area, am I correct? 3 A Yes, many years ago, actually going back to 1990. 4 Q It was predominately Vietnamese, the Michoud 5 6 area? A At the time I'm really not sure. I know that 7 there was Vietnamese, African American population, Caucasian 8 population. 9 the years, so I'm not sure exactly what it was at that time. It has changed in terms of demographics over 10 Q I think it's a little more Hispanic right now. 11 A And it has changed and evolved over time. 12 Q But you cannot name any community organizations 13 14 that you-all reached out to in that area; am I correct? A I didn't specifically track those names of 15 community organizations because our Public Affairs Team 16 actually did. 17 18 Q That means that you cannot name any of those organizations right now. 19 A Just at this moment, I can't. 20 Q There's a church out there, all right? 21 Mary Queen of VietNam. 22 A Yes. 23 Q And there's a priest out there who's probably 24 very active on this issue. 25 them? Did any of you-all reach out to JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 194 1 A Yes. We actually held community meetings at a 2 number of locations in New Orleans East, in the vicinity of 3 the proposed plant, and Mary Queen of Vietnam was one of 4 those churches. 5 8 Q And Buddhist Temple, did you-all communicate with 7 A If we did, our Public Affairs Team would have tracked that information, as well. 9 Q So not to your knowledge? 10 A If our Public Affairs Team engaged that group, 11 then they would have documented it. 12 role. That was their specific 13 Q You cannot tell me that you did? 14 A I did not specifically contact them. 15 Q Now, in your conversations with Mr. Rice about 16 taking on Hawthorn and having them do -- What is it that 17 they were going to do for you? 18 19 20 21 A We were asking them to help us identify people who might speak in support of the plant. Q Ultimately, you were asking them to have people come to the City Council and speak? 22 A Yes. 23 Q And fill seats? 24 A I would assume that they would have a seat. 25 Q Well, I mean, basically the 75 people plus the 10 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 195 1 that you spoke of, that you spoke to them about, that you 2 spoke to Suzanne Hammelman about, they were going to come to 3 the Council meeting and fill seats? 4 5 6 A They were going to come to the Council meeting, and speak and have a seat, yes. Q Okay. You-all understood that there was only a 7 certain amount of room in that Council meeting; am I 8 correct? 9 10 11 12 13 14 A Yes, I know that any public space like that has a capacity. Q And we know it's important to get your people there on time and in the room; am I right? A Yes, we suggested that all of the people we had made contact with arrive within a sufficient time. 15 Q To fill the seats? 16 A To have a seat, to wait their turn to speak or to 17 be present. 18 Q So you're talking about the 75 people that 19 Mr. Rice requested, right? 20 am I correct? Plus the 10 people; that's 85; 21 A That's right. 22 Q And you knew that AF of L was coming with their 23 people; am I right? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And you had your own contingency of individuals JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 196 1 who had t-shirts, and they were going to be there; am I 2 right? 3 A Yes, we did. And all of those listed were people 4 we had invited to speak, including even the Hawthorn Group, 5 the people that they identified. 6 target. 7 those individuals that they contacted would be there. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Q That was considered a There was no guaranty from our perspective that And you had some idea about the capacity of this room; am I right? A I had a general idea. I did not actually have a number in mind in terms of the capacity at that time. Q And you understood that there was going to be a limit as far as capacity? A Sure. Out top priority is safety, and we would always want anyone in that room to be safe. Q And you-all strove to make sure that your people got there in time to get seats; am I right? A We wanted to make sure that they were there in time to have a seat or to sign up to speak, yes. Q And you wanted them to get there before the bus came from the east; am I right? A We wanted them to get there in time to sign up to 23 speak, or to stand in line so there would not be a lengthy 24 wait for them. 25 Q There was some mention within the emails about JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 197 1 2 3 4 5 6 the bus coming from the east. A Yes, there was a mention by one of our vice presidents about a bus, yes. Q And the need to get your people there before they arrived? A Yes, he did mention that. 7 BY MR. LAWRENCE: 8 Thank you. 9 10 11 12 13 EXAMINATION BY MR. IBERT: Q Ms. Pollard, the contracts that we were talking about with Hawthorn, those are Exhibits 48 and 49, right? A I don't know the numbers, but I'm familiar with the contracts. 14 BY MR. CAHN: 15 No, what you're referring to are change 16 orders. 17 BY MR. IBERT: 18 19 20 Excuse me. EXAMINATION BY MR. IBERT: Q The contracts with Hawthorn, and I'm looking at a 21 change order with the modification 1-A, the modified scope 22 of work. Would you look at that in 48 and 49? 23 A Okay. 24 Q And 1-A describes exactly what you were asking 25 Hawthorn to do, correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 198 1 A I'm sorry, 1-A? Yes, that is the scope of work 2 that we had primarily used since the initial contract in 3 October. 4 5 6 Q How you were going to check those numbers; the 30 supporters and the additional 10 people? A As I just mentioned, the numbers were intended as 7 targets, from my perspective. Based on our experience with 8 inviting people to meetings, they may or may not be there 9 based on their schedules or based on any conflicts. And so 10 I didn't actually intend to check the numbers. I was 11 handling many things that evening: 12 number of responsibilities, so I did not specifically count 13 those numbers. Media, social media, a 14 Q Who was going to do that? 15 A I did not ask anyone to do that. 16 Q So you were going to give Hawthorne 70-some 17 thousand dollars in this contract and no one was going to 18 check it? 19 BY MR. CAHN: 20 Let me stop you. 21 22 23 24 25 I think you're doing the math wrong. EXAMINATION BY MR. IBERT: Q Someone was going to give Hawthorn money, but know one was going to check? A I could tell, based on -- I knew that there were JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 199 1 people who were planning to attend, and they were wearing 2 the orange shirts. 3 combination of those individuals who I did not know and I 4 assumed were participating based on their interacting with 5 the Hawthorn Group, along with the other people in the 6 community that I was familiar with. 7 had supporters there, so I did not count those individuals 8 one-by-one. 9 Q 10 I did not count them one by one, but the We had speakers, and we What is your normal fall-off rate at that kind of meeting? 11 A I don't know a specific fall-off rate. 12 Q You don't keep track of that? 13 A It's not something that I track or actually I'm 14 aware of in my regular daily work, so I don't know a 15 fall-off rate. 16 Q So you wouldn't know that for every 100 -- I'll 17 make the math a little bit easier -- for every 100 calls, 18 communications that you solicit to show up at one of these 19 meetings, that only 30% or 30 would come? 20 what that rate would be? 21 A You have no idea That's a possibility, I just don't know any 22 specific figure. 23 grassroots outreach, not something that I handle all the 24 time. 25 Q Again, this is public affairs and Within those contracts with Hawthorn, did you or JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 200 1 at no point in time did anyone specifically tell them how to 2 do that work, correct? 3 A No, I did not tell them how to -- I did not tell 4 them how to do their work. 5 that they had the expertise to handle this type of work. 6 7 Q And y'all certainly never prevented them from paying anyone? 8 9 They approached us and indicated A We did not discuss payments to anyone because we did not envision that as part of their process. 10 Q And they told you in their process, early on, 11 that it was to establish a Facebook group online, an online 12 presence, and to grow organically a group in favor of the 13 plant? 14 A The group that you are referencing is a group 15 that they proposed, but we did not ultimately move forward 16 with that service. 17 18 Q That's what they told you initially was how they would do it if given enough leadup time; is that correct? 19 A This is a group that they proposed as part of 20 another process. 21 and I did not associate that Facebook outreach with 22 necessarily the service that they did ultimately provide to 23 us. 24 25 Q We did not move forward with that process, And your Public Affairs Team, your strategy group that you were working with, kept records as to its community JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 201 1 2 3 4 partners that it was contacting, correct? A My Public Affairs Team did keep notes or keep lists of people that they were working with. Q And a couple of times today you referred to two 5 separate phrases and seemed to be using them differently, 6 and it's confusing me. 7 public support of the plant. 8 distinction? 9 A Sure. One was a public understanding and Could you explain that A public understanding is understanding 10 the general proposal, what it entailed, when we would start 11 the project, the intent behind generating additional power 12 to support the City's needs. 13 understanding the public, members of the public might 14 actually support the power station construction. And then, based on that 15 Q What do you mean when you say "support"? 16 A When I say "support," first of all, as a 17 foundation, they understand the project; and second, that 18 they agree that it is a good thing for the City. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q But they don't necessarily have to attend meetings to demonstrate that, do they? A Not everyone who supported the meetings attended the meetings. Q And when you use the term "community partners, what exactly do you mean? A Community partners, I broadly describe those JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 202 1 individuals as people who we interact with on a regular 2 basis. 3 efforts with us, people who work with us over many, many, 4 many decades of work contributing to and supporting the 5 community. 6 Q It can involve people who participate in volunteer And so as a partner, we all work together. Do you or Entergy distinguish between a partner 7 as someone who's a paid contractor for Entergy or a charity 8 that Entergy is affiliated with, or a customer? 9 distinctions between those three categories? 10 11 Are there Or would all three of those be lumped into "community partners"? A They are all considered community partners 12 because community partners work to support the City. 13 that could range from a customer to someone associated with 14 a non-profit organization. 15 Q And so You mentioned that you were concerned with the 16 Public Affairs Team, that Hawthorn was not going to 17 duplicate their efforts, correct? 18 A I'm sorry, could you please repeat that? 19 Q You were concerned that the Public Affairs Team, 20 the people that they were getting to meetings, you didn't 21 want Hawthorn to duplicate their effort, correct? 22 A I don't think that the Hawthorn Group would 23 necessarily duplicate their efforts, because the Hawthorn 24 Group was independently identifying people. 25 most part, they were general members of the public. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE And for the Quite a 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 203 1 few of the people that our Public Affairs Team interacted 2 with were in leadership roles with organizations. 3 Q So those lists that the Public Affairs Team 4 generated, how did you envision Hawthorn knowing that those 5 people had already been contacted and were supporting the 6 plant? 7 A Our Public Affairs Team interacted with 8 leadership of many of the local organizations. My 9 understanding of the Hawthorn Group's process is that they 10 would have contacted or connected with general membership of 11 groups; not necessarily those leaders who Entergy had 12 conversations or relationships with. 13 14 15 Q And how would Hawthorn have known the difference between those people? A There may have been some duplication, but I 16 believe that, based on the relationships that our Public 17 Affairs Team had, those leader of those organizations that 18 they were working with on a regular basis would have let 19 them know. 20 membership, grassroots organizations, and so I don't think 21 there was a real likelihood of duplication there. 22 Q The intent was for Hawthorn to touch general So public affairs contacting an organization and 23 asking him or her to reach out to the members of their 24 organization down to the very lowest-level member, and turn 25 out in public support -- JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 204 1 A So Public Affairs interacted with leaders, 2 primarily, the Hawthorn Group was interacting, based on my 3 understanding, with more of the general public or general 4 membership of many, many different groups. 5 Q So Hawthorn was going, instead of going through 6 leaders to get to the membership, they were going straight 7 to membership somehow? 8 A They might, or they might not. 9 Q But you had no idea as to what their process was? 10 A That was there proprietary process. 11 Q And it wasn't based upon any polling that you're 12 aware of, because Entergy was not paying for the polling 13 option, right? 14 A We were not paying for the polling. 15 proposed a petition. 16 options. 17 18 19 20 21 22 Q Or they also We did not move forward with those And they proposed a website and you were not paying for that option, right? A We were not, because we already he had resources covering those areas. Q And you weren't paying for the Facebook because -- you just weren't paying for Facebook, correct? 23 A We were not interested in that option. 24 Q You weren't paying for 501(C)(4), right? 25 A No. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 205 1 Q The orange t-shirts, those were shipped directly 2 to Entergy, or some of them were shipped directly to 3 Entergy, correct? 4 5 A A portion of those t-shirts were shipped to directly Entergy. 6 Q And those came from Hawthorn? 7 A Those came from Hawthorn. 8 Q How were they disseminated by Entergy? 9 A I did not personally disseminate those, but our 10 11 Public Affairs Team shared the t-shirts. Q And you said earlier today that the emails and 12 documents you were provided weren't the entire record of 13 what had been said involving this incident. 14 with that statement? 15 16 17 18 19 A I would agree. Would you agree There were multiple conversations around this initiative. Q With regard to those conversations regarding the initiative, were minutes taken of any of those meetings? A I don't have minutes of those meetings. I was 20 typically running the meeting itself; and so "running" 21 meaning hosting. 22 I was basically directing and hosting the conversation, I 23 was not taking notes. It was typically a conference call, and so 24 Q Did someone take notes? 25 A Not to my knowledge. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE And if they did, I don't 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 206 1 2 have those notes. Q So you had these meetings setting up this plan 3 with Hawthorn, and no one took minutes of the meetings or 4 the calls? 5 A No. And just to clarify, I was referencing our 6 strategy calls. 7 hosted and directed. 8 Group were primarily based on -- they were sharing their 9 proposal and walking us through it, and so the notes were 10 11 Those were the calls that I typically The discussions with the Hawthorn actually outlined in their proposal. Q I'm just trying to grasp exactly what the 12 distinction here was that was made, but these contracts 13 reference supporters versus speakers. 14 distinction? 15 A What was the Supporters were -- I believe that, in general, 16 supporters could describe all of them, because if they were 17 speaking they were speaking in support. 18 attending, they were attending in support of the power 19 station. If they were 20 Q And was anyone paid specifically for support? 21 A No. 22 Q What were the anticipated expenses in getting the 23 supporters? 24 A Which supporters are you referencing? 25 Q The ones that Hawthorn was getting for you. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Did 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 207 1 they mention to you there would be expenses for the 2 supporters, and then you agreed that there would be 3 expenses, and they outlined what their percentage of what 4 the pay was, and then there was a larger chunk of money that 5 was going to expenses? 6 the expenses were? 7 8 9 10 11 A What was your understanding of what My understanding of the expenses was associated with time and labor tied to conducting that outreach. Q Did you ever request an invoice for that time and labor conducting the outreach? A We talked about the types of things that they 12 would be doing, reaching out to those organizations. We had 13 conversations, and agreements and discussions around that, 14 that was part of the documentation about -- around what they 15 would be doing as part of those fees. 16 Q So you never requested an invoice? 17 A I did receive an invoice. 18 Q Did it, in that invoice, in any invoice that you 19 saw, did it ever mentioned providing labor? 20 A It did not. Again, this was their proprietary 21 calculation. 22 had conversations that documented the types of things that 23 they would be doing as part of their local outreach. 24 this was not an hourly type of fee structure, it was the 25 one-time fee associated with it. I did not request it of them, because we had JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE And 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 208 1 Q So it was a lump-sum? 2 A Yes, it was a lump-sum. 3 Q And it was not itemized? 4 A It was itemized during our conversations in terms 5 of they would be conducting local outreach through their 6 local employees here on the ground. 7 Q And with regard to those employees, you made no 8 attempt to understand who those employees were conducting 9 that outreach, correct? 10 A They indicated in writing that they had local 11 people on the ground, and I understood that to be employees 12 of the Hawthorn Group. 13 14 15 Q And in one of the early emails, Mr. Swart was cc'ed, correct? A He was CC'ed in an email that was noted down 16 below; an email that was ultimately forwarded to me, and he 17 did not appear in that email directed to me specifically. 18 Q And I have noticed on the emails, they result in 19 a -- it's a warning, for lack of a better word, from the IT 20 Department, not to click on external links; is that fair? 21 A There is such language there. 22 Q And you have been reluctant to talk about certain 23 communications that you have been engaged with with Entergy 24 with regard to your current assignments. 25 that Entergy takes very great care to make sure that only JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It seems to me 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 209 1 people who are supposed to be in on a discussion are in on 2 the discussion. 3 email but was not using a Hawthorn or Entergy email address, 4 that did not cause you any concern? 5 A When you saw Mr. Swart was part of that I had no point of reference for that name or that 6 email address appearing in there. And looking back on it 7 now, at that point in time it wasn't an email 8 hundreds of emails a day. 9 of that e-mail, and did not necessarily pay attention to the -- I receive I did not focus on every detail 10 fact that that name or that company name appeared in that 11 email that was directed to someone else, not directly to me. 12 Q So it was not a concern for you at that time that 13 someone outside of the approved contractor was receiving 14 sensitive communications regarding the Entergy Power 15 Station? 16 17 18 A Again, I had no point of reference for who that entity or that individual was. Q And at no time was Hawthorn given the cards or a 19 list of the cards that Green-Brown and Public Affairs had 20 showing support to ensure they weren't generating -- 21 BY THE REPORTER: 22 I'm sorry, I couldn't hear. 23 little noise. 24 EXAMINATION BY MR. IBERT: 25 Q We had a At no point in time were the cards or the list of JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 210 1 the people on the cards that Ms. Green-Brown and Public 2 Affairs generated, none of those were ever shared with 3 Hawthorn to make sure that no duplication resulted? 4 A 5 Group. 6 Q 7 cards? 8 A 9 We did not provide those cards to the Hawthorn Not even a list of the people who were on the No, the list was not provided. not provided. The cards were The Hawthorn Group's effort was intended to 10 be an entirely independent effort that was not driven by 11 Entergy. 12 13 14 Q How did you plan to deal with overlap of Hawthorn efforts and Public Affairs' efforts? A I don't think overlap would have necessarily been 15 a major issue. 16 supported it and they would have taken it upon themselves to 17 attend the meeting and express that support. 18 If someone supported the plant, they BY MR. IBERT: 19 Thank you. 20 Mr. Coman? 21 22 BY MR. COMAN: I just have a couple more, if I could. 23 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 24 If I could? 25 BY MR. COMAN: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 211 1 2 3 Sure, go ahead. EXAMINATION BY JUDGE JOHNSON: Q Prior to your engaging Hawthorn in this effort, 4 you had no independent knowledge of Hawthorn's ability to do 5 the job you were contracting with them to do? 6 A I was not familiar with Hawthorn's grassroots 7 outreach efforts as part of any interaction with them. 8 was aware of their awareness of industry issues, and 9 familiarity with Entergy. 10 11 12 Q I And you did not research their ability to engage in this grassroots effort? A I did not research the Hawthorn Group because I 13 knew that Entergy had worked with them, and also I have been 14 a part of presentations that they have done before Entergy. 15 16 17 18 19 Q But those presentations did not include this kind of engagement? A No, it did not. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q Ms. Pollard, do you agree or disagree with the 20 following statement as far as turning out support for 21 Entergy during this process? 22 of their day to show support, so we had to produce support. 23 24 25 A No one wants to take time out I disagree. BY MR. COMAN: I don't think I have anything else. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 212 1 BY MR. CAHN: 2 I have some questions. 3 Do you need a break, or are you ready to 4 go? 5 BY THE WITNESS: 6 7 Yeah, I'm ready to go. BY MR. COMAN: 8 Off the record. 9 (OFF RECORD DISCUSSION) 10 BY MR. CAHN: 11 I would like to add one thing, if I might. 12 This is all about trying to get all of the facts 13 out. 14 Matt, we are here today. 15 in search of the truth. 16 BY MR. COMAN: 17 18 19 I think we're all A hundred percent. BY MR. CAHN: I have some questions that I'm going to ask 20 Ms. Pollard on the record, and if you have an 21 objection you can state your objection. 22 BY MR. COMAN: 23 And here's our position: We have all been 24 retained by the New Orleans City Council to 25 conduct an independent investigation. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE You-all 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 213 1 2 are parties to a docket, and subject of this particular investigation. 3 deposition, where there's multiple 4 involved, we are not a party that 5 anyone. 6 And unlike a parties is adverse to You-all conducted your own investigation, 7 you are free to conduct whatever investigation 8 you want to continue to conduct. 9 sworn statement that we intended to take, and we 10 did take, so we were concluding that statement at 11 this point. 12 BY MR. BECKER: 13 But this is a I would like to add one thing, if I might. 14 This is all about trying to get all the facts 15 out, and there are certain questions that you-all 16 didn't ask and certain documents you did not 17 show. 18 City Council can see all of the facts, we are 19 asking to submit some limited questions so that 20 we can supplement the record with all the facts. 21 BY MR. COMAN: 22 23 24 25 So for the purpose of completeness, so the And I don't -- Go ahead, Judge. BY JUDGE JOHNSON: The only point that I have in this is that, and this is for the record, that Entergy JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 214 1 has provided us every aspect of information as 2 regards this particular incident; every aspect of 3 information. 4 that we haven't seen that deals with this 5 particular investigation. 6 There is no thing that Entergy has Let me also add that Entergy never provided 7 us documents as regards text messages that we 8 actually have in our hand. 9 do so. 10 11 12 13 Please. BY MR. CAHN: Sure. BY MR. COMAN: With that, we're concluding the sworn 14 statement. 15 BY MR. CAHN: 16 17 18 Entergy chose not to No, we're not. BY MR. COMAN: So i am going to instruct Ms. Freese to end 19 the sworn statement. 20 want however you want to do it. 21 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 22 23 24 25 You are free to do what you With all respect to this, Cory -BY MR. CAHN: No, let me say my peace. not going off the record. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Matt, no, we're There are a number of 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 215 1 documents that you have chosen not to show this 2 witness. 3 going to be an independent, objective 4 investigation. 5 that this would be a fair investigation. 6 have heard today and through witness interviews, 7 it's not a fair investigation. 8 BY MR. COMAN: 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 My understanding was that this was You represented at the outset What I I object to your narrative. BY MR. CAHN: What I've heard -BY MR. COMAN: This statement is over. Ms. Freese, please go off the record. (WHEREUPON THE SWORN STATEMENT WAS CONCLUDED) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 YOLANDA POLLARD October 10, 2018 216 1 2 3 C E R T I F I C A T E This certification is valid only for a transcript with my original signature and original required seal on this page. 4 5 I, GAIL FREESE, Certified Court Reporter in and for the State of Louisiana, the "Officer" before whom this sworn testimony was taken, do hereby certify: 6 7 That YOLANDA POLLARD, to whom oath was administered by me upon authority of R.S. 37:2554, did testify as herein set forth in the foregoing 211 pages; 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 That this testimony was reported by me in stenotype method, was prepared and transcribed by me or under my personal direction and supervision, and is a true and correct transcript to the best of my ability and understanding; That this transcript has been prepared in compliance with transcript format guidelines required by statute or rules of the Board, and I am informed about the complete arrangement, financial or otherwise, with the person or entity making arrangements for deposition services; That I have acted in compliance with the prohibition on contractual relationships as defined by Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1434 and in rules and advisory opinions of the Board; 16 17 18 That I have no actual knowledge of any prohibited employment or contractual relationship, direct or indirect, between a court reporting firm and any party litigant in this matter, nor is there any such relationship between myself and a party litigant in this matter; 19 20 That I am not related to counsel or to the parties herein, nor am I otherwise interested in the outcome of this matter. 21 22 23 ______________________________ GAIL G. FREESE, CCR Cert. No. 81013 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993