CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 1 SWORN STATEMENT OF CHARLES RICE Recorded on Monday, the 15th 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: LESLIE L. NICOSIA CERTIFIED COURT REPORTER JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 3 4 5 6 REPRESENTING THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: THE LAW OFFICES OF SHER, GARNER, CAHILL, RICHTER, KLEIN & HILBERT BY: MATTHEW M. COMAN, ESQUIRE 909 Poydras Street 28th Floor New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 7 8 9 THE LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE & ASSOCIATES BY: J.C. LAWRENCE, ESQUIRE ANTHONY J. IBERT, ESQUIRE 303 South Broad Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70119 10 11 JUDGE CALVIN JOHNSON 5025 Willow Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70115 12 13 REPRESENTING ENTERGY SERVICES, INC.: 14 CORY R. CAHN, ESQUIRE LEGAL SERVICES 639 Loyola Avenue New Orleans, Louisiana 70113 15 16 17 18 19 THE LAW OFFICES OF CHAFFE MCCALL BY: WALTER F. BECKER, JR., ESQUIRE TERRY Q. ALARCON, ESQUIRE 1100 Poydras Street Suite 2300 New Orleans, Louisiana 70163 20 21 22 23 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 Title................................. 1 4 Appearances........................... 2 5 Index................................. 3 6 EXAMINATION BY: 7 MR. COMAN......................... 7 192 8 MR. IBERT.........................135 9 MR. LAWRENCE......................145 10 JUDGE JOHNSON.....................167 11 12 13 14 E X H I B I T S Exhibit 4 ENO-NOPS 6353-6360 E-mail Chain Subject: Thursday's Council Utility Meeting Stakeholder Remarks............... 23 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Exhibit 5 ENO-NOPS 6659 E-mail Subject: Dec. 12th Meeting. 26 Exhibit 6 HAWTHORN 1003-1006 E-mail Chain Subject: Shall we Talk.............................. 29 Exhibit 8 ENO-NOPS 6314-6318 E-mail Subject: Just FYI Tweets from Last Night's Meeting......... 36 Exhibit 9 ENO-NOPS 3 Outlook Entry NOPS Update......... 40 22 23 Exhibit 11 ENO-NOPS 8-11 Memo Re: Follow-Up Proposal....... 45 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Exhibit 12 ENO-NOPS 756-759 E-mail Chain Subject: TCNA Intervention re UD-17-04 Investigation and Remediation of Service Disruptions................ 51 Exhibit 13 ENO-NOPS 5-6 Outlook Entry Campaign/Strategy Discussion......................... 56 Exhibit 14 ENO-NOPS 7/HAWTHORN 13-26 E-mail Subject: Hawthorn Follow-Up Proposal................. 56 Exhibit 15 ENO-NOPS 12 E-mail Chain Subject: Hawthorn's Latest Proposal.................... 59 Exhibit 16 HAWTHORN 32-33 E-mail Subject: Oct. Hearing...... 61 11 12 13 14 Exhibit 19 NO BATES 10/3/17 Text Message Communication. 67 Exhibit 20 HAWTHORN 1 E-mail Chain Subject: Yesterday's New Orleans Flooding - Reference to.................................106 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Exhibit 25 NO BATES Color Photographs (3).............. 71 Exhibit 26 NO BATES 10/16/17 Text Message Communication...................... 74 Exhibit 28 NO BATES 10/20/17 Text Message Communication...................... 78 Exhibit 29 ENO-NOPS 6311-6312 E-mail Chain Subject: The Lens.... 81 22 23 Exhibit 30 HAWTHORN 58 E-mail Subject: Second Tweet, See Comments....................... 83 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 5 1 2 3 Exhibit 31 ENO-NOPS 6573-6575 E-mail Chain Subject: Sprinklr Message Assigned.................... 85 Exhibit 34A NO BATES 1/11/18 Text Message Communication.. 89 4 5 Exhibit 35 HAWTHORN 5-6 E-mail Chain Subject: Feb 21 Hearing Options..................... 91 6 7 Exhibit 37 HAWTHORN 16 E-mail Chain Subject: Room Opens at 8:30 a.m......................... 98 8 9 Exhibit 45 ENO-NOPS 133 E-mail Subject: Please Process Hawthorn Group Invoice..............109 10 11 Exhibit 46 ENO-NOPS 319-322 E-mail Chain Subject: Confirm Status Bright Moments Invoice.......110 12 13 Exhibit 47 ENO-NOPS 249-252 E-mail Chain Subject: Hawthorn Entergy Contract....................111 14 15 16 Exhibit 48 ENO-NOPS Contract Change Exhibit 49 ENO-NOPS Contract Change 492-493 Order...............111 496-497 Order...............112 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Exhibit 50 ENO-NOPS 6009-6014 Hawthorn Management Fees............113 Exhibit 52 ENO-NOPS 5763-5764 E-mail Chain Subject: Media Request The Lens....................116 Exhibit 57 ENO-NOPS 5923-5924 E-mail Chain Subject: Statement to Lens and WWL-TV.....................118 Exhibit 58 ENO-NOPS 5737-5738 E-mail Chain Subject: Statement to Lens and WWL-TV.....................122 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 6 1 2 3 4 5 Exhibit 58 ENO-NOPS 5807-5808 E-mail Subject: C. Rice Statement re Lens.............................123 Exhibit 63 ENO-NOPS 1007 E-mail Chain Subject: Hawthorn List................................ 28 Exhibit 64 ENO-NOPS 1135-1139 Contract Change Order............... 68 6 7 8 9 Exhibit 65 NO BATES Color Photograph.................... 69 Exhibit 66 ENO-NOPS 6435-6443 E-mail Chain Subject: NOPS Feb. 21 Meeting Remarks and Letter to Editor.............................. 94 10 11 Exhibit 67 NO BATES 5/15/18 City Council Letter to Charles Rice........................130 12 13 14 Exhibit 68 NO BATES Color Photographs (9)...............132 Exhibit 69 NO BATES 9/17/18 Text Message Communication..132 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 7 1 CHARLES RICE 639 Loyola Avenue New Orleans, Louisiana 70113 2 3 after having first been duly sworn, was examined 4 and testified as follows: 5 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 6 Q. Mr. Rice, good morning. My name is 7 Matt Coman. 8 Mr. Lawrence, and Mr. Ibert. 9 know, have been retained by the New Orleans City I'm here with Judge Johnson, We, as you likely 10 Council to conduct an investigation on their 11 behalf into various allegations concerning 12 Entergy that arose in May of 2018. 13 understanding, Mr. Rice? Is that your 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. This is a sworn statement. If you 16 want to go off the record, if you need to take a 17 bathroom break or take a phone call, please feel 18 free to let us know. 19 accommodate that. 20 test. 21 22 23 We will certainly This is not a marathon or a How long have you worked for Entergy, Mr. Rice? A. This is actually my second stint with 24 the company. The first time, I think I joined 25 in 2000, probably that summer. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I left in 2002. 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 8 1 The second time I joined, I believe, in June of 2 '09. 3 4 5 I'm still presently employed by Entergy. Q. During your first stint in that time frame, 2000 to 2002, what roles did you fulfill? A. I started in the legal department. I 6 think my title was Senior Counsel in litigation. 7 Then I moved into human resources. 8 Manager, Labor Relations Litigation Support. 9 Q. My title was Your second stint starting in 2009, 10 what roles have you fulfilled in that particular 11 time? 12 A. My first position was Director of 13 Utility Strategy. 14 Regulatory Affairs for Entergy New Orleans. 15 Then I was named -- It might have been August or 16 July of '10, I believe. 17 Entergy New Orleans, President and CEO of 18 Entergy New Orleans. 19 Q. Then I moved to Director of I was named CEO of Your first stint in that time frame, 20 2000 to 2002, was that specifically for Entergy 21 New Orleans or some other corporation? 22 A. That was Entergy Services, Inc. 23 Q. What is your current job title? 24 A. Assistant General Counsel. 25 I believe that's the correct title. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 9 1 Q. For which company? 2 A. Entergy Services. 3 Q. How long have you been in that role? 4 A. September. 5 Q. In your role as CEO and President of 6 7 Entergy New Orleans, who did you report to? A. When I first took the position, it was 8 Gary Taylor, then Theo Bunting, B-u-n-t-i-n-g, 9 Rod West. 10 Q. In your role as President and CEO of 11 Entergy New Orleans, did you supervise in a way 12 everyone either directly or indirectly at 13 Entergy New Orleans? 14 A. I was responsible for the day-to-day 15 operations of Entergy New Orleans, both the 16 electrical system and the gas system. 17 Q. Physically, where was your office? 18 A. 1600 Perdido Street, Building 505. 19 Q. How close was your office to Yolanda 20 21 Pollard's office at that time? A. I don't know the exact measurement. 22 We were in the same suite area, I guess you 23 could call it. 24 Q. Same floor? 25 A. Yeah. It was only -- the Entergy New JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 10 1 Orleans office on the first floor. 2 on the first floor of that building. 3 4 Q. They're all Did you work with Ms. Pollard on a consistent basis over the last couple of years? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Do you still work with her? 7 A. No, not directly. 8 Q. Who made the decision to change your 9 10 11 assignments to remove whatever you want to call it? A. That was probably a joint decision. 12 Rod West probably has the ultimate authority on 13 making that decision. 14 Q. Why did he make that decision? 15 A. I mean, he and I had a discussion that 16 maybe it was time for me to move into a 17 different role. 18 maybe two, three months before it actually 19 happened. 20 Q. We probably had that discussion In any way, was that decision related 21 to or connected with the allegations that 22 surfaced in May of this year, 2018? 23 24 25 A. question. Q. You would have to ask him that I would say no, I don't think so. Did you ever -- Did Mr. West ever JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 11 1 discuss in relation to your reassignment these 2 particular allegations and the political, slash, 3 media fallout, my words? 4 A. No. 5 Q. Have you ever had that discussion with 6 7 any superior besides Mr. West? A. When you say, "fallout," I'm not quite 8 sure what you are talking about. 9 asking me was there a discussion about what was 10 going on, I would say yes. 11 discussion about what occurred? 12 yes. 13 "fallout." 14 Q. 15 16 17 18 If you are Was there a I would say I don't know what you mean by actual Media coverage, negative media coverage. A. Yeah, there were discussions about that. Q. Ballpark, how many discussions you 19 think you've had with Mr. West concerning 20 negative media coverage concerning the 21 allegations we are here for today? 22 23 24 25 A. Several? I'm thinking maybe three or four. It could have been more. Q. Earlier, you testified it was somewhat of a joint decision, I think were the words you JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 12 1 used. 2 decision that you be removed and reassigned, was 3 it something you were in support of or was it 4 really not presented to you in a way for you to 5 weigh in on? 6 Was this something that -- Was this A. Let me say this. Serving in a role 7 such as which I served in I would say has a 8 shelf life. 9 CEO serves between five to seven years. I think studies show the average I was 10 -- I think beginning year '09, at some point, 11 one, I think somebody else deserves an 12 opportunity; and two, there could come a time 13 where you are not as effective as you were 14 previously. 15 So, was it presented to me in a way 16 where I didn't have a choice? 17 As I stated before, it was something he and I 18 had discussed before it actually occurred. 19 20 21 Q. I would say no. Did the negative media coverage in your mind decrease your effectiveness? A. I don't know if it necessarily 22 decreased my effectiveness. 23 things accomplished in the role, sure. 24 could I have been seen as a distraction? 25 Possibly. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I still have gotten But 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 13 1 Q. Have you received any documents 2 evidencing your change in role from an HR, human 3 resources -- 4 A. No. 5 Q. -- standpoint? 6 A. No. 7 Q. This was just all verbal? 8 A. Pretty much. 9 Q. And what type of activities are you 10 undertaking at this point? 11 BY MR. CAHN: 12 Let me caution you against 13 disclosing non-public information 14 regarding -- 15 BY THE WITNESS: 16 I will tell you, what I am 17 working on is not public information. 18 It's not anything that the company has 19 revealed. 20 be appropriate for me to have that 21 discussion until the company files the 22 appropriate documents with the SCC. 23 24 25 So, I don't think it would EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. Did you receive a reduction in pay? BY MR. CAHN: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 14 1 Mr. Rice is not going to 2 discuss his compensation during this 3 proceeding. 4 BY MR. COMAN: 5 Are you instructing him not to 6 answer that question? 7 BY MR. CAHN: 8 I am. 9 10 11 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. What do you believe are your long-term prospects at Entergy? 12 A. Long-term prospects? 13 Q. Yes, sir. 14 A. If I want to continue to work there, I 15 can continue to work there. 16 to believe, nor has anyone communicated to me, 17 that I have a so-called "certain shelf life." 18 think as long as I would desire to be there, I 19 could probably continue there. 20 Q. I've had no reason I You may have mentioned this earlier. 21 Your office is now in a different building; is 22 that correct? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Which building is that? 25 A. 639 Loyola Avenue. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I'm on the 22nd 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 15 1 floor. 2 Q. Currently, are you supervising anyone? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Before your removal and reassignment, 5 I don't have any direct reports. did you work with Ms. Toni Green-Brown? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Demetric Mercadel? 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. Chanel Lagarde? 10 A. Yes. 11 I mean, not on a daily basis, but yes, Chanel and I worked together. 12 Q. Charlotte Cavell? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Gary Huntley? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. According to Entergy's response to the 17 City Council's report back in May of 2018, 18 Entergy stated, "Mr. Rice attended weekly 19 strategy meetings regarding the NOPS project and 20 was responsible for attending and speaking at 21 public community meetings. 22 outreach efforts in the community seeking 23 support for the project." 24 accurate? 25 A. He also led public Is that statement Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 16 1 Q. It's a fair statement that you were 2 the ultimate authority for the NOPS campaign 3 from Entergy's standpoint? 4 5 6 A. I would say I made decisions when it came to strategy, yes. Q. Was there anyone above you in the 7 chain of command that made decisions regarding 8 the NOPS campaign? 9 A. No. 10 Q. What did that campaign involve 11 somewhat in broad strokes? 12 application was filed in 2016. 13 frame forward, what type of community outreach 14 and governmental activity did you-all undertake? 15 A. I know the From that time I don't know if you call it 16 necessarily "a campaign." 17 application for approval of the building of a 18 power plant at our existing Michoud location. 19 As a result of that, we made a filing with the 20 New Orleans City Council, where they dictated to 21 us they wanted us to hold a certain number of 22 public meetings, which we did hold. 23 We filed an Outside of that, I thought it was 24 important for us to also engage in other 25 meetings and engage people in the community as JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 17 1 to the importance of the project. 2 have included citizens. 3 business groups. 4 That would That would include That would include any organization 5 that we thought may have considered it important 6 that the city have reliable, safe power, and 7 that the city -- or we do everything within our 8 ability to make sure we had a safe, reliable 9 electric grid to serve the citizens of New 10 11 Orleans. Q. As part of that campaign, was the -- 12 did Entergy utilize both its communications 13 department as well as its public affairs 14 department, if those are the correct titles? 15 A. 16 "campaign." 17 plant approved, sure, we engaged our public 18 affairs team, engaged numerous people around the 19 community in order to obtain support. 20 Q. I don't know exactly what you mean by As part of our strategy to have the And the names that I read off 21 beforehand, were all those individuals, at least 22 from the records we see, were involved in that 23 effort, correct? 24 A. They were part of the team, yes. 25 Q. As well as others we didn't mention, JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 18 1 correct? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. In addition to Entergy employees, did 4 Entergy contract with other vendors to help with 5 that effort? 6 A. Sure. We engaged Bright Moments, who 7 had worked with us on previous projects. I 8 believe Bright Moments brought the Ehrhardt 9 Group to the table. I think I worked with 10 Malcolm on other projects. We worked with DMM. 11 I engaged Bob Tucker. 12 I missed someone, please let me know. I'm trying to recall. If 13 Q. Sure. Hawthorn Group? 14 A. The Hawthorn Group was engaged. 15 Q. Generating public support and the show 16 of public support was a critical component of 17 Entergy's efforts, correct? 18 A. I wouldn't necessarily say generating 19 public support was critical. 20 ensuring that the public was informed and that 21 they had accurate and correct information was 22 extremely important. 23 documents. 24 support for the project. 25 I would say I think you may have the I've done surveys to gauge public I did a 500 survey of the entire city JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 19 1 of New Orleans, I believe 300 statistically 2 relevant. 3 79 percent of the citizens in the city of New 4 Orleans supported the project. 5 survey of just New Orleans East, just New 6 Orleans East. 7 oversampled that. In that 500 survey, I think it showed I did a 500 So, I would say we really 8 I believe that one showed 78 percent 9 of the citizens that lived in New Orleans East 10 supported the project and thought it was 11 important for economic development purposes, 12 thought it was important that we have a safe, 13 reliable electric grid. 14 I think to me it was very important 15 that the public get accurate, correct 16 information because our so-called "opponents" 17 were engaging in a tremendous amount of 18 misinformation, disinformation, whatever the 19 appropriate word was. 20 I wanted to make sure the public had 21 the accurate information, which is why out of 22 the scores of meetings we conducted, I probably 23 did the presentation in all of them, with the 24 exception of maybe two or three. 25 three that I didn't do, I think I may have been JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE The two or 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 20 1 2 3 out of town for at least two of them. Q. Those were -- Based on that, those were important meetings, correct? 4 A. Each meeting is important. 5 Q. In the surveys that you referenced 6 earlier, just in that last part there, did you- 7 all publish those at any point? 8 9 A. No. publish that. There was no need for us to That was for our own edification. 10 Did I share that information with members of the 11 City Council? 12 copies. Yeah, I did. I didn't give them 13 Q. You just did that verbally? 14 A. Yeah. 15 Q. You had the surveys and the sampling? 16 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 17 Q. Those -- Entergy chose not to publish 18 19 those in a public forum or on your website? A. I will tell you that throughout the 20 process, I did share that information when I did 21 public meetings. 22 presentation and -- sometimes I may have just 23 said we surveyed, or it may have been in 24 response to a question from a community member. 25 I did share that information with members of the I shared -- If I did a JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 21 1 public when I did presentations. 2 I didn't necessarily release it to the 3 news media or the public because I didn't really 4 think that was necessary. 5 Q. Actually showing the support beyond 6 just mentioning the survey numbers to the 7 council members here and there verbally, 8 actually showing support, would you agree that 9 Entergy considered that to be a critical 10 11 component of the NOPS effort? A. If your question is was it important 12 that the City Council people knew there were 13 people that were supportive of the plant, I 14 would say my answer is it was important for City 15 Council members to know there was a large 16 segment of the population that was supportive of 17 the plant. 18 In a situation such as this, the 19 people that typically would support a situation 20 like this or the building of this plant, 21 business people, a lot of professional people, 22 they don't have time to sit in the City Council 23 meeting all day in order to get their two 24 minutes or speak on their two minutes of 25 support. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 22 1 From our aspect, it was important that 2 we figure out who are other people that also 3 support that that had time to come down to the 4 City Council chambers and show their support. 5 Q. You mentioned Bright Moments as a 6 Entergy vendor. 7 draft scripts for unknown individuals? 8 9 A. Did Entergy ever hire them to If your question is, did Bright Moments draft talking points, I believe they may 10 have; so did the Ehrhardt Group. 11 individuals who were asking us for talking 12 points. 13 why something is important, but they may not 14 necessarily be able to articulate it in a 15 precise manner that people can understand. 16 We had Often times, people may think they know I believe there was a gentleman that 17 owned a restaurant in New Orleans East who 18 actually came to the meeting -- one of the 19 meetings to speak on our behalf. 20 supported the plant, his factual basis for 21 support was not totally accurate. 22 Even though he We wanted to make sure that people 23 actually understood why the plant was important 24 for the city, for the grid, for economic 25 development here in the city of New Orleans. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 23 1 2 3 Q. What was his factual basis and how was it -A. 4 I can't -BY MR. CAHN: 5 Let him finish his question. 6 BY THE WITNESS: 7 I'm sorry. I can't remember 8 everything he said. I just remember 9 it wasn't necessarily accurate. I 10 just wanted to make sure -- I think we 11 -- I think I may have reached out to 12 Bright Moments and asked them could 13 they contact him and kind of -- I may 14 have asked somebody on my team to talk 15 to the gentleman to kind of tell him 16 what the important points were. 17 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 18 Q. From Entergy's perspective? 19 A. I would say from the community's 20 21 perspective as well as Entergy's perspective. Q. Let me show you what has already been 22 marked as Exhibit 4. 23 listed on that e-mail. 24 those pages. 25 A. I do not believe you're Take a moment to review I have a couple of questions. (WITNESS COMPLIED). JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Sassafras 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 24 1 Restaurant, that's the guy I was talking about 2 before. 3 4 Q. Read the entirety, and let me know when you are done. 5 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). Okay. 6 Q. So, I believe I'm correct in that you 7 were not specifically copied on this e-mail 8 thread; is that right? 9 10 11 A. I don't see my name in any of the "To," "From," or "cc's." Q. It appears to be an exchange between 12 Ms. Pollard, who you referenced earlier, Ms. 13 Toni Green-Brown, and vendors such as Bright 14 Moments, Bill Rousselle, as well as the Ehrhardt 15 Group; is that correct? 16 A. That's correct. 17 Q. For the record, this is Bates labeled 18 ENO-NOPS 6353 through and including 6360. 19 you could, turn to the last page of Exhibit 4. 20 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 21 Q. It's Bates labeled 6360. If This is a 22 typed script for someone to be filled in later 23 as in support of the power station; is that 24 correct? 25 A. It seems to be written from a JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 25 1 2 homeowner in New Orleans. Q. In fact, it actually -- at the top, it 3 states, "I am," then a blank line, and address, 4 correct? 5 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 6 Q. It further states, "I'm a homeowner 7 and life-long resident of New Orleans." 8 read that correctly? Did I 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. This is a script made for someone to 11 be provided with, and they can fill in their 12 name down the road; is that correct? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. Did you direct that this activity take 15 place? 16 A. I don't have any recollection of 17 specifically asking anyone to do that. 18 a discussion Yolanda and I could have possibly 19 had, sure. 20 This is BY MR. CAHN: 21 For the record, this document 22 is dated 7/27/16. I just want to be 23 clear. 24 insinuation that this was used at the 25 October and February meetings. I don't want to leave the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE This 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 26 1 was for the July 28, 2016 City Council 2 meeting. 3 BY MR. COMAN: 4 On the NOPS project, correct? 5 Same project, different date? 6 BY MR. CAHN: 7 Correct. 8 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 9 Q. 10 could. 11 Moments and the Ehrhardt Group continued on as 12 vendors for Entergy throughout the NOPS process, 13 correct? 14 15 16 A. Take a look at Exhibit 5, if you As a follow-up on Exhibit 4, Bright They were vendors throughout the approval process. Q. Switching to Exhibit 5, which is 17 ENO-NOPS 6659, then a two-page -- which should 18 have been a native Excel spreadsheet that does 19 not have Bates numbers on it, if you could, take 20 a moment to review that three-page document, 21 please. 22 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 23 Q. Mr. Rice, correct me if I'm wrong. 24 This is a list of potential speakers that 25 Entergy employees had identified for a December JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 27 1 12th meeting on the NOPS project back in 2016; 2 is that right? 3 A. This is a list of potential speakers. 4 Q. I believe it has -- If you look on the 5 last page, it references you on the last few 6 items, 43 and 44? 7 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 8 Q. You have to say yes or no. 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. How many of these potential speakers 11 ever spoke at a public hearing on Entergy's 12 behalf? 13 A. I couldn't answer that question with 14 any type of certainty. 15 many showed up and how many didn't show up. 16 couldn't tell you. 17 here that I recall showing up. 18 you an exact number on who showed up and who 19 didn't. 20 Q. I couldn't tell you how I There may be some people on I couldn't give If I told you that other Entergy 21 employees have identified so far six of these 44 22 potential speakers as having eventually spoken, 23 would that seem accurate to you or would you 24 know one way or the other? 25 A. I wouldn't have any reason to dispute JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 28 1 it. 2 Q. Let me show you what I will mark as 3 Exhibit 63. 4 at that. It is ENO-NOPS 1007. Take a look 5 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 6 Q. Are you a party to this e-mail 7 communication, Mr. Rice? 8 A. My name appears on it. 9 Q. Is this an e-mail -- Starting at the 10 bottom in time order, it's dated February 1, 11 2017; is that right? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. You send this e-mail to Ms. Cavell. 14 The subject line reads "Hawthorn List." 15 wrote, "Did we get a cost?" 16 referencing there? You What were you 17 A. I have no specific recollection. 18 Q. Ms. Cavell writes back, "Not yet. 19 will ping them again and keep you posted." 20 response, you wrote, "Need it ASAP. 21 note out by Friday." 22 A. I In I want the What does that reference? I have no recollection of this e-mail. 23 What I can tell you is we were sending out 24 customer communications. 25 referenced that. It could have That would be pure speculation JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 29 1 on my part. 2 Q. 3 Exhibit 6. 4 with a copy for your counsel. Let me show you what is marked as If you could, take a look at that, 5 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 6 Q. It is Bates labeled HAWTHORN 1003 7 through and including 1006. 8 you've had a chance to review it. 9 BY THE WITNESS: 10 Can I write on this? 11 BY MR. CAHN: 12 No. 13 BY THE WITNESS: 14 15 16 17 Let us know when Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. This e-mail thread, I don't believe you are on it as well, correct? 18 A. I do not see my name on this e-mail. 19 Q. You recognize the name Chanel Lagarde, 20 correct? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. That's an individual that worked on 23 the NOPS effort, correct? 24 A. Assisted. 25 Q. What's his role? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 30 1 A. I don't know Chanel's exact title. 2 works with communications issues for the 3 utility. 4 Q. It's our understanding that he had a 5 relationship with individuals at the Hawthorn 6 Group in Virginia; is that correct? 7 A. I think he's probably in the best 8 position to answer that question. 9 he had familiarity with them. 10 11 12 Q. I'm assuming Did you know the Hawthorn Group prior to their engagement on the NOPS project? A. I wouldn't say I knew them. I had 13 seen Mr. Ashford for a presentation before. 14 had never had a conversation with him. 15 He Q. I Did you ask Mr. Lagarde to set up a 16 meeting between yourself, Ms. Pollard, and 17 people from the Hawthorn Group? 18 A. No, I didn't. 19 Q. If Mr. Lagarde had testified -- Strike 20 that. Mr. Lagarde had told us that was a 21 direction you gave him. 22 in that assertion? Would he be incorrect 23 A. That's not my recollection. 24 Q. What is your recollection? 25 A. My recollection is that Chanel reached JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 31 1 out to me and basically said, "You should 2 consider using the Hawthorn Group because they 3 worked with us" -- not us; worked with Entergy 4 Louisiana on a previous project, and they could 5 probably be of help in this situation. 6 Q. At that stage in the beginning of the 7 engagement or potential engagement with the 8 Hawthorn Group on this particular project, what 9 role were they going to fulfill? 10 A. Who is "they"? 11 Q. The Hawthorn Group. 12 A. It was my understanding that the 13 Hawthorn Group specialized in finding people who 14 would be supportive of our efforts and that they 15 could identify people based upon whatever 16 database they had who would be supportive of the 17 New Orleans power station and the things that we 18 were trying to achieve. 19 I think somewhere in here I thought I 20 read -- It says right here, "logical leaders 21 might be and how they are best recruited." 22 23 24 25 Q. Is that referencing the, quote, grass tops community stakeholder-type profiles? A. I can read the e-mail to you. BY JUDGE JOHNSON: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 32 1 Mr. Rice, I'm sorry. 2 are old. 3 BY THE WITNESS: 4 My ears You need to speak up. I'm sorry, Judge. I will speak 5 up. 6 upon this e-mail, that they would 7 assist in identifying people, and they 8 wanted us to help them in their 9 identification of people who could -- 10 11 I would have to assume, based who would be supportive. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 12 Q. What type of people? 13 A. Citizens, people that may be involved 14 in the industry that we don't know; people who 15 may think this is important for environmental 16 reasons; people who may think it's important for 17 economic development; people who may think it's 18 important for a safe, reliable electric grid; 19 people who may think it's important for economic 20 development reasons. 21 They -- I think it's even mentioned in 22 this e-mail that they had actually helped us. 23 We did an announcement on our solar project. 24 They actually helped us with the outreach for 25 that particular project, getting people to show JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 33 1 up. I guess it was the ribbon cutting. 2 Q. Now -- 3 A. It says -- Yolanda wrote her a note. 4 It says, "I look forward to connecting with you 5 again. 6 Orleans solar communications, which actually has 7 become a key point of reference as we talk with 8 key stakeholders about the proposed power 9 station." 10 11 Q. Yes, we worked together on the New In the top portion, the last e-mail from Mr. Lagarde -- 12 A. Which page? 13 Q. First page. Mr. Lagarde stated -- 14 referred to Ms. Pollard and said, "She's running 15 the campaign for Entergy. 16 for the in-depth briefing you will need." 17 agree with that statement? 18 A. She would be the best You I don't know if she's necessarily 19 running the campaign. She was serving in the 20 role, for lack of a better term, as a project 21 manager on this effort. 22 Q. Mr. Lagarde is an Entergy employee? 23 A. That's correct. 24 Q. He used the word "campaign," correct? 25 A. That's what he wrote here. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 34 1 Q. At this time, August of 2017 -- you 2 let me know if you agree or disagree with this 3 -- the records seem to indicate that -- they 4 don't seem -- to indicate, at this point, 5 Entergy had hired Bright Moments, correct? 6 A. This is dated August 2017. I'm fairly 7 certain we had already engaged Bright Moments 8 before then. 9 Q. As well as other vendors, either 10 directly or indirectly, such as the ones you 11 mentioned earlier, Ehrhardt Group, DMM & 12 Associates, and others, correct? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. All with a local presence, correct, 15 those vendors? 16 A. Correct. 17 Q. Hawthorn Group is a company out of 18 19 20 21 22 Arlington, Virginia? A. I'm not sure where they are located. I do know they are not located in New Orleans. Q. Do you know an individual by the name of Suzanne Hammelman? 23 A. I've never met Ms. Hammelman. 24 Q. Have you ever spoken to her by 25 telephone? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 35 1 A. I don't recall me having a specific 2 conversation with her. 3 have walked in while she was having a 4 conversation with Yolanda? 5 speak with her directly. 6 Q. Is it possible I could Sure. I didn't At the bottom of this page, there's a 7 discussion between Mr. Lagarde and Mr. Ashford. 8 It seems to have been following maybe some phone 9 calls. 10 It is what it is. The word "cutouts" is used. 11 A. I'm assuming you are still on the 12 first page? 13 Q. 14 paragraph. 15 A. Okay. 16 Q. Do you see the word "cutouts"? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Do you know what that's referencing? 19 A. I have no idea. 20 Q. Ms. Pollard is copied on that e-mail First page, middle of the first 21 where Mr. Lagarde sends this conversation he had 22 with Mr. Ashford on to Ms. Pollard, correct? 23 A. At the top of this page, Yolanda 24 appears to be cc'd at 1:26 p.m. on Sunday, 25 August 13, 2017. Chanel e-mailed with John JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 36 1 Ashford at 10:32 a.m. on August 13th. 2 Q. Who is Dan Faust? 3 A. I know Mr. Faust has run for office 4 previously and would show up at City Council 5 meetings or utility meetings from time to time. 6 Q. Let me show you what's been marked as 7 Exhibit 8. 8 6314 through and including 6318. For the record, this is ENO-NOPS 9 A. Okay. 10 Q. This is an e-mail dated August 16, 11 2017 that you and others received from Ms. 12 Cavell, correct? 13 14 15 A. I'm on the "To" line of this e-mail, yes. Q. What is this e-mail thread? Does this 16 discuss Mr. Faust and his opposition to the 17 power station? 18 A. It states -- I can read it to you. 19 "Entergy Louisiana power plant informational 20 meeting regarding Michoud natural gas plant"; 21 again, incorrect information. 22 New Orleans power plant information meeting. 23 Q. It was a Entergy My question is really this. Was 24 Entergy monitoring opposition to the power 25 station? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 37 1 A. We were looking at -- I get Entergy 2 alerts myself. 3 being said about the company out in the 4 community, sure, we did that on a regular basis. 5 Again, this is Mr. Faust. 6 information espousing on this is inaccurate. 7 8 9 Q. For us to find out what was Some of the Why did Entergy monitor opposition groups? A. I wouldn't say we necessarily 10 monitored opposition groups. 11 comments about the company on a regular basis. 12 I don't think there's any Fortune 500 company 13 that I'm aware of that doesn't monitor what is 14 being said about them in the news, social media, 15 whatever the case may be. 16 would not be unusual. 17 We monitored For us to do this I can tell you right now, I had 18 communications set up on my -- I don't know how 19 they do it, that if Entergy New Orleans showed 20 up in a news story, I would get a Google alert. 21 If my name showed up in a news story, I would 22 get a Google alert. 23 For us to want to know what was being 24 said about the company is not unusual. 25 don't think there is any company out there that JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Again, I 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 38 1 functions in today's world where social media is 2 prevalent that does not want to know what is 3 being said about the company for a lot of 4 different reasons. 5 Q. This wasn't a Google alert, 6 correct? 7 screen shots and other things from the aftermath 8 of a public meeting on the NOPS power station; 9 is that correct? 10 A. This was a specific e-mail containing I don't know if this is necessarily 11 aftermath, whatever that word may mean to you. 12 This is basically -- We were made aware of 13 someone commenting about the informational 14 meeting on Twitter. 15 look at it to see what was being said. 16 17 Q. And someone went and took a Have you ever spoken to anyone else at Entergy about Mr. Faust? 18 A. I'm sure I had conversations about 19 Mr. Faust. 20 Q. With whom? 21 A. People within Entergy New Orleans. It 22 could have been some linemen. 23 been in the headquarters, the Magnolia Building. 24 Employees of the company pay attention to what's 25 being said about the company. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It could have It probably would 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 39 1 be disingenuous on my part to say I never had a 2 conversation about Mr. Faust. 3 Q. Did you and others -- When I mean 4 "others," others involved in the effort, those 5 listed on that e-mail thread. 6 discuss other individuals and opposition groups 7 to the power station? Did you-all 8 A. Sure. 9 Q. Like whom? 10 A. I'm sure there were discussions about 11 the Alliance for Affordable Energy. 12 discussions about 360.org. 13 discussions about VAYLA. 14 There were There were There were discussions about people 15 who -- organizations that may have shown up at a 16 community meeting. 17 organization before, I'm sure we -- somebody 18 went out and probably did a search to see who 19 was a part of the organization and what was 20 their purpose. 21 22 Q. If we had never heard of the You mentioned the Alliance. Is that the Alliance for Affordable Energy? 23 A. That's what they call themselves. 24 Q. Do they have an executive director? 25 A. When I first got to this role -- my JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 40 1 former role, Casey DeMoss Roberts was the 2 executive director of the Alliance. 3 Logan was her deputy then. 4 and Logan became the executive director. I think Casey stepped down, 5 Q. Is that Logan Burke? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. How about Justice and Beyond, have you 8 ever heard of that organization? 9 A. Yeah. 10 Q. Who is that? 11 A. I believe that is Pat Bryant. 12 BY MR. CAHN: 13 Can we take a break? 14 BY MR. COMAN: 15 Sure. 16 17 18 Is that Mr. Bryant? (BREAK TAKEN) EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. Mr. Rice, let's -- going back on the 19 record here, did you meet Mr. Ashford in person 20 down here in New Orleans on August 24th of 2017? 21 If you could, look at Exhibit 9. 22 A. I don't recall the exact date. If 23 that's what the calendar says, I have no reason 24 to dispute it. 25 Q. I did meet with him once. This is an Outlook entry that JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 41 1 references yourself, Mr. Lagarde, Ms. Pollard, 2 Mr. Ashford, correct? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. It's dated August 24, 2017 for a 5 meeting to take place in Chanel's office on the 6 6th floor; is that correct? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Is Chanel officed in your building, 9 the ENO building? 10 A. No. 11 Q. Where did this meeting take place at 12 He is at 639 Loyola. Entergy New Orleans? 13 A. 14 floor. 15 Q. I think it was in Chanel's office, 6th Who else was present, if anyone else, 16 besides those listed here on this sheet of 17 paper? 18 A. 19 20 21 22 To the best of my recollection, these were the only people that were present. Q. Approximately how long did this meeting last? A. I don't think it lasted an hour. 23 couldn't put an exact number on it. 24 know if it lasted an hour. 25 Q. I I don't What did you-all discuss in basic JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 42 1 2 form? A. As best I recall, there was discussion 3 of what the Hawthorn Group's capabilities were; 4 a discussion regarding their capability to 5 identify people who would be supportive; as well 6 as them having a database of potential 7 supporters; discussion of how they could go 8 about helping building a grassroots 9 organization. 10 Q. That's probably the gist of it. The database and/or the Hawthorn list, 11 so to speak, that's been referenced in Entergy 12 records that lists, correct me if I'm wrong, 13 when I reviewed that were a listing of elected, 14 appointed officials, business leaders, that type 15 of profile, correct? 16 A. I have no idea. I don't think I ever 17 saw a list provided by Hawthorn of people that 18 they knew. 19 Q. What capabilities, though, did the 20 Hawthorn Group have that the preexisting vendors 21 such as Bright Moments, DMM, and Ehrhardt Group 22 have? 23 A. First of all, the people we retained 24 don't know everyone in the entire city. 25 don't know necessarily people who operate in the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE They 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 43 1 space we were operating in. 2 everybody in the city that could have 3 potentially been supportive of this project. 4 They couldn't know For us to be able to identify others 5 that we didn't know that they didn't know, I 6 think that was probably important. 7 Q. At the December of 2016 meeting, were 8 you satisfied -- Strike that. 9 '16, there was a meeting in City Council 10 In December of chambers, correct? 11 A. I apologize. It all kind of runs 12 together. 13 December, there was a meeting in December. 14 you are going to ask me specifics around that 15 meeting, I will probably need to know what the 16 -- 17 If you told me there was a meeting in If If you could show me the agenda for 18 the meeting, that might help. 19 perfectly frank with you. 20 together. 21 know if I would necessarily be able to give you 22 a specific answer. 23 Q. I'm just being It all kind of runs You can ask me a question. I don't I don't have too many specifics. My 24 general question would be that prior to this 25 time frame, prior to the engagement with the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 44 1 Hawthorn Group, we understand there were public 2 hearings. 3 of '16 where a large number of opposition groups 4 and/or individuals appeared at that meeting. 5 Does that jog your recollection? 6 A. In fact, one of them was in December Not really. I don't have any reason 7 to dispute what you are saying. 8 were supporters for us at that meeting too. 9 Q. I'm sure there Was there ever a meeting in December 10 of '16, without the specific data, a meeting 11 prior to this time frame, prior to the summer of 12 2017 where opposition groups and individuals 13 within those opposition groups or affiliated 14 with those opposition groups outnumbered Entergy 15 supporters? 16 A. I don't have any recollection of that. 17 I mean, is it possible? Sure. You got to 18 realize, I had probably participated in 40 or 19 almost 40 so-called "public meetings" at 20 locations all around the city. 21 people for and against at each one of those 22 meetings. There were 23 Q. Are you sure it's 40, not 22? 24 A. It depends on what you consider a 25 meeting. It may not have -- meetings that I JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 45 1 held with the Black Chamber. 2 be me going into like council districts. 3 were one-on-one meetings I had, small group 4 meetings I had. 5 Q. That 22 number may They Following the August 24, 2017 meeting, 6 there was -- there were multiple proposals 7 generated by the Hawthorn Group and forwarded to 8 Entergy for you-all's consideration, correct? 9 10 11 A. I don't know about multiple. I know there was at least one. Q. If I told you it was more than one, 12 would you have any cause to disbelieve my 13 assertion? 14 A. No. 15 Q. This is -- Exhibit 11 is a memorandum 16 from Ms. Hammelman and another individual at the 17 Hawthorn Group to Ms. Pollard. 18 this particular document? 19 20 21 22 A. I don't recall seeing it. If someone said I did, I have no reason to dispute it. Q. It reads in the beginning -- it references John. 23 A. Where are you at? 24 Q. First paragraph. 25 Did you ever see Ashford and Charles. It references John We assume that would be JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 46 1 you, correct? 2 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 3 Q. It goes on to -- over the next few 4 pages, ENO-NOPS 8 through and including 11. 5 lays out a laundry list of activity with pricing 6 and timing that the Hawthorn Group was proposing 7 to Entergy; is that correct? 8 A. Okay. 9 Q. If we could start at the second It 10 sentence of this memorandum, it reads, "The 11 following is a summarized and slightly revised 12 version of the proposal and plan that John 13 outlined for you and Charles the other day." 14 Did I read that correctly? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. This is -- The first page at the 17 bottom, last paragraph, the Hawthorn Group 18 recommended starting the group as a Facebook 19 community. 20 bottom? Do you see that in bold at the 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Did Entergy approve and engage the 23 Hawthorn Group to start a Facebook community? 24 A. Not that I recall. 25 Q. If you could, turn, Mr. Rice, to Page JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 47 1 3, ENO-NOPS 10. 2 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 3 Q. Under the heading "September of 2017," 4 there's various bullet points. The first one 5 says, "Identify and recruit one or more grass 6 top champions." 7 engage the Hawthorn Group to do that task? It continues on. Did Entergy 8 A. No, we did not. 9 Q. How about the second bullet point, 10 settle on an organization name? 11 ever engage them to -- for them to create an 12 organization, or no? 13 A. Did you-all I don't recall if we had a specific -- 14 I mean, we probably had a conversation about 15 that. 16 Did we settle on a name? No. You know, I've got to point out, if we 17 look at the first paragraph, it says, "Our goal 18 is to build an independent organization that can 19 support, starting immediately, upon your program 20 and budget authorization to provide high-level 21 grass tops and real, organic grassroots support 22 for the projects designed to make New Orleans 23 whole." 24 for. 25 Q. That's what we were actually looking This was in anticipation of that JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 48 1 October 16, 2017 meeting before the City 2 Council; is that correct? 3 A. I don't recall it specifically, no. 4 mean, this laid out a plan all the way through 5 February of 2018. 6 necessarily just for October. 7 Q. I don't know if it was I'm actually just looking at the first 8 heading on Page 10. 9 points we are discussing right now is under 10 11 I That activity, the bullet "September of 2017," correct? A. If you look at this, they talk about 12 activities in September. It talks about 13 activities from October to November. 14 have activities from December to February. 15 is laid out in September may have just been -- 16 I'm speculating here. 17 speculate. 18 Q. Then you What I don't want to I can't read somebody's mind. There's also a bullet point towards 19 the bottom of Page 10 that says, "Recruit 3,000 20 to 5,000 members online." 21 the Hawthorn Group to accomplish that task? Did Entergy engage 22 A. Not that I recall. 23 Q. In all of those recommendations that 24 are contained in this memorandum and/or any 25 other proposal, what did Entergy select the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 49 1 Hawthorn Group to accomplish for Entergy? 2 A. Turn out supporters. 3 Q. At some point in that same time, did 4 you become concerned or alarmed with the 5 Alliance? 6 A. I don't know if "concerned or alarmed" 7 is a correct statement. I would say my concern 8 really revolved around the voluminous news, and 9 I say voluminous false and inaccurate 10 information that they were putting out to this 11 community specifically about the company and, 12 more importantly, about me. 13 They were saying I was attempting to 14 harm the community in which I live, the 15 community in which I chose to raise my family, 16 the community in which my parents and the 17 majority of my immediate family still lives. 18 For them to make a statement that I 19 and the company I work for, which was the only 20 Fortune 500 company in this community, which 21 provides millions of dollars to this community, 22 which has about a billion-dollar economic impact 23 on this community, that we were attempting to 24 harm this community, yeah, that concerned me. 25 Q. Did you believe or did you perceive JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 50 1 they were attacking you personally in addition 2 to the information you discussed? 3 A. I don't know if it was personal 4 attacks. If you want to talk about the fact in 5 a community meeting Ms. Burke's husband got in 6 my face, face to face in a threatening manner, 7 that happened. 8 Q. When was that? 9 A. That was at one of the Council 10 meetings. I can't recall which one. 11 putting out different false information about 12 me? 13 me that they were putting out false information, 14 that they were not necessarily putting out the 15 truth about me and my intentions. I'm sure they were. 16 Were they It was of concern to I live in this community. I was a 17 very public person in this community. 18 known as being a person of integrity in this 19 community, and they questioned that. 20 serious issue for me. 21 I was That was a Let me explain something to you. There's a third. I'm 22 a junior. 23 all his life to build a good name. 24 to say I was going to do something to ruin that, 25 to jeopardize that, total BS. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE My father worked For somebody I go through life 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 51 1 -- There's a Charles L. Rice, III. 2 could be a help or hindrance to me. That name 3 The only way it could be help is for 4 me to be a person of integrity, a person of my 5 word, and to do what's right by this community, 6 by me, and everybody else. 7 question that, I have an issue with that. 8 That's not the only Rice out there. 9 Q. For somebody to Let me show you what's marked as 10 Exhibit 12, ENO-NOPS 756 through and including 11 759. 12 review. Let me know when you have a moment to 13 A. Okay. 14 Q. My question is regarding the e-mail 15 maybe three-quarters of the way down on the 16 first page, an e-mail you wrote on August 31, 17 2017. 18 around this. 19 get an outside consultant, the Hawthorn Group, 20 to begin some kind of campaign/strategy against 21 the Alliance." It reads, "We have to get a strategy I'm going to work with Chanel to Did I read that correctly? 22 A. You did. 23 Q. The Alliance is the Alliance for 24 Affordable Energy we already discussed; is that 25 correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 52 1 A. That's correct. I need to point out 2 for you the subject of this e-mail was TCNA 3 intervention Re UD-17-04 Investigation and 4 Remediation of Service Disruptions. 5 probably revolved around the docket that the 6 Council opened up with regard to reliability of 7 our system. 8 Q. 9 10 This Is that somewhat related in some fashion to the power station application in any way? 11 A. No. 12 Q. What was the Alliance's role in that 13 14 particular item then? A. Again, I don't know if TCNA 15 intervened, which I think was maybe some 16 community organization. 17 or a neighborhood association -- That's probably 18 what the NA is. 19 I believe one of the -- If I recall correctly, one of the 20 Alliance board members actually was on the 21 Tulane Canal NA. 22 and probably them putting out false information 23 to the members of that organization around the 24 reliability of our system. 25 Q. That was probably of concern It caused you again to ask Mr. Lagarde JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 53 1 or discuss engaging the Hawthorn Group in that 2 effort, correct? 3 A. I don't think Chanel and I ever had 4 that discussion about engaging in a round of 5 reliability. 6 response at the time. 7 Q. That may have been an emotional Reliability is an issue that some of 8 the opposition groups have raised in regards to 9 the power station, is that correct, in general 10 terms? 11 A. The information they were putting out 12 was patently false. 13 was that this power station would not assist or 14 help improve the reliability of our system; 15 meaning, that we had a more safe and reliable 16 system. 17 could solve whatever issues we had through some 18 other means and methods. 19 What they were putting out What they were putting out was that we Basically, what they were doing was 20 questioning the expertise and experience of 21 engineers who had worked on this system for a 22 number of years. 23 power station was originally located in the 24 Michoud location. 25 at that time and still today, it was needed to There was a reason that that It was located there because JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 54 1 make sure there was a safe, reliable electric 2 grid in the city of New Orleans. 3 They were basically putting out 4 information that this power station wasn't 5 necessary and that reliability could be solved 6 or the reliability be improved by some other 7 method, which was not [sic] false, as they had 8 never retained an engineer, never had anybody 9 study the system. 10 11 Basically, they were putting out false information not based on science. Q. Okay. The power station itself, when 12 it does come online, however that's going to 13 work, will that feed power or generate power, 14 whatever the correct technical term is, to 15 parishes outside of Orleans Parish? 16 A. Let me begin my response to this 17 question by saying I'm not an engineer. 18 tell you technically how the electrons move 19 around the Entergy system. 20 is it is a system that -- Our system is 21 connected. 22 operates for the benefit of all of our 23 customers. 24 25 I can't What I can tell you Our system is connected because it This power station will be used at times to ensure the entire reliability of that JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 55 1 system. 2 help to provide power and grid stability for the 3 city of New Orleans. 4 down, this unit could be run to make sure we 5 have a reliable system. 6 We have power plants in Westwego that If one of those units go This unit, if it is built, hopefully, 7 when it is built, will be used to provide 8 reliability at some point for the entire metro 9 area on occasion. 10 Q. It could be used for that. On a day-to-day, non-emergency basis, 11 if I'm a resident of Jefferson Parish, will this 12 NOPS power station affect me one way or the 13 other? 14 A. It depends on what's going on that day 15 on the entire system. It could be a day where 16 it's 100 degrees and 9 Mile 4 could go down. 17 This unit could run to make sure there's 18 stability across the entire system, to make sure 19 the people in Jefferson Parish have a reliable 20 system, to ensure the people in New Orleans have 21 a reliable system. 22 I have a number of politicians in 23 Jefferson Parish that reached out to me and 24 asked me if they could assist in any way, shape, 25 or form because they realized how important this JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 56 1 plant was for the greater reliability of the 2 entire system. 3 Q. Who is that? 4 A. There were a number of people. 5 Appel comes to mind, for one. 6 recall off the top of my head. 7 Q. Conrad That's the one I Do you know why Toni Green-Brown would 8 have told us it would not affect persons in 9 Jefferson Parish? 10 A. That may be based on her knowledge. 11 She's not in every single meeting. 12 engineer. 13 guys like I did. 14 PowerGen guys like I did. 15 some of those meetings. 16 understanding of the system, which may not be to 17 the level of mine. 18 19 20 21 22 Q. She's not an She didn't meet with the transmission She didn't meet with the She may have been in That's her She's someone that you respect and have confidence in, correct? A. I have all the confidence and respect in the world for Toni Green. Q. Let me show you Exhibit 14. I will 23 show you 14 and 13 at the same time. 24 they are related to one another. 25 to review those two exhibits, and let us know JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I think Take a moment 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 57 1 when you are ready to answer a few questions on 2 those. 3 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 4 Q. Exhibit 13 is Bates labeled ENO-NOPS 5 Okay. 5 and 6, and ENO-NOPS 7 through and including 6 ENO-NOPS 26. 7 14, did you receive this Hawthorn follow-up 8 proposal from Ms. Pollard on August 31, 2017? 9 10 11 A. Did you receive -- If you look at I don't recall specifically getting it, but I'm on the "To" line. Q. Then if you juxtapose Exhibit 13 with 12 that, it's an Outlook entry which shows 13 attendees as yourself, Ms. Pollard, Mr. Ashford, 14 Mr. Lagarde, and a couple of others; is that 15 correct? 16 A. Legal counsel, Mr. Cragin, yes. 17 Q. This is for same date, August 31, 18 2017, correct? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Is this what was discussed at that 21 22 Webex conference call? A. I don't have a specific recollection 23 of this meeting. I apologize. 24 to believe it wasn't -- I just don't have a 25 specific recollection of it. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I have no reason 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 58 1 2 Q. Was that just a auto call, or was that like a video link as well? 3 A. I'm sure it was just audio. 4 Q. In that follow-up proposal that's part 5 of Exhibit 14, what, if any, specific tasks did 6 Entergy select from and engage the Hawthorn 7 Group to perform? 8 9 A. We retained them to recruit grassroots support. 10 Q. Why? 11 A. As I stated previously, we don't know 12 everybody in the community. We can't know 13 everybody in the community. If there were 14 people that they knew that we didn't know, if 15 they had people in their database that we 16 weren't aware of, we would like to know who 17 those people were. 18 "We know the issues and the players." 19 20 Q. Like they say right here, Certainly, Entergy knew the issues, correct, better than anyone; fair statement? 21 A. Of course we knew the issues. 22 Q. As you referenced earlier, you are 23 from here, and Entergy New Orleans is obviously 24 a New Orleans company, correct? 25 A. That is correct. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 59 1 2 Q. The Hawthorn Group is a Virginia company, correct? 3 A. 4 their base. 5 Virginia, I have no reason to dispute that. 6 7 8 9 Q. office? A. Like I said, I don't know exactly If you say they are based out of Mr. Ashford didn't have a New Orleans He had to fly down from Virginia? I'm not sure if he came from Virginia. He doesn't live here. I know that for sure. 10 Q. I will show you what's marked as 11 Exhibit 15. 12 A. Okay. 13 Q. For the record, this is ENO-NOPS 12. 14 This starts at the e-mail thread originally from 15 Ms. Hammelman to Ms. Pollard on September 5th in 16 which Ms. Pollard forwarded to you later that 17 day; is that correct? 18 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 19 Q. I'm sorry. 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. In the bottom, Ms. Hammelman writes, 22 "I've revised the attached slightly to respond 23 to what we heard Charles say last week. 24 immediate goal has changed a bit, and the 25 urgency for crowd building and response is JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE So, our 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 60 1 reflected. The September budget has been 2 revised up a bit to reflect trying to do a LOT," 3 all caps, "of stuff immediately." 4 that correctly? Did I read 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. What was the urgency for the crowd 7 building? 8 A. 9 means. I don't know what "crowd building" I'm sure that's some term of art in the 10 space in which the Hawthorn Group operates. 11 What I probably was asking them to do was to 12 identify supporters, identify people who would 13 be supportive of what we were trying to do, 14 identify people who would support the power 15 plant, and help us also identify people that we 16 could have a conversation with and hopefully get 17 them to turn out at the meeting. 18 Q. Did you ever have any conversations 19 with anybody that the Hawthorn Group recruited 20 to attend and/or speak on Entergy's behalf? 21 A. Not me specifically. 22 Q. Do you know of any Entergy employee 23 24 25 that has had any such particular conversation? A. question. I wouldn't be able to answer that I've never asked anybody if they ever JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 61 1 spoke directly with anyone identified by 2 Hawthorn. 3 Q. Was this -- Strike that. This was in 4 anticipation of the October 16, 2017 meeting 5 before the Council, correct? 6 7 8 9 A. Like I told you before, they all kind of ran together. Q. Possibly. In the -- Strike that. When you saw this e-mail from Ms. Pollard, did you respond to 10 her either in an additional e-mail or a call on 11 the telephone and say, "I don't know what 'crowd 12 building' means. 13 about"? 14 A. What is Ms. Hammelman talking If you have a copy of one that I did 15 -- You've got to realize, I probably got on 16 average 200 e-mails a day, maybe more, probably 17 more. 18 -- I can tell you I didn't respond to every 19 single e-mail I received. I don't know I necessarily responded to 20 Q. 21 Exhibit 16. 22 Let me show you what is marked as BY MR. CAHN: 23 For the record, this is HAWTHORN 24 32. 25 BY MR. COMAN: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 62 1 2 3 32 and 33. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. Take a moment to review that back to 4 front, Mr. Rice, and let us know when you are 5 ready to answer a couple of questions. 6 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). Okay. 7 Q. Originally, Ms. Hammelman writes an 8 e-mail to Ms. Pollard. The first line is, 9 "Thanks for calling. The answer is yes, we can 10 help turn people out for the Monday, October 11 16th hearing," period. 12 next paragraph to state, "I would caution you 13 that we generally do not recommend this type of 14 standalone effort." 15 referencing? 16 A. She then goes on in the What effort was she Let's read it in context. "We have a 17 very good grassroots organizer on the ground in 18 New Orleans who can work on this for us, and we 19 are confident we can turn out NOLA citizens 18 20 and older who support the issue and will tell 21 people if asked. 22 "These citizens would compliment the 23 company's efforts to recruit grass tops or 24 leadership types, business and community 25 leaders. These people would turn out and care JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 63 1 about jobs, economic development, reliable and 2 affordable power, and would be highly focused on 3 preventing the kinds of issues the city just 4 went through." 5 So, again, exactly what I told you 6 before, to help identify people -- grassroots 7 people who are supportive of these issues. 8 9 Q. question. The next paragraph -- That was my What is the -- Why is Ms. Hammelman 10 recommending not doing this standalone effort or 11 that they generally do not recommend, whatever 12 her words are? 13 A. I can't read her mind. She states in 14 this e-mail, "Questions will be asked. 15 these people and why did they turn out?' 16 future efforts, you most certainly should have 17 an organization behind it with faces, a website" 18 -- we did have a website -- "where people can go 19 for information and to join and an active social 20 media conversation." 21 Q. 'Who are For We had that also. Did the Hawthorn Group undertake that 22 particular activity, meaning, the website, or 23 was that something Entergy had already done? 24 25 A. We already had a website. We had an individual who was also helping us with social JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 64 1 media. 2 Q. Later on, Ms. Hammelman uses the term 3 "pricing menu." 4 points there. She's got a list of bullet Do you see those? 5 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 6 Q. It's got various prices. One of those 7 prices is optional, dash, supporters to sign in 8 and speak, parens, 10, colon, $6,500; is that 9 correct? 10 A. Yeah. That's on here. 11 Q. Right above it, she also has 12 supporters for the hearing, parens, 50 to 100, 13 parens, $8,500 to $14,000; is that correct? 14 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 15 Q. If you flip to the first page when 16 Ms. Pollard responds, she writes, "I reviewed 17 this approach to Charles. 18 forward with the plan. 19 placed and running in the background, so you 20 will have the benefit of general local awareness 21 of October 16th hearing." 22 We would like to move Other tactics will be How did she review this with you? 23 Ms. Pollard show you the e-mail? 24 it to you? 25 verbally? Did Did she send Did she discuss it with you JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 65 1 A. Look. 2 the e-mail. 3 it. Obviously, she didn't send me If she had, I'm sure you would have Second -- 4 Q. Let me stop you. 5 A. Hold it. Second, I'm an attorney, 6 officer of the court. I know what my 7 obligations are. 8 e-mail and jeopardize my law license. 9 was one out there, you would have it. I would never, ever delete a If there 10 Q. How is that? 11 A. Because they would have produced it. 12 We had no reason to hide anything. 13 have produced it. 14 sent me about this issue, if you have it, show 15 it to me. 16 17 18 Q. They would If there was an e-mail she I'm asking about this particular e-mail. A. You asked me how did she discuss it 19 with me, did she forward it to me. I'm letting 20 you know, obviously, she didn't because there's 21 not a copy of it. 22 Q. Do y'all keep all e-mails? 23 A. I don't know what the company's policy 24 -- Whatever the company's policy is, that's what 25 we complied with. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 66 1 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 2 Hold up. 3 BY MR. COMAN: 4 Okay. 5 6 7 8 Go off the record. (BREAK TAKEN) EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. You have before you Exhibit 16; is that correct? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. In this two-page e-mail, HAWTHORN 32 11 and 33, as you can tell from the Bates label as 12 well as the header in the upper left-hand 13 corner, it was produced by Hawthorn, not 14 produced by Entergy. 15 would not have produced this? 16 17 18 19 20 A. Do you know why Entergy It must have fell out of the document retention policy. Q. What is Entergy's document retention policy? A. I don't know the particulars of the 21 policy. 22 because of the size of the system, e-mails are 23 deleted. 24 save it, it probably just rolled off the system. 25 Q. I do know that at a certain point, I don't know. Unless you actually Getting back to when Ms. Pollard JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 67 1 responds to Ms. Hammelman and references she 2 reviewed this approach with you, how did she do 3 it, to your recollection? 4 review it with you? 5 6 7 8 9 A. How did Ms. Pollard Typically, she would have come in my office and tell me about the discussion. Q. What specific directives did you give her regarding this particular pricing menu? A. I never saw the pricing menu. She may 10 have given what was a total number. 11 would have said I was okay with that number. 12 13 Q. I probably The date of that e-mail is -- What's the date on that? 14 A. September 19, 2017. 15 Q. Let me show you what was marked as 16 Exhibit 19. 17 document, please. Take a moment to review that 18 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). Okay. 19 Q. This is -- The title is "October 3, 20 2017 Text Message Communications." 21 message exchange between yourself and Ms. 22 Pollard, and Ms. Pollard has already identified 23 this exhibit and confirmed its accuracy. 24 25 It's a text Do you have any cause to disbelieve that this document represents the communication JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 68 1 you had with Ms. Pollard on October 3rd of 2017? 2 A. No reason to doubt it. 3 Q. This text message thread, you refer to 4 this effort, this campaign as war; is that 5 correct? 6 A. I did. I'm a former Army officer. I 7 spent three years with the 101st Airborne. I 8 spent my most formative and professional years 9 in the military. Most former military officers, 10 it would not be unusual for them to speak in 11 that vernacular. 12 13 Q. You also stated, "We need all the foot soldiers we can muster"; is that correct? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. Take a look at Exhibit 64. 16 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 17 Q. This is ENO-NOPS 1135 through and 18 including 1139. 19 A. Okay. 20 Q. The title of this document appears as 21 "Contract Change Order Pursuant to Contract 22 No.," and it's listed there. 23 bottom of Page 1, you're listed as a point of 24 contact for Entergy, is that correct, or one of 25 the two; is that correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I believe in the 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 69 1 A. Where are you referring to? 2 Q. Bottom of the page. 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. And this is between Entergy and Bright 5 Moments, LLC, correct? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. This is dated October 3rd of 2017; is 8 that correct? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. If you could, turn to ENO-NOPS 1137, 11 which is the third page of this particular 12 document, under Exhibit A. 13 A. Okay. 14 Q. Was one of the activities Entergy 15 engaged Bright Moments to perform is described 16 as monitoring of opposition groups? 17 accurate representation? Is that an 18 A. Where are you at? 19 Q. First paragraph, Exhibit A. 20 A. It's the first time I'm seeing this 21 22 document. Q. That's what it states. Moving forward to October 16, 2017, 23 that particular meeting, I will show you Exhibit 24 65, with a copy for Mr. Cahn. 25 scene depicted in that photograph? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE You recognize the 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 70 1 A. I have no -- I couldn't tell you which 2 meeting it was. 3 on the left. 4 5 Q. I can tell you who is sitting Is Ms. Mercadel pictured there as well? 6 A. As well as my wife. 7 Q. In that particular photograph, you 8 don't have an orange T-shirt on. 9 people depicted in that scene are wearing orange 10 Some of the T-shirts, correct? 11 A. They are. 12 Q. You've seen those T-shirts before? 13 A. First time I saw was at that meeting. 14 Q. They had some writing on the front. 15 think it was "Clean energy. 16 Reliable power." 17 A. 18 shirt. 19 Q. 20 21 22 I Good jobs. Does that ring a bell? You have to show me a picture of the Did you attend that meeting on October 16, 2017 at the City Council chambers? A. If this is a picture of me at the meeting, obviously, I was there. 23 Q. Did you speak at that meeting? 24 A. No, I don't think so. 25 Q. Why not? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 71 1 A. There's no need for me to speak. 2 Q. What was -- Strike that. Was there -- 3 Strike that. 4 viewed from Entergy's perspective as important 5 in winning approval for the NOPS power station? 6 A. Was the October 16, 2017 meeting I don't know where that meeting fell 7 in the sequence of events. 8 meetings was very important. 9 for the community to get accurate information. 10 It was important to make sure that things were 11 presented in a accurate and fair manner. 12 would tell you, whenever there's a meeting such 13 as that, they are all important. 14 Q. 15 Exhibit 25. 16 no Bates numbers. 17 three photos. Each one of those It was important I Let me show you what's marked as It's three color photographs with Take a moment to review those 18 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). Okay. 19 Q. The first photograph there on Exhibit 20 25, the individuals wearing those orange 21 T-shirts, do you know any of those people? 22 A. I'm not familiar with any of them that 23 I can recall. 24 here. 25 Q. I do know at least one person in Mr. Rogers? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 72 1 A. Yeah. 2 Q. He's pictured wearing a suit? 3 A. Yeah. 4 Q. He's a representative of Council on 5 Aging, correct? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. Council on Aging is a community 8 9 partner with Entergy; is that right? A. We are supporters of Council on Aging. 10 I guess they would be considered a community 11 partner. 12 Q. Could you turn to Page 2. 13 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 14 Q. Just another vantage point, for the 15 people in the orange T-shirts, if you know any 16 of those individuals. 17 18 19 A. I don't know any of them personally. I do know these were union guys. Q. Sitting in the front row with a sign 20 that says, "We need power in the city"; is that 21 right? 22 A. Yeah. 23 Q. The front row individuals, you do know 24 25 -- Is that Mr. Hammond? A. That's not Tiger. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE That could be 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 73 1 2 3 Tiger, but I don't think that's him. Q. Individuals in the front row, you recognize a few of those? 4 A. First two rows. 5 Q. The individuals in the back wearing 6 the orange T-shirts, you don't recognize those, 7 correct? 8 9 A. That's kind of fuzzy. There's nobody I recognize personally. 10 Q. Could you turn to the last page. 11 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 12 Q. Those two Caucasian individuals with 13 14 15 beards, do you know either of those individuals? A. No. I know this lady wearing an orange shirt, I do know her. 16 Q. Who is that? 17 A. That's Chris. 18 I can't remember Chris's last name. 19 Q. Where do you know her for? 20 A. Chris actually works for Entergy. 21 Q. If you could, turn to the front of 22 that, the first page of 25. 23 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 24 Q. Besides Chris -- 25 I'm not sure if she's -- JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 74 1 A. She may have shown up later. 2 Q. Were you pleased with the show of 3 4 5 6 support on Entergy's behalf that night? A. I thought we had a pretty good turnout. Q. I will show you Exhibit 26. This is a 7 document with no Bates label, but it reads at 8 the header "October 16, 2017 Text Message 9 Communication." 10 It has the names Pollard and Rice as well as some timing. 11 After reviewing this particular 12 document here, do you agree that this is an 13 accurate depiction of text message communication 14 you had with Ms. Pollard that night? 15 A. I have no specific recollection of 16 text. If it came off her phone and my phone, 17 then sure. 18 Q. If I told you she testified a couple 19 days ago that this was an accurate depiction, 20 would you have any cause to disbelieve her 21 assertion? 22 A. Not at all. 23 Q. It reads at 5:30 that same night that 24 Ms. Pollard states in a text message, quote, 25 what do you think, end quote. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE What was your 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 75 1 response? 2 A. "Looks fabulous." 3 Q. Did you also have an additional 4 5 response following that? A. "Hawthorn came through. 6 out how we can further engage. 7 grassroots support. 8 out even more. 9 Q. Let's figure They turned out They could probably help us That show of support was moving on 10 even past this particular meeting, was something 11 that continued to be important in your mind; is 12 that correct? 13 A. The show of support? 14 Q. Yes. 15 A. I would say, as I told you before, we 16 had run a number of surveys. 17 that there was significant support in the 18 community. 19 was against the plant. 20 important that the crowd actually reflect what 21 we knew was the actual support of -- for the 22 plant, for the project. 23 Q. The surveys showed That was a very small minority that I thought it would be Prior to the October 16th meeting, 24 2017, how successful had Entergy been, along 25 with Entergy vendors, in showing support from JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 76 1 individuals that were not linked to either a 2 community partnership or a trade association or 3 a union affiliation? 4 A. There were a number of individuals 5 that showed up that we recruited. 6 union goes, the union guys never did work for 7 Entergy New Orleans, at least while I was there. 8 They were there at their own accord. 9 a number of individuals that showed up on their 10 own that didn't have any real relationship with 11 the company other than they were interested in 12 seeing this project move forward. 13 it was important. 14 Q. Like who? 15 A. Noah Lewis comes to find. 16 There were They thought BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 17 Who is that? 18 BY THE WITNESS: 19 20 As far as the Noah Lewis. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 21 Q. Who is Mr. Lewis? 22 A. A resident of New Orleans East. 23 Mr. Bickham comes to mind. He's also a resident 24 of New Orleans East. 25 other individuals that showed up -- I can't There were a number of JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 77 1 recall the names at this particular time -- that 2 based upon discussions with members of my team, 3 myself, they saw the necessity for the project 4 and they were supportive. 5 Q. Do you agree or disagree with the 6 following statement Ms. Hammelman made to us? 7 "It is difficult to obtain individuals to show 8 up to support a particular cause that they are 9 not linked to." 10 BY MR. CAHN: 11 Do you have that statement? 12 BY MR. COMAN: 13 14 15 16 17 That's a statement I made. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. I'm just asking, do you agree or disagree? A. That they are not linked to? I don't 18 know. 19 People -- I can't comment one way or the other. 20 I'm not in everybody's mind. 21 issues for a variety of reasons. 22 necessarily have to have any type of particular 23 interest or partnership. 24 25 Q. People show up for various reasons. People support They don't You mentioned Mr. Lewis and Mr. Bickham. Those names were on the previous JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 78 1 list that we were going over. 2 were those individuals identified as potential 3 speakers? 4 5 6 7 A. How was -- How They showed up at a community meeting we held in New Orleans East. Q. Did they show up the night of October 16, 2017? 8 A. I have no idea. 9 Q. Do you recall seeing them one way or 10 the other? 11 A. I have -- I know Mr. Lewis showed up 12 at meetings. 13 can't recall particularly if they were at the 14 October meeting. 15 16 Q. I know Mr. Bickham showed up. I I'm going to show you Exhibit 28, a short text message. 17 A. Okay. 18 Q. This document reads that this is a 19 text message communication between yourself and 20 Ms. Pollard, October 20th of 2017; is that 21 correct? 22 A. That's what it purports to show. 23 Q. If I told you Ms. Pollard identified 24 this particular document or the statements made 25 herein as being an accurate depiction of a JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 79 1 communication she had with you on that 2 particular date, would you have any cause to 3 disbelieve that? 4 A. No. 5 Q. What did you write to her on October 6 7 20, 2017? A. According to this, it says, "Let's 8 discuss Hawthorn getting people there for 9 December 13th." 10 Q. Her response was "Okay"? 11 A. That's what it says. 12 Q. What was December 13th? 13 A. I have no idea. 14 15 I'm assuming it must have been another council meeting. Q. I'm not sure 100 percent if there was 16 a council meeting. 17 reference an evidentiary hearing in the Pan Am 18 Building in that same time frame. 19 ring a bell one way or another? 20 A. We have seen records that I don't know the dates. Does that There was a 21 hearing. I would be shocked if I would have 22 asked her to get people there for that 23 evidentiary hearing. 24 Q. Why is that? 25 A. Because that's exactly what it was. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 80 1 It was like a trial. 2 allowed to speak were whoever was on the witness 3 stand. 4 Q. 5 6 Meaning, the parties to the dispute; is that correct? A. 7 Yes. BY MR. COMAN: 8 Go off the record. 9 (WHEREUPON MR. TERRY ALARCON 10 ARRIVED TO THE DEPOSITION) 11 12 13 The only people that were (BREAK TAKEN) EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. We understand that evidentiary hearing 14 to be mainly technical. 15 statement? 16 A. 17 Is that a fair I don't know what you mean by "technical." Basically -- 18 Q. What was it? 19 A. It was a presentation of evidence. 20 Q. Any particular focus of that evidence? 21 A. It was a presentation of scientific 22 information about the plant. 23 presentation of -- There were engineers that 24 spoke. There were environmental experts that 25 spoke. There were geologists that testified. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It was a 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 81 1 It was basically an evidentiary hearing where 2 evidence was placed into the record. 3 4 Q. Did you testify at that particular hearing? 5 A. I did. 6 Q. At any point in that testimony, did 7 you ever reference Entergy's belief in the 8 amount of support you-all had for the power 9 station, or was it not that type of testimony? 10 A. I have no recollection that that 11 question was asked. I doubt -- I don't know. 12 It's possible it was asked. 13 the record. 14 Q. I would have to see Let me show you Exhibit 29, with a 15 copy for your counsel. Take a moment to read 16 that two-page e-mail, ENO-NOPS 6311 and 6312. 17 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 18 Q. This e-mail thread, I believe this 19 starts with an e-mail that -- I'm sorry. 20 Ms. Cavell referenced a quotation that was 21 attributed to you, is that correct, by someone 22 at The Lens NOLA; is that right? 23 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 24 Q. You have to say yes or no. 25 A. Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 82 1 Q. That particular quotation that was 2 referenced in the article and I think repeated 3 here by Ms. Cavell is, quote, I think we've got 4 them outnumbered, end quote, "chuckled Charles 5 Rice, Junior." Did I read that correctly? 6 A. Yes, you did. 7 Q. Did you say that at that meeting? 8 A. I have no recollection of saying that. 9 Q. One way or the other? 10 A. I just don't recall saying that. I 11 know I definitely didn't talk to whoever that 12 reporter was. 13 Q. Mr. Stein? 14 A. Yes. 15 I would not have given an interview to anybody. 16 Q. Okay. 17 A. If you notice I say, "I don't even 18 19 20 21 remember saying that." Q. Who is "them"? Is that opposition groups, or what? A. It says, "I don't ever [sic] remember 22 saying that it was a hit piece and he was 23 clearly on the other team." 24 you are referring to "them." 25 Q. I don't know where In the quotation. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 83 1 A. 2 really say. 3 referring to the opposition. 4 5 6 Q. I don't recall saying it. I can't If I did say it, it must have been Does that quotation -- is that consistent with your belief from that night? A. Like I said, all these meetings ran 7 together, so I'm not sure which one was the 8 October meeting versus the February meeting. 9 can say we had representation there. 10 Q. I The October meeting is the meeting you 11 can see on video represented in the orange 12 T-shirt, photograph Exhibit 25 in council 13 chambers. 14 you remember saying the quote, is that quote 15 consistent with your belief from that particular 16 night? 17 A. At that meeting, is that -- Whether They had a significant amount of 18 representation there also. 19 throughout this process, I think at the meeting, 20 it was somewhat evenly split. 21 Q. So, I would say The text message communication you had 22 from that night, you were pleased with the 23 Hawthorn Group's efforts, correct? 24 25 A. I was pleased that they turned out grassroots support, yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 84 1 Q. Take a look at Exhibit 30, which is 2 ENO-NOPS -- Scratch that. 3 HAWTHORN 58 and 59. 4 BY MR. CAHN: 5 It's two separate e-mails. 6 is HAWTHORN 58. 7 ENO 6573. 8 BY THE WITNESS: 9 Appended to that is BY MR. COMAN: 11 That's the next exhibit. 12 14 One I have the same thing. 10 13 For the record, it's Tear that apart. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. Mr. Rice, you are not copied on this 15 e-mail. It's an e-mail from Ms. Pollard to 16 Ms. Hammelman six days following the October 17 16th meeting, specifically, on October 23rd. 18 says here, "The second tweet by same individual 19 we discussed, with comments." 20 Although you can't see it on the next page, it 21 seems to be -- it is -- depicts part of a screen 22 shot from Mr. Faust's social media activity. 23 that particular activity -- I'm sorry. 24 Ms. Pollard at all discuss Mr. Faust with you 25 following the October 16th meeting in reference JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It In Did 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 85 1 to this time frame, if you recall? 2 A. 3 Mr. Faust? 4 particularly. 5 what's in this tweet. 6 considered significant, I'm sure she came into 7 my office and shared whatever was in it. 8 9 Q. Did we have a discussion about I don't recall if we discussed him I'm sure if -- I don't know If it was a tweet she This may be it. Exhibit 31, you should have that other copy. For the record, 10 this is ENO-NOPS 6573 through and including 11 6575. Take a moment to read that. 12 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 13 Q. If you can see at the beginning of the 14 first -- at the bottom of the first page, which 15 this is an internal communication between 16 Ms. Cavell, Ms. Pollard, and Ms. Brown, at the 17 bottom the words are, "So I got the verbal 18 confirmation I needed. 19 protestors for Entergy at City Council. 20 paid; two hours later at Dave & Buster's," and 21 some type of hyperlink. 22 23 There were paid $60 BY MR. CAHN: The e-mail you are referring to 24 is from Sprinklr to Charlotte. 25 pickup from the social media. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It's a It's 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 86 1 not an e-mail from Charlotte to 2 Yolanda containing it. 3 BY MR. COMAN: 4 I think -- Not that it makes a 5 difference, the Sprinklr sends it to 6 Ms. Cavell. 7 it. 8 BY MR. CAHN: Then Ms. Cavell forwards 9 Correct. 10 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 11 Q. This is on October 23, 2017. Did 12 Ms. Pollard ever advise you that individuals 13 were claiming they had been paid as described in 14 that statement I just read? 15 A. We had that discussion. I didn't 16 really think anything of it. 17 more false information put out by the opponents. 18 They had done it throughout the process. 19 really didn't have any cause for concern because 20 it was just part of their normal mode of 21 operation, put out false information. 22 23 Q. To me, this was I As you sit here now, do you believe or disbelieve that statement? 24 A. That they were paid? 25 Q. Yes. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 87 1 2 3 4 5 A. Based upon what has been subsequently revealed, they were people that were paid. Q. How did Ms. Pollard communicate this to you? A. I don't recall the specific 6 conversation. 7 And I don't know if it was in response to this 8 particular one and said there were allegations 9 that people were paid to show up. 10 Q. I'm sure she came to my office. Following this event, so to speak, on 11 October 23, 2017, did Entergy cancel the 12 Hawthorn Group's contract? 13 A. I can't tell you when the contract was 14 specifically cancelled. 15 just said earlier, as far as I was concerned 16 this was just another attempt to put out 17 misinformation about the company and the 18 project. 19 Q. It goes back to, like I Did Entergy stop payment on any 20 invoices from the Hawthorn Group following this 21 particular accusation? 22 23 A. At some point, we did put a stop- payment out. 24 Q. That was in May of 2018, correct? 25 A. You'd have to show me the document for JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 88 1 2 me to give you the exact date. Q. The document we just looked at was 3 from October 23, 2017. 4 relay of this particular accusation and 5 information, did you, as Entergy CEO and/or 6 President, take -- make any efforts to stop 7 payment on Hawthorn's contract at that point? 8 9 10 11 A. Following Ms. Pollard's Not as of October 23, 2017 because I had absolutely no reason to believe that those assertions were true. Q. In anticipation of the February 21, 12 2018 public hearing before the utility committee 13 that took place in the Pan Am Building, that 14 auditorium, did Entergy undertake the same 15 efforts to produce a show of support for the 16 NOPS power station? 17 A. We were engaging the people throughout 18 the process. 19 continue to seek out supporters, did we continue 20 to meet with people who were potentially 21 supportive, did we continue to educate people on 22 the process, did we continue to educate people 23 about the project, yes, we did continue to do 24 that. 25 Q. So, if you are asking me did we Did you continue -- Did Entergy JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 89 1 continue its efforts to put bodies in those 2 seats, so to speak? 3 4 5 6 A. I will tell you that we continued our efforts to turn out supporters at the meeting. Q. I will show you what has already been marked as Exhibit 34A. 7 A. Okay. 8 Q. This document does not have a Bates 9 label. It has a header that reads "January 11, 10 2018 Text Message Communication." It contains 11 your name as well as Ms. Pollard; is that 12 correct? 13 A. Yes, it does. 14 Q. After reviewing this document, do you 15 have any cause to disbelieve this is a text 16 message communication that you had with 17 Ms. Pollard on this particular date? 18 A. None at all. 19 Q. If you could, read what you wrote at 20 11:25. 21 A. 22 20 people." 23 Q. 24 25 "Think we can get Hawthorn to get us Ms. Pollard responds, "Will check." Then what did you write? A. "Make it 30." JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 90 1 Q. Ms. Pollard said, "Got it," and later 2 sent you another text message that says, "Talked 3 to Hawthorn. 4 Did I read that correctly? They will send us cost estimates." 5 A. You did. Can I add something? 6 Q. Sure. 7 A. One thing that hasn't been said was, I 8 will say it again, we engaged Hawthorn to 9 identify people in the community who would be 10 supportive. Nobody sat up there and counted how 11 many people showed up at the meeting. 12 If Hawthorn would have got one person 13 to show up, they would have been paid the exact 14 same thing. 15 who were supportive, identifying people who 16 thought this was important, and hopefully having 17 them show up at the meeting. This was about identifying people 18 Q. 19 of people? 20 A. I never saw a price menu. 21 Q. We saw one earlier that Ms. Pollard 22 Was there a price menu based on ranges discussed with Ms. Hammelman, correct? 23 A. Do you remember the exhibit number? 24 Q. I can find it. 25 A. On this e-mail dated September 19, It should be 16. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 91 1 2 2017, there was a price menu. Q. That's not a word I came up with. 3 the paragraph written there starting with 4 "Below," you see that? 5 A. Yeah. 6 Q. It says, "Below is," a what? 7 A. Pricing menu. 8 Q. In that particular menu, it does 9 10 11 12 In contain parenthetically for supporters, 50 to 100; for speakers, 10, correct? A. It says, "Below is a pricing menu, including turning supporters out." 13 Q. It contains -- 14 A. "Getting a few of them to sign in and 15 16 to speak and have them deliver a message." Q. The next part, they have the 17 particular numbers that we already discussed, 18 correct? 19 A. It also says, "It is important to note 20 that this price is based on having three and a 21 half weeks to complete the recruiting process." 22 Q. Let me show you again. In 23 anticipation of that 2/21/18 hearing, this is an 24 e-mail, page HAWTHORN 5 and 6. 25 you've had a chance to review it, please. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Let me know when 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 92 1 A. Okay. 2 Q. If we could start on the second page 3 there, the first e-mail from Ms. Hammelman to 4 Ms. Pollard on January 12, 2018. 5 "Yolanda, hope your dad is getting better. 6 Thinking of you and your family. 7 some options for you for February 21." 8 under "Hawthorn fee," a description for 9 supporters, 30 supporters at the hearings with She says, Following are It's got 10 handmade signs, five speakers, ten speakers, 11 another pricing menu, correct? 12 BY MR. CAHN: 13 14 15 It says, "recruiting expenses." EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. Is this another -- This pricing menu 16 is similar to the one you looked at on the 17 Exhibit 16; is that correct? 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A. I don't know if it's necessarily similar. Q. It's got bullet points with prices, correct? A. It's got bullet points, yeah, with prices. Q. And for 15 supporters, it's $6,125; and for 30, it's $7,725, correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 93 1 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 2 Q. Then there's a price for five 3 4 speakers, 4,600; and ten is 6,700, correct? A. Yeah. That seemed to be in proportion 5 to it, because the price between 15 and 30 6 people is not double. 7 Q. It's more, though, correct? 8 A. Slightly. 9 Q. It's more for the -- same thing, 10 difference between five speakers and ten 11 speakers, right? 12 A. Slight difference. 13 Q. If you flip to the first page in 14 Ms. Pollard's response e-mail, Friday, January 15 19, 2018, she writes in that paragraph, "I 16 discussed with Charles. 17 supporters and ten speakers for the February 21 18 utility committee meeting." Let's go with 30 19 A. Where is that? 20 Q. Third line. 21 correctly? 22 A. Yeah. 23 Q. How did Ms. Pollard discuss this 24 25 Did I read that particular pricing menu and what Entergy wanted? A. I don't have a recollection of us JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 94 1 having a specific conversation about this. 2 Q. I will show you what is marked as 3 Exhibit 66. 4 through and including 6443. 5 document. 6 to review it. For the record, it's ENO-NOPS 6435 It's a multipage Let us know when you've had a chance 7 A. Okay. 8 Q. In Exhibit 66, this is an e-mail 9 thread with attachments that you received from 10 Ms. Pollard on January 29, 2018; is that 11 correct? 12 A. It appears that way, yes. 13 Q. The subject line is "Review today: 14 NOPS February 21 meeting remarks and letters to 15 the editor," correct? 16 A. Correct. 17 Q. Correct me if I'm wrong. This seems 18 to reference the event of you maybe writing an 19 op-ed piece in the newspaper; is that right? 20 21 22 A. I probably had written one. I'm fairly certain I wrote one. Q. Then Ms. Pollard is circulating to you 23 and others, at least that I counted, three 24 letters that were kind of ghostwritten; meaning, 25 a letter that is written from the firsthand JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 95 1 standpoint of some unknown individual, correct? 2 A. It's actually four. 3 Q. There's a couple of things that may be 4 for Mr. LaGrange or Ms. Milling, correct? 5 A. It appears to be remarks for them. 6 Q. My question is really about these 7 letters. Who in the last page, 6443, when it 8 says, "Sincerely, Business Owner," and it has a 9 signatory, and this person is saying, "I own a 10 small business," and it provides a living for 11 his family, who is this person? 12 A. A business owner we have been -- that 13 was supportive of the plant. 14 for anyone in particular. 15 Chamber. 16 had met with the New Orleans East Business 17 Association. 18 Association. 19 I don't think it's We had met with the We had met with the Black Chamber. We We had met with the Hotel/Motel Through that process, if there were 20 people identified and were willing to submit a 21 letter, that was the form we were giving them to 22 use, not necessarily we were expecting them to 23 use it in that exact form, but that was a model 24 for them to use. 25 Q. My question is this: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It appears from 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 96 1 the timing and the way the documents lay out is 2 that the letters are written first, and then 3 later, Bright Moments or somebody else tries to 4 find a person to fill the role; is that 5 accurate? 6 A. I can't agree with that statement. 7 I stated before, throughout that two-year 8 process, I met with a number of business 9 organizations. As There were people that came up 10 to me throughout those meetings that said they 11 were supportive. 12 after a certain point in time. 13 people that we met with during the first year of 14 the process. 15 I can't say this was done There were We met with the Chamber. I'm sure it 16 was more than once. 17 Chamber more than once. 18 East Business Association, their leadership as 19 probably well as their membership. 20 met with the hotel/motel guys more than once. 21 probably made a trip over to the CVD too. 22 can't say this was done, and then we went out 23 and tried to identify people. 24 25 Q. We met with the Black We met with New Orleans I think I I I What did Ms. Pollard tell you in the last sentence of her e-mail? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 97 1 A. Which one? 2 Q. The e-mail, the last sentence, read 3 4 that out loud. A. "TEG/Bright Moments are working to 5 secure names or contacts that could sign or 6 submit these letters early this week." 7 probably based upon people we had probably 8 already talked to and identified. 9 I will say it again. That was I participated 10 in probably over 40 meetings, maybe more than 11 that, individual meetings, small group meetings, 12 business meetings. 13 to the Business Council. 14 presentations, we probably were trying to 15 identify people who were willing to sign 16 something to that effect. 17 Q. I think I did a presentation Again, through those To your point in this exact e-mail, 18 there are two individuals that are identified, 19 Mr. LaGrange and Ms. Milling, correct? 20 A. I met with both of them one on one. 21 Q. Besides those two names, there's no 22 names attached to the other letters to the 23 editor, correct? 24 25 A. That doesn't mean we didn't identify people who could potentially do it. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 98 1 Q. Do you have any information that we 2 can rely on or look to to let us know whether 3 these were ever used; and if so, which persons 4 were assigned to sign them? 5 A. I don't have that. I would have 6 probably not been involved in that level of 7 detail to who they would probably have gone out 8 and talked to. 9 someone I may have spoken with. 10 11 I may have given them a name of For example, I met with Gary and Anne one on one. Q. As far as the business owner and the 12 boil water advisory, can you tell us whether or 13 not there was some person assigned that task, or 14 who knows? 15 A. 16 don't know. 17 Go off the record. 19 21 I BY MR. COMAN: 18 20 I'm sure -- I can't tell you that. (BREAK TAKEN) EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. Let me show you, kind of moving on the 22 timeline here, what is marked as Exhibit 37, 23 with a copy for your counsel. 24 review that document, and let us know when 25 you've had a chance to do so. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Take a moment to 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 99 1 A. 2 Q. 3 (WITNESS COMPLIED). And for the record, this is HAWTHORN 16. 4 A. Okay. 5 Q. All right. And at least in the middle 6 part of one of the first two e-mails, you were a 7 party to that conversation, is that correct, 8 meaning, you received the e-mail? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And it first starts with an e-mail at 11 the bottom, February 20, 2018, 6:04 p.m. from 12 Mr. Huntley. 13 14 A. Who is Mr. Huntley? Gary was the Vice President of Regulatory and Governmental Affairs. 15 Q. And he wrote, "I received confirmation 16 that the room will be open at 8:30 a.m. 17 get as many of our folks there ahead of the bus 18 from New Orleans East." 19 correctly? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. And what is this e-mail in reference 22 23 24 25 to? Let's Did I read that Is this the 2/21 meeting? A. Must have been. It's dated February 20, 2018. Q. You received this e-mail, I think, JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 100 1 forwarded from Ms. Mercadel; is that correct? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Did Entergy intentionally -- I'm 4 sorry. 5 populate the 2/21 meeting at that Pan Am 6 auditorium with as many supporters as possible? 7 A. Strike that. Did Entergy intend to We would have wanted to get as many 8 people there as possible. I mean, basically -- 9 I mean, a lot of the people that support us are 10 professional people. 11 there early so they could get their cards in 12 early so they could speak and get back to work. 13 We wanted them to get I mean, there was no nefarious intent. 14 It was just making sure that people who wanted 15 to speak got an opportunity to get in early and 16 speak and then go back to work. 17 18 19 Q. And who is Mr. Huntley referencing the bus from the East? A. Pure speculation on my part. But I 20 mean, I do know that they did have buses come 21 from -- I think it was Mary of Vietnam Church -- 22 Queen of Vietnam Church. 23 Q. Opponents of the power station? 24 A. I know it was people who were members 25 of the church that were bused there. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 101 1 Q. And from your impression, were they in 2 favor of, or were they against the power 3 station? 4 A. To be perfectly frank, it was a bunch 5 of senior citizens. 6 any of them speaking one way or the other, but 7 they were there. 8 they were probably against the plant. 9 10 Q. And I really don't remember But I would anticipate that Did you attend that meeting, the 2/21 meeting at the Pan Am Building? 11 A. Oh, I'm sure I was there. Yeah. 12 Q. In fact, this would have been the 13 meeting -- correct me if I'm wrong -- that at 14 the -- towards the end, you would have briefly 15 made comments, or the advisors would have made 16 comments? 17 18 19 A. I didn't make any comments that I recall. Q. All right. Would anyone have made 20 comments on Entergy's behalf? 21 employees, I meant. 22 A. The Entergy I mean, if it's the meeting I'm 23 thinking about, I don't recall any Entergy 24 employees speaking. 25 where the council took comments from the I think this was a meeting JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 102 1 community. 2 that spoke. 3 anybody that worked for me, specifically 4 talking. 5 Q. There may have been some retirees But I don't recall, at least And at the end of the meeting or 6 towards the end of the meeting was when one of 7 the council advisors -- I believe he was a 8 council advisor -- gave a fairly long 9 presentation, slash, Q and A with the utility 10 committee over the differences in the two 11 proposals? 12 A. I don't have a specific recollection 13 of that. 14 at the end was Jason Williams asking a question 15 of everyone in the crowd, "Is there anyone here 16 who wants to speak or wanted to speak that did 17 not get an opportunity to speak?" 18 what I remember about the end of that meeting. 19 And I don't recall anyone. 20 The part I remember about that meeting And that's Well, there might have been one or two 21 people. 22 showed up that didn't get a chance to speak. 23 And I think as a result of that, they probably 24 got an opportunity to speak. 25 Q. I think we had some retirees that Were you able to come and go freely in JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 103 1 and out of the room as it progressed -- as the 2 meeting progressed? 3 A. 4 hours. 5 the -- I think the security guard from the Pan 6 Am Building restricted access because he thought 7 the room was too packed. 8 left, they allowed people to come in. 9 10 11 Probably toward -- after a couple of I think in the beginning of the meeting, Q. But then as people Did you at any point observe a line of people attempting to gain entry into the room? A. No. I observed a bunch of people 12 sitting outside chanting. And I do recall at 13 one point I may have left to go to the bathroom. 14 And the guard was asking people if they wanted 15 to go in, and those people chose not to go in. 16 Q. Who were those people? 17 A. They were a bunch of people out there 18 with Pat Bryant. 19 Q. What were they chanting? 20 A. I don't recall the exact chants. I 21 just know whenever the door cracked, when 22 somebody was leaving or going, they would start 23 chanting. 24 25 Q. At some point during this meeting, and I think on the video, it shows like six hours JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 104 1 and 29 minutes, so a pretty lengthy meeting. 2 Does that ring a bell? 3 A. That it was a lengthy meeting? 4 Q. Yes. 5 A. It was lengthy. 6 Q. Right. And at some point during that 7 meeting, Mr. Faust that you referenced and we 8 discussed earlier in your testimony stood up and 9 on the video and the audio that you can hear 10 claim that Entergy had paid people at the 10/16 11 meeting. 12 A. I don't remember the exact date where 13 he said that. 14 tape, I have no reason to dispute it. 15 16 Q. But if you tell me that's on the Did you observe that? Were you in the room at the time? 17 A. I think I was. 18 Q. And I guess he had two to three 19 minutes like everybody had. 20 frame that you can watch on video, he makes that 21 statement, I believe, at the beginning of his 22 comment. 23 you have to his comments? 24 25 A. But in that time When you heard that, what reaction did I didn't believe him. If you had had any experience watching Mr. Faust at any of the JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 105 1 previous meetings where he showed up, his 2 behavior was always somewhat erratic. 3 also was part of the group that put out a lot of 4 misinformation and disinformation. 5 reason to believe anything he said was accurate. 6 I thought he was just doing what he normally 7 does. 8 9 10 11 Q. And he So, I had no As you sit here today, do you believe his statement? Do you believe it's true or false at this stage? A. I mean, based upon what has been 12 revealed subsequently, there were some people 13 that were paid by Crowds on Demand. 14 Q. Working for the Hawthorn Group? 15 A. I don't know who they work for. 16 Q. You don't know one way or the other? 17 A. I know that Hawthorn retained Crowds 18 19 on Demand without our authorization. Q. Were you aware that Ms. Pollard 20 received an e-mail from the Hawthorn Group that 21 referenced Crowds on Demand? 22 BY MR. CAHN: 23 Hold on. 24 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 25 Q. That's not accurate. You understand my question? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 106 1 A. I have no idea if -- I mean, if 2 there's a e-mail, I would like for you to show 3 it to me. 4 e-mail from Crowds on Demand. 5 6 Q. But I'm not aware of her getting a Have you reviewed documents in this case -- in this matter? 7 A. I've looked at some documents. 8 Q. When was that? 9 A. At a meeting with Mr. Cahn and 10 Mr. Becker. 11 meeting. I think the judge was at the 12 Q. Which documents did you review? 13 A. It was e-mails, some of the documents 14 15 16 17 which you shared with us today. Q. And when was that? Not what was discussed, but when did you do that? A. I don't recall specific dates. 18 think we may have met last Wednesday or 19 Thursday. I 20 Q. Following Ms. Pollard's testimony? 21 A. I don't know when she testified. 22 Q. Did you review her deposition 23 transcript or a rough draft? 24 A. Nope. 25 Q. I will show you what was marked last JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 107 1 week as Exhibit 20. I just have one copy. 2 you'll excuse me, I'll reach here. If 3 A. Okay. 4 Q. And for the record, I believe Exhibit 5 20 is HAWTHORN 1 Bates label. 6 party to this conversation, correct, this 7 communication? 8 9 A. Now, you're not a I'm not on the e-mail. But from what I see, it appears that Steven Cohen on October 10 3, 2017 at 1:04 p.m. e-mailed Suzanne Hammelman, 11 Adam Stewart or Swart, and that it looks like at 12 some point this e-mail -- Let's see. 13 The original e-mail between Mr. Cohen, 14 Ms. Hammelman, and Mr. Swart happened at 1:04. 15 And then at 1:27 on October 3rd, an e-mail was 16 forwarded to Yolanda by Suzanne. 17 Mr. Swart nor Mr. Cohen were on that e-mail. 18 19 Q. And neither What's Mr. Swart's e-mail address listed there? 20 A. It says "Adam@crowdsondemand.com." 21 Q. So, going back to that 2/21 meeting, 22 you see Mr. Faust make his statement. 23 that statement and that meeting, did you -- and 24 I mean immediately, did you take any immediate 25 actions to -- JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Following 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 108 1 A. 2 No. BY MR. CAHN: 3 You've got to let him finish 4 his question. 5 BY THE WITNESS: 6 7 8 Okay. Sorry. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. 9 That's all right. So, following that meeting, that 2/21 10 meeting and Mr. Faust's statements, did you on 11 behalf of Entergy take any immediate steps to 12 cancel Hawthorn's contract? 13 14 15 A. No, because I had no reason to believe Mr. Faust was telling the truth. Q. And this, obviously, we referenced 16 earlier in your testimony, not we, but you had 17 received similar allegations following that 18 10/16 meeting? 19 A. 10/16 of what year? 20 Q. 2017. 21 A. Well, that doesn't make sense because 22 this is October 3rd of 2017. 23 before that. 24 25 Q. Correct. So, this was And I'm just kind of referencing now 2/21. Okay? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE You had two 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 109 1 meetings at issue focused of this inquiry. 2 A. Okay. 3 Q. October 23 of 2017 as well as earlier 4 this year, February 21, 2018. 5 A. Okay. 6 Q. And so, you reviewed those e-mails 7 following October 16th. And I believe the date 8 is October 23 of 2017 -- we haven't looked at 9 that one -- where there was some Internet 10 discussion, so to speak, regarding people 11 allegedly being paid to attend and/or speak on 12 Entergy's behalf. 13 A. Are you talking about this one? 14 Q. Yes. 15 A. So, what was your question? 16 Q. My question was, when Mr. Faust stood Exhibit 31. 17 up, that was at least the second time that you 18 had heard that allegation; is that correct? 19 A. It was subsequent to this Sprinklr 20 note. 21 heard it. 22 23 Q. So, that was probably the second time I Let me show you what is already marked as Exhibit 45. 24 A. Okay. 25 Q. Then on March 23rd of 2018 -- and I JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 110 1 don't believe you're a party to this particular 2 communication -- but did Ms. Pollard on behalf 3 of Entergy take actions to see that the Hawthorn 4 Group, their invoices was facilitated and paid; 5 is that correct? 6 A. The document says, "Please process the 7 attached invoice for the Hawthorn Group. 8 know if you need any additional information." 9 Q. Let me And "process the attached invoice," 10 when Ms. Pollard sent that to accounts payable, 11 that means pay it, correct? 12 13 A. If she asked them to process the payment, I think -- 14 BY MR. CAHN: 15 No. Different. 16 related to that. 17 BY THE WITNESS: 18 That's not And if she asked them to 19 process payment, then it's fair to 20 assume she was asking that they be 21 paid. 22 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 23 Q. If you can, look at Exhibit 46, which 24 for the record is ENO-NOPS 319 through and 25 including 322. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 111 1 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 2 Q. If you just look at the last page, 3 322. 4 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 5 Q. I don't have very many questions. But 6 just following up on that previous e-mail, is 7 this Ms. Pollard submitting both to Bright 8 Moments as well as the Hawthorn Group an invoice 9 for payment; is that correct? 10 A. That's what the document states. 11 Q. Did Ms. Pollard ever discuss with you 12 -- In fact, let me just show you Exhibit 47. 13 This is an e-mail thread that I do not believe 14 you are on. 15 including 252. 16 four pages, and let us know when you're ready to 17 answer a couple of questions. It's ENO-NOPS 249 through and Take a moment to look at those 18 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 19 Q. Let me show you. Okay. These kind of -- 20 These all go together, Exhibits 48 and 49, which 21 I don't have an extra copy of. 22 23 24 25 A. Is this the same document, or is this something different? Q. It's something different, and I'll point it out to you. Are you ready now? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 112 1 A. (WITNESS SHOOK HEAD NEGATIVELY). 2 Q. Just for your reference, Section A has 3 a difference between the two, 1A. 4 A. Okay. 5 Q. The first exhibit is an e-mail thread 6 between Ms. Pollard and a few others, not 7 including you, that requests that a contract 8 change order, being 48, be edited to remove the 9 phrase "talk point and testimony" -- "Talk 10 points and testimony will be vetted," which then 11 results in a new contract change order for the 12 Hawthorn Group, Exhibit 49. 13 Mr. Rice? 14 15 16 A. The e-mail, yeah. Do you see that, "Talk point and testimony will be vetted." Q. And Ms. Pollard is telling others at 17 Entergy that she's asking for that line to be 18 removed, correct? 19 A. She writes, "Please delete the line 20 'Talk point and testimony will be vetted.' 21 was also general vendor discussion not intended 22 for the final contract." 23 Q. This So, you see the difference between the 24 result -- the difference between the two, 48 and 25 49, at that line that Ms. Pollard referenced in JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 113 1 the e-mail has been removed? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Did she discuss -- Did Ms. Pollard 4 discuss this with you? 5 A. Not that I recall. 6 Q. Tell us about an asset sweep. 7 does that work to an outsider? 8 9 How A. Unfortunately, I can't really give you a class on asset sweep. Probably my assistant 10 is better -- My former assistant is probably 11 better suited to give you a class on asset 12 sweep. 13 e-mail that there was something for me to 14 approve. 15 would have a line, approve whatever it is. 16 I think it might say it's been reviewed by 17 somebody previously, and then I would approve 18 it. 19 Q. But my experience is I will get an I would log into the system, and it And And, what, you just check "approved" 20 in a box, and then say "okay" or something to 21 that effect? 22 A. Pretty much. 23 Q. I will show you Exhibit 50, and that 24 is for the record ENO-NOPS 6009 through and 25 including 6014. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 114 1 A. Okay. 2 Q. My question is specifically on 6011. 3 A. And I apologize. This is too small 4 for me to make this out totally, but go ahead. 5 I'll try and answer. 6 Q. The top half of 6011, in looking at 7 it, you see the user ID? 8 "T. Guidro" and then "C. Rice," upper left-hand 9 -- sort of upper left-hand corner? 10 A. Where is that? 11 Q. (INDICATING). 12 A. I'm sorry, man. 13 14 The first one says, Show me. I need to upgrade my readers. Q. My question is, this appears to show 15 that you approved the Hawthorn invoice for the 16 power station on, let's say, 10/18 of 2017? 17 A. I see my name on it. I apologize. I 18 can't tell you whether or not this indicates I 19 approved it. 20 Q. Well, you see the word "action"? 21 A. Within the normal process at Entergy, 22 23 more than likely, I would have approved this. Q. Specifically, if you look in that 24 middle column, you see the word "approved" on 25 the same line as your name? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 115 1 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 2 Q. So, you approved -- This shows that 3 you approved the Hawthorn Group invoice, 4 correct? 5 6 7 A. It has the word "approved," yeah. approved it. Q. Ms. Pollard does not have or did not 8 have at the time authority to perform that 9 function? 10 correct? 11 I A. That's what we understand; is that She more than likely would have been 12 the first reviewer, and then she probably would 13 -- I don't know. 14 speculate. 15 Q. I can't say. I don't want to If we told you that's what she 16 testified to, she didn't have that authority, 17 she may have had access, but not authority to 18 approve an invoice, would you have any cause to 19 disbelieve her assertion? 20 A. I have no reason to dispute it. 21 Q. And then look at the -- Go to 6013, 22 second to last page. The typed-in narrative 23 there, I guess that winds up being typed in 24 scope. 25 could actually read it in that screen shot. Someone took the time to retype it so we JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 116 1 Where does that information come from? 2 A. I have no idea. 3 Q. That's not something you would type 4 in, correct? 5 A. Uh-uh (NEGATIVE RESPONSE). 6 Q. I'm sorry. 7 A. No. 8 Q. In the last page there, 6014, again, 9 do you see your name as having approved this 10 second Hawthorn expenditure on 2/19 of 2018? 11 you see that? 12 A. It looks like what appears to be 13 "Rice," and then under one of the columns, it 14 does say "approved." 15 16 Q. Do The column next to your name says, "approved," correct? 17 A. Yeah. Yes. Sorry. 18 Q. Then moving on, April 30th, Exhibit 19 52, if you take a moment to review that two-page 20 e-mail thread, which is for the record ENO-NOPS 21 5763 and 5764. 22 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 23 Q. On the second page, Mr. Stein sends an 24 e-mail to Ms. Cavell notifying her that he's 25 going to write a story, quote, about people JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 117 1 allegedly being paid to show up to utility 2 committee meetings to show support for Entergy's 3 proposed power plant, correct? 4 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 5 Q. Then he asked Ms. Cavell did Entergy 6 want to provide a response, correct? 7 A. He did. 8 Q. And you're a couple of days later on 9 April 30th, on the front page, 2018, your 10 position was to not "respond unless he provides 11 more details, and then I still don't know if we 12 should." 13 particular e-mail? 14 A. Is that what you wrote on that I wrote that. I wrote that because I 15 had no reason to believe anything in that story 16 was true. 17 should respond, because we had no knowledge of 18 anyone being paid, so why would we respond. 19 that's why I said, unless he provides more 20 details. 21 should because we couldn't really verify 22 whatever it was that he may have come up with. 23 Q. And that's why I didn't think we And And then I still don't know if we So, this is the third instance that 24 we've reviewed today that Entergy was notified 25 regarding these allegations, correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 118 1 A. Yeah. And if you see at that time, we 2 actually elevated it to people in the legal 3 department. 4 Q. 5 Take a look, if you could, at Exhibit 57, ENO-NOPS 5923 and 5924. 6 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). Okay. 7 Q. If you could, look at the -- I guess, 8 first, this is an e-mail thread. 9 sends a statement to you on May 4, 2018; is that 10 Mr. Ehrhardt correct? 11 A. Yeah. 12 Q. Where did Mr. Ehrhardt receive the 13 information for him to draft this particular 14 statement? 15 A. I have no idea. 16 Q. Did you have personal one-on-one 17 18 conversations with Malcolm Ehrhardt? A. That's possible, but I'm sure -- I 19 mean, I don't know if this was -- had been on 20 the news or not by this time. 21 know if he and I would have specifically spoken 22 about it at that time. 23 Q. I mean, I don't If you turn to the second page, first 24 sentence of that first full paragraph, it reads, 25 "Entergy New Orleans had no knowledge of JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 119 1 individuals or organizers of an effort to seed 2 an audience," period. 3 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 4 Q. And this is under your name, Charles 5 Rice, President and CEO, at least at that point, 6 correct? 7 8 9 10 11 A. This was something that Mr. Ehrhardt drafted for me to consider sending, I'm sure. Q. The sentence that I just read, is that true or false? A. I mean, we didn't -- I don't know if 12 -- Attempt to seed an audience. 13 have supporters there for us? 14 Did we want people there who would speak on 15 behalf of the power plant? 16 want people there who were knowledgeable of the 17 issues and who could articulate our 18 position? 19 Did we want to Sure, we did. Definitely. Did we Definitely. I wouldn't say we were attempting to 20 seed the audience. 21 support there. 22 identified as being in support of the plant to 23 be there. 24 25 Q. I mean, we wanted grassroot We wanted people who were And I understand that. just very straight forward. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE My question is Is the statement 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 120 1 that was attributed to you, at least on that 2 particular date -- 3 4 A. went out. 5 I don't know if this statement ever Did it? BY MR. BECKER: 6 7 Not attributed, just suggested. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 8 Q. The words on the piece of paper. 9 A. Look. 10 Unless you can show me that the statement went out -- 11 Q. I'm not asking you that. 12 A. I am telling you, and if you will 13 allow me to answer. 14 Q. Sure. 15 A. Unless you can show me that the 16 statement went out, then you would have to ask 17 Mr. Ehrhardt what he meant by that. 18 we -- I mean, I don't know if this ever went 19 out. 20 mean, what "seeding an audience" means to him 21 and what it means to me may be two different 22 things. 23 I mean, did I don't recall if it ever went out. Q. I And I'm not asking about whether it 24 went out. My question was just is that 25 statement true or false? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 121 1 2 A. And I am telling you I don't know what "seed an audience" means. 3 Q. So, where did Mr. Ehrhardt get the 4 information from so he could sit down and type 5 out this statement, assuming that's what took 6 place? 7 A. I mean, you would have to ask him 8 that. I mean, I don't know if he got it from 9 the news. I don't know if he spoke with people. 10 I don't know. 11 somebody on his team. 12 it. 13 Q. He could have got it from I don't know where he got But if it's a denial on Entergy's 14 behalf, Mr. Ehrhardt would not be in a position 15 to make his own unilateral conclusion as to what 16 Entergy knew, didn't know, did, or didn't do? 17 He would have to communicate with someone at 18 Entergy, correct? 19 BY MR. CAHN: 20 Matt, I think there are other 21 documents you have that show how the 22 statement came about. 23 BY MR. COMAN: 24 25 I'm just asking what he knows. BY THE WITNESS: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 122 1 I mean, I don't know if 2 Mr. Ehrhardt is a public relations 3 professional. 4 proactive. 5 don't know where he got it. 6 have seen something on the news. 7 Someone on his team could have been 8 following social media. 9 He probably was being I mean, like I said, I He could I mean, I'm not going to sit 10 here and speculate as to what Malcolm 11 knew and when or who he communicated 12 with. 13 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 14 15 Q. And then from this e-mail, you forwarded it on to Mr. Lagarde; is that correct? 16 A. That's what it looks like. 17 Q. And what did Mr. Lagarde say in 18 19 20 21 22 response? A. He said he liked it. In fact, his exact quote is, "I like it." Q. And then take a look at 58, which should be ENO-NOPS 5737 and 5738. 23 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 24 Q. In this e-mail thread, it looks like 25 it's the same statement, a draft statement from JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 123 1 Mr. Ehrhardt, but then it's circulated to others 2 on the Entergy team; is that correct? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Take a look at 59. 5 BY MR. CAHN: 6 Oh, wait. Let's just be clear. 7 That's not the statement -- the prior 8 statement, is it? 9 BY MR. COMAN: 10 It is. 11 BY MR. CAHN: 12 Okay. 13 BY THE WITNESS: 14 15 It is the same one. Okay. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: 16 Q. If you could, look at 59. 17 A. (WITNESS COMPLIED). 18 Q. And so, going back, 57 -- So, 59 is All right. 19 the statement again, but now, quote, in final 20 version that's going to be distributed; is that 21 correct? 22 A. It says, "See final version." But if 23 you notice that statement regarding the one you 24 were making a issue about, "Entergy New Orleans 25 had no knowledge of individuals or organizers of JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 124 1 an effort to seed an audience," that's not in 2 the so-called "final version." 3 4 Q. Exactly. This is an e-mail you sent, correct, Mr. Rice? 5 A. It appears that way, yes. 6 Q. And if you turn to that second page, 7 which is 5808, the sentence that we looked at 8 earlier regarding seeding an audience, quote, 9 unquote, has now been changed or was changed to, 10 "As we've stated previously, Entergy New Orleans 11 did not pay anyone to attend the council 12 meetings or direct anyone to attend public 13 meetings," period. Did I read that correctly? 14 A. You did. 15 Q. Who made that change? 16 A. I don't know. 17 Q. I'm sorry. 18 A. I don't know. 19 Q. All right. 20 A. It could have been a number of people. 21 Q. Was it you? 22 A. I have no recollection. I mean, I 23 would be speculating if I told you who I think 24 made the change. 25 Q. Okay. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 125 1 A. It also says, "Instead, we worked 2 tirelessly to encourage our supporters to take 3 time from their busy workday schedules to 4 testify on behalf of this project." 5 6 Q. And that was in the original version as well, correct? 7 A. Yeah, it was. 8 Q. So, that part was not changed, 9 correct? 10 A. No. 11 Q. Similar to the text message 12 communications that you had with Ms. Pollard, 13 did you text other Entergy employees regarding 14 the NOPS application or any related topic? 15 A. I'm sure I did. I mean, I know at 16 some point I'm sure I traded text messages with 17 several people. 18 Q. Have you ever exchanged text messages 19 with anyone regarding the general topic of 20 Entergy paying people to attend and/or speak at 21 public meetings? 22 A. I have no recollection of that. I 23 mean, if there's a text message that shows I 24 did, then I did, but I have no recollection of 25 doing that. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 126 1 Q. What telephone device did you use, 2 let's say, starting with, say, summer of last 3 year? 4 A. iPhone. 5 Q. The same iPhone? 6 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 7 Q. What version of that? 8 Yes. What version was it? 9 A. You'd have to ask my son. 10 Q. How long have you had it, ballpark? 11 A. I don't know. 12 don't know. 13 know it's not the latest and greatest. 14 Q. Maybe two years. Maybe longer. I It's probably -- I And as part of the aftermath of 15 various allegations and the City Council's 16 investigation, did you turn that telephone, that 17 device in to Entergy? 18 A. Twice. 19 Q. When was the first time, ballpark? 20 A. I can't give you the date. 21 Q. Was it -- 22 A. It's probably in the last six months. 23 Q. Did you before turning it in or at any 24 point review the phone yourself to see what text 25 messages you may have that would have been JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 127 1 relevant to this inquiry? 2 A. I don't think so. 3 Q. And when was the most recent time that 4 you turned the telephone in to Entergy? 5 A. I think it was last week. Let me go 6 back. 7 some point. 8 people that work for me all the time, depending 9 on where I'm at and what's going on. 10 I probably did look through my phone at Q. But I swap text messages with Sure. Can you explain why, except for 11 one text message that we will review in a little 12 bit, that there have been no text messages 13 disclosed to us? 14 A. You would have to ask the 15 technological expert that question. 16 assure you that I made no purposeful effort to 17 delete any text messages. 18 to. 19 Q. But I can I would have no need Did you have any issues with the 20 telephone, an accident, somebody ran over it in 21 the street, anything like that? 22 A. Not that I'm aware of. 23 Q. So, same telephone with no issues, 24 25 correct? A. Correct. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 128 1 Q. The text messages that we did review 2 so far, the ones that you had with Ms. Pollard, 3 would you have any personal issue with turning 4 over the actual spreadsheet of those text 5 message exchanges? 6 BY MR. CAHN: 7 Matt, that's being handled 8 through legal. 9 BY MR. COMAN: 10 I'm asking him. 11 y'all's position. 12 BY THE WITNESS: 13 14 15 I understand What you mean, "spreadsheet"? EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. What I showed you before is actually 16 words on a piece of paper that we've already 17 discussed. 18 technological printout as opposed to what we 19 reviewed. 20 producing that to us during this inquiry? 21 Matt, that's going to be 23 25 Would you have any issue with BY MR. CAHN: 22 24 I'm talking about more of a handled through legal. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. So, what is your personal view on JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 129 1 that? 2 A. On what? 3 Q. On whether or not you would allow us 4 to -- Why won't you give us the text messages? 5 BY MR. CAHN: 6 He's going to defer to legal. 7 And we've stated our position to the 8 investigators, including yourself. 9 10 EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. Is that accurate? Do you want to 11 defer to legal as opposed to make your own 12 decision? 13 14 15 A. I'm asking you, Mr. Rice. I am a lawyer. I'm deferring to legal counsel. Q. Were you interviewed as part of an 16 investigation conducted by Entergy's in-house 17 counsel? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. And who interviewed you? 20 A. I'm sure I spoke with Mr. Cahn. I'm 21 sure I had conversations with Mr. Brown, Tim 22 Cragin, and Brian Guillot. 23 that I spoke to in the legal department. 24 as the so-called "investigation," it was 25 probably Mr. Cahn. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Those are people As far 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 130 1 2 Q. And who was present during that particular interview session, if anyone else? 3 A. I think it was just me and Mr. Cahn. 4 Q. Let me show you a letter that's marked 5 as Exhibit 67. 6 A. Okay. 7 Q. This is a letter, I think a public 8 document dated May 15, 2018 on City Council 9 letterhead, as well as it appears to be signed 10 by all the current City Council members; is that 11 correct? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. And this is what I'll call a "hold 14 notice" or a "hold letter" addressed to you, 15 Charles Rice, Junior, President and CEO of 16 Entergy New Orleans; is that correct? 17 A. That's correct. 18 Q. What efforts did you take at Entergy 19 20 in order to comply with this letter? A. As soon as I got it, I forwarded it to 21 the legal department, I'm sure. 22 experience, they did what we do when there's a 23 litigation hold. 24 25 Q. Based on prior Besides whatever the legal department did, did you perform any functions yourself JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 131 1 besides forwarding it on to legal? 2 A. I mean, I followed our normal process. 3 I mean, I have e-mails that are on the system. 4 We have -- The system searches it. 5 know, based upon past experience, they hold the 6 documents for so long. 7 litigation was hold -- was put on, the legal 8 department did what they were supposed to do. 9 Q. Right. And, you I'm sure once the And my question was this: Did 10 you take this letter and then -- besides giving 11 it to the legal department and letting that 12 process take place, did you sit down, did you 13 type an e-mail to employees or have staff 14 meetings or anything along those lines where you 15 said -- 16 A. 17 That's not my -BY MR. CAHN: 18 19 Let him finish his question. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN. 20 Q. -- where you said, "Hey, look. 21 got this letter. 22 Z"? 23 A. I've I want y'all to do X, Y, and Well, that's not my job. 24 have been my job to do that. 25 been the legal department's job. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It would not That would have And I'm sure 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 132 1 once I received this, I immediately sent it to 2 the legal department. 3 BY MR. COMAN: 4 I have another exhibit, but I 5 need to go print it out. 6 take a break. 7 8 9 We need to (BREAK TAKEN) EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. I just have a couple more things I 10 want to show you. 11 still color photographs from the October 16, 12 2017 meeting. 13 question is basically this: 14 those individuals? 15 16 17 18 19 A. Exhibit 68 is a series of And as you look at those, my Do you know any of This one looks familiar, but I can't say that I know him. Q. Marrero. A. It's Mr. Hampton. He lives in Do you know him? I mean, he looks familiar. He just looks familiar. I can't 20 say that. 21 the Westbank, so I may have encountered him over 22 there. 23 Q. All right. I live on If I told you these 24 individuals or many of these individuals were 25 paid to speak on Entergy's behalf, would you JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 133 1 have any reason to disbelieve my assertion? 2 A. No. 3 Q. I will show you Exhibit 69 which is, 4 again, an un-Bates-labeled copy or document that 5 reads "September 17, 2018 Text Message 6 Communication." 7 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 8 Q. It reads, "Wendell Bugg to Charles 9 Rice. You made This Week with John Oliver in a 10 segment about astroturfing. Crowds on Demand 11 was hung out there," period. 12 that text from Mr. Bugg recently? Did you receive 13 A. Sure. 14 Q. And who is Mr. Bugg? 15 16 Did I pronounce it correctly? A. Let's see. One of my best friends 17 from college. We were in ROTC together. We 18 served in the 101st together. 19 while we were in the Army. 20 to one of my kids. 21 professional; former Vice President of Public 22 Relations and Governmental Affairs for Honda; 23 and later held a similar role at Toyota; and 24 then later held a similar role with Northrop 25 Grumman; and now lives in Washington, D.C. We lived together He's the godfather He is a former PR JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 134 1 Q. Where does he work now? 2 A. He is self-employed right now. 3 Q. What's the Invictus Group, and are you 4 5 involved in that entity? A. The Invictus Group is a company that 6 he formed where he has listed me on his roster 7 of professionals. 8 Q. And what type of company? 9 A. He does consulting. 10 Q. Is it a PR firm, public affairs? 11 A. I'm sure he does some of that with it. 12 Q. Do you know if Invictus Group has ever 13 retained, associated, or employed in any way the 14 Hawthorn Group and/or Crowds on Demand? 15 A. No, not that I'm aware of. 16 Q. What does the term "astroturfing" mean 17 18 to you? A. I had never heard of the term 19 "astroturfing" until this event. 20 I gave you a definition, it would be strictly 21 based upon whatever I observed during the 22 situation, I guess, which would be people paying 23 a crowd to show up. 24 Q. 25 Mr. -- So, I mean, if Did you watch the HBO segment that JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 135 1 A. No, I haven't watched it. 2 Q. I'm sorry. 3 A. I haven't watched it. 4 BY MR. COMAN: 5 6 7 Gentlemen. EXAMINATION BY MR. IBERT: Q. Mr. Rice, you said that Hawthorn, you 8 retained them to identify people who would 9 support the plant, but all the contracts 10 referred to turning out that support. 11 were just interested in the -- them identifying 12 supporters, why didn't you-all just pay for the 13 list? 14 A. If you That's an interesting question. Well, 15 we have a very small staff. 16 list of thousands, it would be very difficult 17 for us to have contacted all those people. 18 Q. So, if they had a Well, you would have been able to go 19 through that list, right, and double-check 20 versus the people that you already knew, 21 eliminated duplicates, and not waste time? 22 A. If someone had time to do that, sure. 23 Q. And it's your position that no one at 24 Entergy had time to make sure the supporters 25 turned out on their own? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 136 1 A. There were plenty of people that 2 showed up on their own. 3 you're talking about. 4 Q. I'm not quite sure what Are you saying the efforts of Ms. Toni 5 Green-Brown, Mr. Dunn, and the other Entergy 6 employees to get these people out there were in 7 vain and not effective? 8 9 A. No way, shape, or form am I making that statement. Those are three people. It 10 would be very difficult for them, considering 11 all the other things that they have to do, to 12 take a list of thousands and contact thousands 13 of people or hundreds of people. 14 15 16 Q. Did you know that the list was thousands of people? A. I never saw a list. But the Hawthorn 17 Group, if you look at their material, I think it 18 says they have approximately a quarter million 19 people that they can reach out to. 20 21 22 23 Q. Did they tell you how they were going to reach out to those people? A. I didn't have that conversation with them. 24 Q. Did you ever ask them? 25 A. No. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 137 1 Q. In your professional capacity 2 throughout your career, you've worked for groups 3 that measure performance consistently, correct? 4 BY MR. CAHN: 5 6 Can you clarify that question? EXAMINATION BY MR. IBERT: 7 Q. I mean, the Army measures performance, 8 right? 9 A. Sure. 10 Q. Do fitness reports -- As part of your 11 duties in the Army, you had to write the fitness 12 reports, correct? 13 A. 14 In the Army, they're called "OERs." BY MR. CAHN: 15 He's Navy, so be careful. 16 BY THE WITNESS: 17 OERs for officers. 18 19 20 21 I can't remember what you call it for NCOs. EXAMINATION BY MR. IBERT: Q. But there were reports that were written on performance? 22 A. Yeah. 23 Q. And you measured the individual versus 24 25 other people in a similar situation, correct? A. Sometimes there are goals that are JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 138 1 given. 2 Q. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 And you do that as part of your job at Entergy as the president, correct? A. I would evaluate people's performance, yes. Q. And you would evaluate contractors, correct? A. Depends on whether or not I was directly supervising that contractor. Q. Other employees within your 11 organization measured the performance of 12 contractors, correct? 13 A. Sure. 14 Q. And there was some kind of 15 understanding prior to engaging the contractor 16 as to how the contractor was going to be 17 measured, correct? 18 A. I guess in some respects that's true. 19 That doesn't necessarily mean that I would 20 necessarily lay out the performance measures. 21 22 Q. But someone at Entergy would lay out the performance measures, correct? 23 A. Sure. 24 Q. And that's part of every contract with 25 Entergy? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 139 1 A. I couldn't talk about every contract 2 at Entergy. 3 Q. Under what kind of contracts at 4 Entergy would Entergy engage a contractor and 5 not provide in the contract how Entergy was 6 going to measure performance of the contract? 7 A. I can't speak for the entire company. 8 Q. Under your direction, would you ever 9 have approved contracts that could not be 10 measured as to whether or not the paid-for 11 service was delivered? 12 A. I don't think -- I mean, you're really 13 talking in generalities. I mean, there are 14 certain contracts where there may not be a 15 performance matrix associated with it. 16 Q. Okay. 17 A. Establish a certain task, and an 18 individual could accomplish that task. 19 be just to provide information to someone. 20 could be to do research. 21 speak for every single contract that's ever 22 written by Entergy. 23 Q. It could It So, you know, I can't Those are, again, things that can be 24 measured, whether or not the research was, in 25 fact, provided on time, whether the information JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 140 1 is provided, right? 2 A. It could be evaluated. 3 Q. Measured? I mean, it was either 4 received on the date due or it wasn't received 5 at all, right? 6 7 A. That's a measurement. I don't necessarily agree with what you're saying. 8 Q. Well, how would you describe that? 9 A. There's a deliverable. 10 Q. In every contract, do you have 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 deliverables stated? A. contract. Q. I can't make a comment on every single I'm sorry. What kind of contracts don't have deliverables at Entergy? A. I don't know. I'm not familiar with every contract at Entergy. Q. But the ones that you would approve or 19 personally sign off on and approve for payment, 20 did any not have deliverables? 21 A. Probably not. 22 Q. Well, you said, "probably." So, in 23 what instances would you have approved for 24 payment and not checked or known what the 25 deliverable was? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 141 1 A. I mean, there are agreements where you 2 may have someone on retainer. 3 a certain amount of money every month. 4 there may be a month where they don't perform 5 any services, but you still keep them on 6 retainer. 7 Q. You may pay them And Now, you mentioned your belief that 8 the Alliance for Affordable Energy and other 9 groups were engaged in misinformation and 10 disinformation campaigns. 11 statement? 12 A. Is that a fair I wouldn't say it was a belief. I 13 said if you go and read some of the Advocate and 14 Nola.com articles, you can see misinformation 15 that's contained in the articles. 16 Q. What particular misinformation? 17 A. They said that subsidence in New 18 Orleans East was due to the operation of the 19 Michoud plant. 20 the Michoud plant had been responsible for 21 people having cancer in the area. 22 that the operation of the Michoud plant released 23 toxins into the air that were outside EPA 24 limits. 25 They said that the operation of They said They said that we were pumping JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 142 1 groundwater out of the area, and as a result of 2 that, it was causing subsidence, when in reality 3 the studies actually showed that the aquifer 4 from which the groundwater was being taken was 5 actually at a higher level than when the plant 6 started operating. 7 things that they were not putting out accurate 8 information on. 9 Q. Those are just some of the And you know it was inaccurate because 10 you reviewed the technical data provided to you 11 by engineers at Entergy, correct? 12 13 14 A. I had read some of it, and I had actually met with the experts. Q. As part of that regulatory hearing, 15 you presented -- or rather, the company 16 presented experts refuting those claims, 17 correct? 18 A. That's correct. 19 Q. And the Alliance and the intervener 20 put on experts that it claims substantiated 21 those claims, correct? 22 A. I don't remember every witness. I do 23 not recall there being a witness presented at 24 the evidentiary hearing which discussed many of 25 the technical -- or refuted the technical JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 143 1 2 information that we presented. Q. So, Entergy was able to present 3 accurate, technical information throughout this 4 process, correct? 5 BY MR. CAHN: 6 Present to who? 7 BY MR. IBERT: 8 To the City Council. 9 BY THE WITNESS: 10 Presented information based 11 upon science that was subject to or 12 could be peer reviewed by other 13 scientists, if they wanted to take a 14 look at it and review it. 15 EXAMINATION BY MR. IBERT: 16 Q. Was it accurate? 17 A. Yes, it was accurate. 18 Q. Mr. Coman asked you about Mr. Faust 19 speaking at a particular hearing. 20 those questions from Mr. Coman? Do you recall 21 A. Sure. 22 Q. And you stated that you did not 23 believe Mr. Faust and chose to disregard him, 24 correct? 25 A. I believe what I stated is Mr. Faust JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 144 1 showed up at a number of meetings. 2 meetings, Mr. Faust appeared somewhat erratic 3 and was not necessarily accurate in the 4 information that he was putting out. 5 paraphrasing what I said. 6 Q. In those That's He was accurate in his statement that 7 people were paid to attend meetings on behalf of 8 Entergy, correct? 9 10 11 A. That was revealed to me subsequently, yes. Q. On October 16th of 2017, you had 12 communications with Ms. Pollard. 13 that's the text messages about the effectiveness 14 of the turnout. 15 determine that that turnout was grassroots 16 support? 17 A. I believe How had you -- Did you We retained the Hawthorn Group to 18 conduct a grassroots effort. 19 know if I could answer it any different than 20 that. 21 supporters, and that's what we expected that 22 they would do. 23 Q. I mean, I don't We retained them to identify grassroot And you mentioned at the very 24 beginning of today that you had first seen 25 Mr. Ashford give a presentation? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 145 1 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). Yes. 2 Q. Where was that? 3 A. My recollection was Mr. Ashford had 4 done a presentation on the national political 5 landscape in the country at an Entergy meeting. 6 I can't recall which meeting it was, but that 7 was my recollection of him. 8 been on the presidential race. 9 BY MR. IBERT: 10 11 12 And it could have Thank you, Mr. Rice. EXAMINATION BY MR. LAWRENCE: Q. 13 service. 14 military. Mr. Rice, first thank you for your I did not know that you were former 15 A. Thank you. 16 Q. I knew that you were from here and 17 very much of this community, politically active 18 in the community. 19 correct? 20 A. 21 community. 22 Q. 23 24 25 That's accurate; am I I would say I was active in the You worked with the City at some point in time; am I right? A. say this. Yean, I did. But I didn't -- Let me I didn't work on Ray Nagin's campaign JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 146 1 before I went to work for him. 2 active, do I know people in politics? 3 I do. 4 Yes. 5 they're running for office? 6 7 So, politically Oh, yeah, Do I associate with people in politics? Do people ask me for their support when Q. Yes. Now, you're familiar with New Orleans East; am I correct? 8 A. Yes, sir. 9 Q. Did you ever live in that area? 10 A. No, I didn't. 11 Q. You're familiar with the area around 12 your plant; am I right? 13 A. Yes, sir. 14 Q. And you mentioned the fact that you 15 conducted surveys. 16 you conducted? How many surveys did you say 17 A. Two, maybe three. 18 Q. Two to three surveys? 19 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 20 Q. Is that citywide? 21 A. Two were citywide. I think one was 22 New Orleans East. 23 for this plant, it was probably two or three. 24 Yeah. 25 Q. And I may have done -- Yeah, And during your tenure at Entergy, say JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 147 1 from '09 forward, how many surveys do you think 2 you conducted? 3 4 5 6 A. Probably at least one yearly to see how customers were feeling about the company. Q. You were interested in the support for this particular project; am I right? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Everything was not in support for the 9 project. You wanted community support. How 10 much support did you seek in the area around the 11 plant? 12 A. Oh, a lot. Mr. Dunn spent a lot of 13 time in that area. 14 that area myself. 15 seeking support of the citizens of that area. 16 Q. I did several meetings in So, yeah, we were actively And when I mentioned -- Let me come up 17 with a specific area. 18 east of Bullard and south of the interstate, are 19 you familiar with that area? 20 21 A. Say east of Michoud or I'm not quite sure what area you're talking about, but go ahead. 22 Q. Do you know where the interstate is? 23 A. Yeah. 24 Q. Right. 25 And the interstate moving towards the river, moving towards St. Bernard? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 148 1 A. Yeah. 2 Q. And when I say, "east of Bullard," you 3 know where Bullard is? 4 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 5 Q. Bullard moving towards the Rigolets. 6 A. Okay. 7 Q. Towards St. Bernard. 8 that area? 9 A. (WITNESS NODDED HEAD AFFIRMATIVELY). 10 Q. And you are familiar with the people 11 12 You can picture who, in fact, inhabit that area? A. I have employees that live in that 13 area, or I had employees that lived in that 14 area. 15 I have friends that live in that area. Q. You identified supporters for the 16 plant, and you identified opponents to the 17 plant; am I correct? 18 A. I don't know if we necessarily 19 identified opponents. 20 community meetings, there were individuals who 21 would stand up and say they didn't support the 22 project. 23 24 25 Q. But as we would do You were actively seeking supporters for the plant; am I right? A. Oh, definitely. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 149 1 2 3 Q. And you identified people who were supporting the effort for the plant? A. Yeah. We would ask people if we went 4 to a community meeting, if we had a community 5 meeting, and people were willing to sign a 6 support card. 7 card. 8 people -- We would encourage people after the 9 meeting to go to the website. We asked them to sign a support We also had a website which allowed And I don't know 10 if "sign" is the right word, but you could 11 autogenerate a letter that would go to their 12 council person. 13 Q. You described Entergy as being a 14 Fortune 500 company having resources and 15 abilities earlier, did you not? 16 17 18 A. ability. Q. I didn't say we had resources and I said we were a Fortune 500 company. And you described the fact that -- 19 Well, you mentioned the fact that, of course, 20 you were going to see -- being a Fortune 500 21 company, you did a certain amount of research? 22 A. I did a lot of research. 23 Q. You did a lot of research. 24 25 Did you identify opponents to the plant? A. I will say it again. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE As we did a 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 150 1 number of community meetings around the area, to 2 include New Orleans East, there are people that 3 would stand up and speak and say they were 4 against the plant. 5 -- Sometimes after the meetings I'd actually 6 have a private conversation with those 7 individuals to find out exactly what their 8 issues were. 9 And often times I would have And sometimes Mr. Dunn, or it might be 10 Ms. Green, or it might have been Ms. Mercadel, 11 might have had a conversation with a person even 12 after I had a conversation with the person to 13 see if we could assuage their concerns. 14 Were we out there specifically saying, 15 "Oh, we're going to look into this community and 16 we're going to find Mr. Smith who is against the 17 plant"? 18 that. 19 Q. No, we weren't doing anything like So, nowhere within your organization 20 was there a list of individuals who opposed this 21 particular plant? 22 A. I don't think we ever generated a list 23 that said that this one, this one, this one, and 24 this one are against the plant, not at my 25 direction. I don't know if somebody else may JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 151 1 have done it. 2 direction, no one ever put together a list that 3 said that this one is for, this one is against, 4 not at my direction. 5 But I can tell you, at my Now, that doesn't mean that we were at 6 a meeting and somebody on my team may have been 7 writing down who spoke, and may have written who 8 was for and who was against. 9 could have happened, but that wasn't done at my 10 direction. 11 Q. That possibly At any point in time, did you come to 12 put together a list of people whom you thought 13 needed to be lobbied to see if you could gain 14 support for the plant? 15 A. I mean, there were meetings where we 16 discussed organizations that we would want to 17 seek their support and who were the leaders of 18 those organizations, who was the leader of a 19 neighborhood group. 20 But, I mean, yeah, we had a list of 21 neighborhoods throughout the city that we wanted 22 to contact people and see if we could go in, and 23 they would allow me or somebody from my team to 24 speak about the plant. 25 And then, you know, if there were JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 152 1 people against it, again, you know, we would -- 2 on occasion, I'm sure we would go speak with 3 those people to see if we can assuage their 4 concerns. 5 6 Q. Has any of that information ever been memorialized? 7 A. 8 don't know. 9 at my direction. 10 Q. Somebody may have written a list. I But it would have been -- It wasn't So, at the point in time that you-all 11 sat together and figured out who to go out and 12 talk to, everybody knew, or did you refer to 13 former meetings of people that had been 14 identified or things that had been said? 15 16 A. Yeah. You know, we have a list of the neighborhood associations in the city. 17 Q. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 18 A. And we try to know who the president 19 is of those neighborhood associations. 20 were people that we considered a leader in the 21 community for whatever reason -- For example, 22 the pastor of Greater St. Stephen's Church would 23 be considered a community leader, but we never 24 sat down with him. 25 If there The pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 153 1 Church would be considered a community leader. 2 We didn't sit down with him. 3 I think it's called "New Orleans East Business 4 Alliance" or "Business Group." 5 with three of their board members to answer 6 questions that they may have had about the 7 plant. 8 9 The leaders of -- I personally met But no, we weren't sitting there picking off a list saying, "Talk to Ms. Jones." 10 I mean, some of the people who we ended up 11 having to come speak at the meeting were people 12 who showed up at community meetings that we were 13 having throughout the city and said they 14 supported the project. 15 Q. You have a list of community partners. 16 Is that the right way to -- Is that how you 17 describe them? 18 A. I mean, if you're asking me do we have 19 a list of organizations that we are supporting, 20 sure, yeah, we have a list. 21 Q. And these are some of the people that 22 you asked to come and show up and speak at the 23 council meeting; am I correct? 24 A. And some did and some didn't. 25 Q. Some did, some didn't. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE But you did 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 154 1 2 ask them to come out? A. I didn't personally ask them. There 3 may have been one or two people that I had a 4 personal relationship with that I may have asked 5 to consider coming. 6 7 8 9 Q. You are -- were the CEO of this organization, correct? A. I was the President and CEO of Entergy New Orleans. 10 Q. And you had people who worked for you? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. And you had people who worked for you 13 or designated to do different things for you, 14 correct? 15 A. Yes, sir. 16 Q. You had people who, in fact, went to 17 the council where the council members were, in 18 fact, elected to speak to them to educate them 19 as to Entergy and what Entergy did for the city; 20 am I correct? 21 A. Yep. 22 Q. You had people who reached out into 23 the community to these community partners, to 24 the business groups, to people around the city; 25 am I correct? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 155 1 2 3 4 5 A. And sometimes I was the person doing that. Q. And you-all spent a substantial amount of money helping the city; am I correct? A. Do we contribute to organizations in 6 the city of New Orleans? Yes, we do. We 7 contribute to organizations that help to 8 eradicate profiting. 9 organizations that help to better the education We contribute to 10 system in this city, yes. 11 organizations that help improve the environment 12 around the city. 13 that help with Head Start. 14 Q. We contribute to We contribute to organizations I've seen the list. It's a 15 substantial list, and it's impressive. And 16 these are some of the people that you reached 17 out to get them -- to ask them to come and 18 support this effort, correct? 19 A. Sure. 20 Q. In that area that I described, east of 21 Bullard, south of the interstate, did you-all 22 spend a lot of money in that area or any money 23 in that area? 24 25 A. of money. I don't know what you consider a lot Are there groups that we supported in JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 156 1 that area? 2 Q. Yes. 3 A. Of course we did. 4 Q. And I understand that you-all reached 5 out to many, many businesses, business people 6 who you thought might be interested in 7 supporting the plant; am I correct? 8 A. Yes, sir. 9 Q. How many did you reach out to in that 10 particular area? 11 A. I can't give you a number. 12 Q. Can you give me any? 13 A. Huh? 14 Q. Can you give me any? 15 A. Any what? 16 Q. Any business you reached out to in 17 that area. 18 A. Like I said, I personally -- I did a 19 presentation to the Black Chamber of New Orleans 20 East. 21 maybe three community meetings. 22 presentation to -- what's the community group 23 out there -- ENONAC. 24 other homeowner associations out there. 25 with the New Orleans East Business Owners I did a presentation to -- I think I did I did a I did one to two or three JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I spoke 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 157 1 Association. 2 wrong. 3 And I may be getting the name I specifically recall sitting down 4 with Troy Henry. 5 even briefed Alden McDonald. 6 headquartered out there. 7 8 9 Q. He lives out there. I think I His bank is So, Mr. McDonald and Mr. Henry live east of Bullard and south of the interstate? A. I mean, I don't know exactly. I think 10 Mr. McDonald lives on Park Island, but his 11 business is headquartered in New Orleans East. 12 And I think Troy lives in New Orleans East. 13 not quite sure where. 14 I'm I went to the pastor of Mary Queen of 15 Vietnam Church, had a one-on-one meeting with 16 him. 17 Q. Was he a supporter? 18 A. I would say no. 19 Q. No? 20 A. And actually, we even did a meeting. And the bus -- 21 I can't remember if it was at the church. 22 recall at least one, maybe two meetings just 23 with the Vietnamese community. 24 25 Q. I And were they in favor of your installation? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 158 1 A. There were some people in there that 2 was supporters, and there were some people that 3 were not. 4 Q. You identified some supporters? 5 A. I'm sure my team did. 6 Q. Was there an effort to reach out to 7 the supporters by your team? 8 A. I'm sure we reached out to people. 9 Q. Who would have reached out? 10 A. Probably Mr. Dunn and Ms. Mercadel. 11 Q. This busload that was coming in from 12 New Orleans East, it was full of Vietnamese 13 people, right? 14 A. I didn't see the bus, so any statement 15 I would make would be based upon hearsay. 16 that's what I was told. 17 Q. That's what you were told. But And those 18 people sitting outside the chambers chanting, 19 were many of them Vietnamese? 20 A. 21 Vietnamese. 22 of them chanting were probably African-American. 23 Q. Some were African-American. Some were I would say probably the majority And you can't -- Can you name any of 24 the business owners in that area who support 25 your plant? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 159 1 A. In New Orleans East? 2 Q. Yes. 3 A. You're trying to pin me down. 4 apologize. 5 geography which you've laid out. 6 that there was a owner of a business right on 7 the same road with the Michoud plant that was 8 supportive. 9 gentleman whose name escapes me at this time. 10 apologize. 11 Q. I I'm not intimately familiar with the But I do know It was an African-American I I can't remember. The area immediately around your 12 plant, this area that I'm talking about, I'm not 13 trying to confuse you. 14 Chef Highway, down Michoud Boulevard, Alcee 15 Fortier. 16 population there; am I correct? 17 A. I'm talking about down I mean, there's a substantial I would disagree with your statement. 18 I think if you actually look at an aerial view 19 of the plant, I think the closest house may have 20 been almost two miles away. 21 22 Q. Two miles away? Michoud Boulevard Your plant is on -- 23 A. Right. 24 Q. -- right next to the old green bridge 25 there, isn't it? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 160 1 A. The bridge going to Chalmette? 2 Q. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 3 A. Yeah. Yeah. If you go across that 4 bridge, I think if you look to the left, you can 5 see the plant. 6 Q. If you go by land, right? Past that, 7 you've got to go by sea, launch you a boat, and 8 get to the Hotwater Canal, and you're there? 9 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 10 Q. I mean, there's some population around 11 12 it? It's just not heavily populated, right? A. I would say there are probably people 13 in St. Bernard Parish that are closer to the 14 plant than people in New Orleans East. 15 Q. But when it comes to the people in New 16 Orleans East and Orleans Parish, all right, 17 which is -- who are most of the people that 18 we're talking about right now, I mean, were you 19 lobbying people in St. Bernard to come in and 20 speak in support of the plant? 21 A. No. 22 Q. But you were lobbying people in 23 Orleans Parish to come speak in support of the 24 plant? 25 A. We were engaging and reaching out to JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 161 1 2 the community. Q. Yes. And the nearest of those who are, in 3 fact, in proximity to the plant would be in the 4 area that I'm describing, would they not? 5 A. Mr. Lawrence, I don't want to say yes 6 or no because -- I apologize. 7 me the geography. 8 but I'm not that intimately familiar with the 9 area. 10 11 12 Q. I know you gave I'm familiar with the area, And you're not that intimately familiar with the people in the area? A. I would beg to differ. I have friends 13 that live in the Rigolets. I mean, not the 14 Rigolets. I have friends that 15 live in Eastover. 16 where the tornado hit, which was not that far 17 from the plant. 18 NASA Michoud facility. 19 20 Q. Venetian Isles. I have employees that live I know people that work at the You were personally involved in 40-plus meetings; am I correct? 21 A. Roughly. 22 Q. And basically, you were personally 23 involved in working up and getting people to 24 come and support this effort; am I right? 25 A. Yeah. I was involved in the effort to JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 162 1 2 get people to come out and support it. Q. And I'm asking basically about the 3 people in the immediate proximity of the plant. 4 Did you know anything about them and how many of 5 them you got to support it? 6 A. Huh? 7 Q. How many of those people in the 8 immediate proximity of the plant did you get to 9 support you? 10 11 A. Mr. Lawrence, I can't tell you. BY MR. CAHN: 12 Mr. Lawrence, he's answered 13 these questions. 14 this has to do with the allegations 15 about Hawthorn's work. 16 I don't know what You know, I understand that 17 there are issues in New Orleans East, 18 but this has nothing to do with 19 whether or not Entergy or Mr. Rice 20 knew that Hawthorn had hired Crowds on 21 Demand without its authorization and 22 Crowds on Demand paid people to attend 23 two meetings. 24 -- 25 BY MR. LAWRENCE: So, I'm just going to JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 163 1 I'm asking a question. I mean, 2 basically, I'm asking him about the 3 people trying to bring in support. 4 The people -- I'm asking -- I'm trying 5 to get to whether or not any of those 6 people were, in fact, contacted by 7 him, by Hawthorn, by anybody 8 associated with Entergy. 9 BY MR. CAHN: 10 Well, if you want to ask him if 11 he knows that, I think he can answer 12 that. 13 this -- you know, who he knows in 14 Orleans East is not relevant to the 15 issue that we're here today to talk 16 about. 17 BY MR. LAWRENCE: 18 19 20 21 But I don't think -- I mean, That's your opinion. EXAMINATION BY MR. LAWRENCE: Q. Mr. Rice, do you know if Hawthorn was reaching out to any of the people in that area? 22 A. I have no idea. 23 Q. You mentioned VAYLA? 24 A. Huh? 25 Q. You mentioned VAYLA? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 164 1 A. VAYLA. 2 Q. Yes. 3 6 Do you know where they're located? 4 5 I think it's V-A-Y-L-A. A. I don't know where their exact office Q. And the comments around this being is. 7 war, all right, you mentioned the need for foot 8 soldiers; am I correct? 9 A. Yes, sir. 10 Q. And with your military background, 11 it's fair to say that you would understand that 12 soldiers have to be paid? 13 14 A. Are you asking me was I paid when I was in the military? 15 Q. Yeah. 16 A. Are you asking me that the United 17 States Government pays its soldier that serve 18 this country every day? 19 Q. Yes. 20 A. Yeah, the United States Government 21 22 23 24 25 paid us. Q. Do you know any soldiers who are not paid? A. That are members of the United States military, be it Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 165 1 Force, Marines, including the Merchant Marines, 2 I don't know of anyone that hasn't been paid or 3 don't get paid. 4 5 Q. Did you anticipate your soldiers being paid? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Why not? 8 A. Because that's not what we do, and 9 that's not something that we were in the 10 business of doing. 11 anticipated. 12 13 Q. That's not something that we You expressed the need to have soldiers; am I correct? 14 A. 15 sense. 16 campaigns, they talk about having soldiers. 17 mean, "soldiers" is used in a lot of different 18 ways and a lot of different terms. 19 Q. Well, I think that's used in a generic I mean, when people engage in political I You spoke of soldiers to your people 20 who were ordering people from Hawthorn, did you 21 not? 22 23 A. I beg to differ on your terminology. What did you just say? 24 Q. 25 yours. It's not my terminology. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE It was 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 166 1 2 A. No, that was your terminology because I didn't use the word that you used. 3 Q. You didn't mention soldiers? 4 A. Huh? 5 Q. You didn't mention soldiers? 6 A. I'm not talking about your use of the 7 word "soldiers." 8 It was a term you used. BY MR. CAHN: 9 He did not use the term 10 "ordering people from Hawthorn." 11 BY THE WITNESS: 12 That was it. 13 14 15 16 I never said those words. EXAMINATION BY MR. LAWRENCE: Q. You authorized and you signed off on money going to Hawthorn; am I correct? 17 A. I approved the contract, yes. 18 Q. And you approved an increase in the 19 contract for a certain amount of money, 20 depending upon the number of people they were 21 going to provide? 22 A. No. I approved the change order. I 23 will say it again. If there would have been one 24 person that showed up or 300 people that showed 25 up, Hawthorn would have been paid the same JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 167 1 amount of money. 2 BY MR. LAWRENCE: 3 I'm done. 4 5 EXAMINATION BY JUDGE JOHNSON: Q. Mr. Rice, I'm going to try my best not 6 to make this long story longer. That's my goal. 7 And I very truly -- And I said this to Cory 8 outside. 9 you. I have no intention of beating up on 10 A. I appreciate that. 11 Q. That's not my intent. 12 A. I've been around a while. I've been 13 beat up before in a number of different 14 environments. 15 Q. 16 I feel you, my brother. I do. I do. One of the things, though -- And I am 17 really impressed with the people who work for 18 Entergy, the people who we have had here and we 19 have interviewed. 20 impressed with them. 21 dedication, with their knowledge, with their 22 belief in Entergy and truly in the values of 23 Entergy. 24 all have shared, and I'm impressed with that. 25 I mean, to a person, I'm I'm impressed with their And to a person, I would think, they You are 101st -- JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 168 1 A. Yes, sir. 2 Q. -- Airborne? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. I shared with the folks here, and I'll 5 share with you. 6 wasn't. 7 commission in the Army, and I turned it down. 8 just wasn't brave enough. 9 you. 10 11 12 I wasn't brave enough, I Air Force. A. Air Force. I had a I Now, I'm older than If I had to do it again, I would probably go in the Air Force. Q. Well, I was there in the middle of the 13 war, and so that was part of my decision to turn 14 it down. 15 A. I hear you. I totally understand. My 16 dad served in the Army also. He actually served 17 in Vietnam and is now a disabled vet as a result 18 of it. 19 Q. I had a few hours in Saigon. When we 20 were getting out of Saigon -- I had a few hours 21 there. 22 that. 23 Yeah, but I wasn't brave enough for We've had a lot of conversation here 24 about a lot of things. One of those things, 25 from my perspective, has been Entergy's ability JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 169 1 to preserve information. 2 I've heard is that some things happen 3 automatically with Entergy in preserving 4 information. 5 And one of the things That is, is that e-mails are 6 automatically destroyed. That may be the wrong 7 word. 8 servers for a period of time, and then they 9 automatically are -- I'm going to use "erased." 10 That may not be the right word, but they're no 11 longer there. Or they're only kept on your server or 12 A. I think they roll off the system. 13 Q. But then there are also historical 14 documents. 15 put it differently. 16 the ability to, but the necessity to preserve 17 historical documents? This is what I was told. Well, I'll Entergy has a -- not only 18 A. For example, regulatory filings, sure. 19 Q. Because that would probably be as 20 regards other kinds of bodies that look across 21 Entergy in terms of Entergy's compliance with 22 other bodies, with, like you just said, 23 regulatory bodies? 24 25 A. I have no reason -- Yeah, that's probably accurate. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 170 1 Q. I would also think -- And you can 2 correct me too if I'm wrong. But in terms of an 3 entity like Entergy, you as an entity, you want 4 to preserve your own history. 5 able to look backwards at this corporation in 6 terms of its corporate history. 7 you preserve certain information. 8 accurate? You want to be And to do so, Would that be 9 A. That's probably accurate. 10 Q. And a thing like NOPS, because of the 11 nature of NOPS and the size of this thing now, 12 would be something that you would want to 13 preserve information around, historical 14 documents, again, for the history of Entergy? 15 16 A. I am sure there are certain things that we did retain. 17 Q. 18 difficulty. 19 accusatorial, but a difficulty believing that 20 all of the information that surrounds NOPS is 21 not available for whatever the reason, but is 22 not available. 23 A. My whole point here is that I have a And I'm not accusing -- This is not That's a difficulty I have. I mean, I don't -- I wasn't 24 participating. I didn't participate in the 25 document production from the aspect of combing JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 171 1 2 the documents. Q. We have 14,000 employees. That's an interesting point. 3 Sometimes I compare stuff that's not necessarily 4 comparable. 5 ran only had around 220 staff, but it was a 6 state entity. 7 information because it was a state entity and I 8 had to. 9 I ran an entity, but the entity I And as a result, I preserved You made a reference, though, to the 10 fact that you received on a daily basis hundreds 11 of e-mails? 12 A. Sure. 13 Q. When I ran this entity, I had 14 assistance. 15 for me, including people who made sure that I 16 wasn't missing information like e-mails. 17 this was a decade ago, I guess, a little less 18 than that. 19 So, they made sure that even if I didn't open 20 the e-mail that was important, someone else 21 would. 22 A. I had people who worked around and Now, But I was not missing information. Did you have a person like that? I mean, I had an assistant. But I 23 think if y'all interviewed Ms. Raymond, she 24 probably told y'all that I like to read my own 25 e-mails. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 172 1 Q. Well, I hear that. 2 A. And on top -- Hold on. And on top of 3 that, I returned all my own phone calls. 4 a customer called with a issue, it was important 5 enough for them to call me, then I wanted to 6 call them back. 7 and they took time out of their day and it was 8 important enough for them to send me an e-mail, 9 I wanted to respond. 10 read all my e-mails. 11 So, if If a customer sent an e-mail So, I read -- I probably Now, there may be some that come in 12 here that I knew were junk that I may not have 13 given but a cursory review. 14 Ms. Raymond, you know, if there was something 15 that she thought I may have missed, she would 16 tell me. 17 18 Q. There was a Kim? But yeah, I'm missing a name. Maybe Kim Raymond or Kim -- 19 A. Yeah. So, Kim Mitchell was my -- 20 Q. Kim Mitchell. 21 A. -- assistant at one point. 22 Q. And then she left? 23 A. She got promoted. 24 Q. She got promoted. 25 A. And still worked for Entergy New JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 173 1 2 3 4 5 Orleans. Q. And then Karen took over. Yes. And she took over months or so ago? A. I don't know if it was months. probably a year. It was It might have been a year. 6 Q. Maybe a year. 7 A. Maybe a little more or a little less. 8 Q. You had -- When you were actually 9 10 11 president and CEO, you had those direct reports. Who all was a direct report to you? A. So, that would be Tara, Kim, Gary, 12 Toni. And it changed in some respects. 13 point, Brian Washington as well as Sandra 14 Hickman. 15 Although, you know, they weren't technically a 16 part of the organization, they did work for me 17 because we operate in a matrix environment. 18 At one I talked about Gary, Seth Cureington. That would have included Yolanda and 19 Orlando Tyler as well as Dennis Dawsey, Melonie 20 Stewart, and Tad Patella, oh, and as well as the 21 gas operations, which would have been Michelle 22 Bourg. 23 Q. I do strange things sometimes, 24 Charles. Mr. Rice, I do strange things. 25 is my own strangeness. This I read strange stuff. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE I 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 174 1 read the Art of War. 2 of War? 3 4 5 A. Did you ever read the Art I didn't finish it. I bought it, but I didn't finish it. Q. Interesting book in terms of 6 explaining tactics and stuff. I also in terms 7 of this looked at entergy.com's website. 8 you familiar with entergy.com's website? Are 9 A. Sure. Yeah. 10 Q. It has an area there that is shared 11 values and ethics. 12 for instance. I'm going to read you some of 13 what it says. This is Values & Ethics. 14 from the website. 15 to a system of shared values to guide 16 interactions of our owners, customers, 17 employees, and communities. 18 It says, "Values & Ethics," "At Entergy, we are committed "These values are: 19 a safe and healthy life. 20 and inclusive work culture. 21 spirit. 22 business. 23 with respect. 24 ways. 25 A. This is Create and sustain Cultivate a diverse Possess a winning Focus on our customers. Grow the Be active team players. Treat people Aggressively look for better Take actions to achieve results." Above all, act -- JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 175 1 2 Q. "Above all, act with integrity." Say it. 3 A. To act with integrity. 4 Q. Say it all. 5 A. Act with integrity. 6 Q. "Above all, act with integrity." 7 "Above all" -- That's the last thing. 8 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 9 Q. Your CEO, I'm going to mispronounce 10 his name, but I always do, Leo Denault. 11 A. Denault. 12 Q. Is that a correct pronunciation? 13 A. Denault. 14 Q. I'm reading him. He said, "Our 15 commitment to integrity, to community service, 16 to ethics beyond compliance and doing the right 17 thing, even if it is hard or uncomfortable, will 18 never change." Do you agree with that? 19 A. I agree. 20 Q. Would it be fair then to say, Charles 21 -- I'm sorry. 22 say -- 23 A. You can call me Charles. 24 Q. And you can call me Calvin. 25 Mr. Rice, would it be fair to On October 16, 2017, did ENO conduct itself in a JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 176 1 2 fair and honest fashion? A. Can you say that? I would tell you that the employees of 3 Entergy New Orleans conducted themselves in a 4 fair and honest fashion. 5 that acted outside of the values that we 6 typically hold. 7 there was anyone on my team or myself who was 8 aware of that, I assure you, I would have 9 resigned before I got fired. 10 fired. 11 have resigned. We had a contractor And I can tell you this. If I would have got But before I even got fired, I would 12 Q. I believe that. 13 A. And I can tell you, any one of my 14 employees probably would have done the same 15 thing because we know the actions that that 16 group took would have been an offense that was 17 against the values of the company and would have 18 resulted in someone being terminated. 19 Q. So, Charles, would it be fair to say 20 that on October 16, 2017, when people were paid 21 by ENO to sit in the council chambers and paid 22 to speak, ENO's fundamental commitment to 23 integrity and ethics changed? 24 25 A. First of all, people were not paid by Entergy New Orleans. It's my understanding JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 177 1 people were paid by Crowds on Demand. 2 back to my same point. 3 my team was aware that anyone was being paid to 4 appear on behalf of Entergy New Orleans. 5 And I go Neither I nor anybody on And I will say it again. If I had 6 authorized that or anyone on my team had 7 authorized that, I would not be working for this 8 company at this particular time. 9 step further and say I would have resigned 10 11 12 13 Now, going a because I know I would have been terminated. Q. And the money that Crowds on Demand used came from Hawthorn, correct? A. As best -- We didn't have a direct 14 relationship with them, so it would have had to 15 come from Hawthorn. 16 17 Q. And the money that Hawthorn used came from ENO? 18 A. We paid Hawthorn. Yes. 19 Q. Your CEO says -- and I'm quoting again 20 -- "It is a culture of integrity where our 21 employees are trusted to take the right actions, 22 even when there are no rules." 23 that? 24 25 A. Yeah. You agree with Let me go back one part. So, you were a military officer? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 178 1 Q. No, I wasn't. I was -- I couldn't go 2 in the Air Force as an officer because I turned 3 down the commission. 4 A. Well, as a officer in the United 5 States Army, which I became at the age of 21, 6 you have two things. 7 things in life, your integrity and your word. 8 And that's the environment that I was brought up 9 in, and that is what my parents taught me. 10 You actually have two So, again, acting with integrity is 11 extremely important. 12 teach my kids. 13 If I or anyone on my team had acted in 14 compromising integrity, I wouldn't be sitting 15 here today, nor would they still be employed by 16 the company. 17 It's the same thing that I So, I'll say it one more time. So, for me as a person, integrity is 18 foremost and utmost. 19 you about my son who is named after me. 20 don't want to disparage my name, let alone my 21 father's name and put my son in a position where 22 he would suffer because of my actions. 23 Q. And I think I shared with So, I On Wednesday, I mentioned this off the 24 record. On Wednesday, at the end of our 25 conversations with Ms. Pollard, I had a JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 179 1 meltdown. 2 reasons I got upset is because of what you just 3 said; that is, my integrity was questioned and I 4 got very upset. 5 I got really upset. And one of the So, I can understand when you sit here 6 right now and be upset because the overall-ness 7 of this has been a question of your integrity. 8 I can truly understand that. I really can. 9 When I said this thing just now about 10 your CEO's comment and it ended with "even when 11 there are no rules," the City Council doesn't 12 have any rules that say you cannot pay people to 13 come to a meeting and sit in their room; isn't 14 that correct? 15 can't; isn't that correct? 16 you broke a rule that -- So, I take it there is 17 no rule? 18 A. There's no rule that says you Now, if it is, then I am -- You know, Judge, I -- Yes, I 19 did work in city government. 20 familiar with every single part of the New 21 Orleans city code, but I would have to probably 22 agree with your statement. 23 Q. I'm not intimately Because honestly, I don't know for a 24 fact that there are no rules that say that. 25 I assume there are no, in fact, rules that say JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE But 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 180 1 you cannot pay people to come to a counsel 2 hearing and sit in the room. 3 assumption I make. 4 That's an I also assume there are no City 5 Council rules that say that you can't pay people 6 to come to a microphone and speak. 7 assumption I make. 8 A. I'm not aware of any. 9 Q. All right. 10 That's an I'm not aware of any either. 11 One of the things I saw in your Values 12 & Ethics was this statement. "Your code of 13 ethics gives some guidance when there might be a 14 risk of noncompliance with the code of ethics." 15 Is that correct? 16 believe, in the code of ethics. 17 guidance. 18 might be a risk of noncompliance. 19 guidance, Charles? See, that's the statement, I It gives some It gives some guidance that there It gives 20 A. Yes, sir. 21 Q. And one of the things it implies or it 22 even says is that there are actions you should 23 take to be sure you are not out of compliance. 24 There are actions. 25 there are actions you should take when you're Investigate. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Research. But 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 181 1 outside of -- when you might be noncompliant, 2 might. 3 that accurate? 4 That's your code of ethics, Charles; is A. I mean, I'm not familiar with it word 5 for word. 6 from my website and that's what it says, I'm not 7 going to disagree with you. 8 9 Q. But if you're telling me you got that If I give Cory money to do something for me; and Cory gives money to Walter to do 10 that thing that I gave money to Cory to do; and 11 Walter takes the money and gives it to Judge 12 Alarcon; and Judge Alarcon comes forward, is it 13 conceivable, conceivable if I give money to 14 Cory, Judge Alarcon will happen? 15 conceivable? 16 A. Is that I'm not quite sure what you're asking 17 me. 18 whatever it was you asked Cory to do, if he 19 asked him to do it, then depending on the 20 Judge's ethics and constitution, he may do it. 21 I mean, just because there is flexibility in 22 rules, you also always have your own moral 23 compass and your own ethics and integrity. 24 25 If you're asking me will Judge Alarcon do And that's something that I think most people that I work with strive to do, is to act JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 182 1 with integrity and to act within their moral 2 compass. 3 And I think if you were to study -- 4 not to get on my soapbox here -- my career and 5 what I've done throughout my life, I've always 6 acted and done what I thought was the right 7 thing. 8 it being the right thing. 9 I've ever been in a situation where -- 10 Now, you may not necessarily agree with Q. But I don't think Sometimes, Charles, you make mistakes. 11 Sometimes that's just a part of doing. 12 mistakes. I make 13 A. People make mistakes every day. 14 Q. All the time. 15 doing. 16 A. It's a part of life. 17 Q. And in our profession, the legal That's just a part of 18 profession, there's always that piece that talks 19 about appearance, the appearance of impropriety. 20 There's always that piece. 21 we as lawyers are supposed to avoid, utmostly 22 avoid, is the appearance of impropriety, not 23 necessarily the doing, but the appearance. 24 Would you agree with that? 25 A. And the thing that I agree with that statement. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 183 1 Q. More than one person who was in this 2 room working for Entergy -- Let me back up for a 3 second. You play golf, right? 4 A. Yes, sir. 5 Q. You like the game? 6 A. Love the game. 7 Q. I'm going to be honest with you. I love golf courses. I 8 play. They're beautiful, 9 beautiful places to be, unless the people who I 10 go out with don't necessarily like for me to 11 come because you know I don't necessarily like 12 the game. 13 of that. 14 I like to be drinking, and I like all But people who play, they don't 15 necessarily play against each other. 16 against themselves. 17 golfers. 18 from another day on the same course. 19 time I shot 100, now I want to do 95, that kind 20 of thing. 21 themselves. 22 about golf? 23 A. 24 25 They play This is what I hear from They're trying to better their play But this So, they're playing against Would that be an accurate statement Depending on your perspective, it could be. Q. Well, who do you -- when you play JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 184 1 golf, are you playing against yourself? 2 A. Depends on who I'm playing against. 3 Q. Well, some people you got money up on, 4 and you want to beat them straight up. 5 A. It depends on who I'm playing with. 6 Q. I used to play with a little bat. 7 this is what irritated others. 8 with them. 9 would irritate. 10 I would play I would carry a little bat, and I I'd hit the ball with the bat. That's the kind of guy I am. 11 Do you play tennis? 12 A. I actually grew up playing tennis. 13 Q. And tennis, you're playing directly 14 And against someone, correct? 15 A. Uh-huh (AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSE). 16 Q. I mean, you got somebody on the other 17 side of the net you are playing against. 18 A. Yeah. 19 Q. And in tennis, you have this thing 20 called "unforced error," right? 21 unforced error in tennis? What's an 22 A. Depends on the sport. 23 Q. Well, in tennis, because they always 24 use it in tennis. 25 I love tennis. It could be -- That was an unforced error. I mean, I want to go to watch JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 185 1 the U.S. Open. 2 A. If somebody hits a good shot and you 3 hit into the net, and that could be because you 4 -- 5 Q. That's not unforced error, right? 6 A. I don't know. 7 8 9 You're going to have to explain to me what an unforced error is. Q. Well, when you're doing that lob, and it's perfectly situated for you to go left or 10 right or straight down the middle with it, but 11 it's perfect. 12 situated. 13 it, and it's going to be the winning shot and 14 you hit it directly in the net. Some people 15 call that "an unforced error." Would that be 16 accurate to say? It's in the air. You're It's perfectly there for you to do 17 A. I guess. 18 Q. Two people came here who worked for 19 Entergy, and this same conversation, at least a 20 lot of it we've had with you, we had with them. 21 And separately, they both called what happened 22 with Hawthorn, what happened with Crowds on 23 Demand, what happened with this thing that went 24 on from October 16th to March 8th, they 25 described it as an unforced error. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE That's how 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 186 1 2 they described it. A. Would you agree with that? I'm not sure what they meant by 3 "unforced error." 4 that, Judge, is there's no way, shape, or form 5 that I ever thought that Hawthorn retained 6 Crowds on Demand, nor did I ever think or ever 7 contemplated Hawthorn retaining Crowds on Demand 8 and paying people to show up at that meeting. 9 I mean, all I can tell you on That is not anything that I -- And I'm 10 assuming no one on my team anticipated that 11 could possibly be what they meant by an unforced 12 error. 13 Q. Did you ever tell any of those direct 14 reports you describe who directly reported to 15 you, did you ever tell any one of them or 16 Suzanne Hammelman or John Ashford not to take 17 the money we are giving Hawthorn -- not to take 18 a dollar of it and give it to anyone else to do 19 anything? 20 anyone at Entergy or outside of Entergy at 21 Hawthorn? 22 A. Did you ever say those words to Well, I only had one direct 23 conversation with Mr. Ashford where he made a 24 presentation. 25 conversations with Ms. Hammelman. I didn't have any direct JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE Third, the 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 187 1 contract specifically states that they were not 2 supposed to hire a subcontractor without our 3 permission. 4 So, again, I wouldn't anticipate nor 5 contemplate that they would go out and hire a 6 third party to pay people to show up at the 7 meeting. 8 occurred to me, never occurred to me that it was 9 a possibility, never occurred to me that it was 10 It's just something that never even in the universe of possibilities. 11 Q. So, the answer is no? 12 A. Again, I never had a conversation with 13 Ms. -- What's her last name? 14 Q. Hammelman. 15 A. Hammelman. I had one conversation 16 where Mr. Ashford did his presentation. 17 nobody on my team -- Or there was never any 18 meeting or never ever a discussion where any of 19 us even thought or contemplated paying people to 20 show up at a meeting. 21 me to have that conversation. 22 Q. And So, there was no need for I'm going to do something that the 23 people on this side the table are not going to 24 appreciate. 25 assuming they know that. I talked to John Ashford, and I'm Because this is how JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 188 1 Cal rolls. 2 I assume that. 3 I assume there are no secrets. And I was impressed with him. See, He's my 4 kind of guy. I saw him on the website, yeah, on 5 the website. I didn't see him beyond that. 6 I assume he's large in stature. 7 guy. 8 good story. 9 that country people like me do. 10 He's like me. But He's a country You know, he can tell a He can do all that kind of stuff And that's the guy I talked to on the phone. 11 And I looked at his -- And looking at 12 the website and the description of him, which 13 again, he's kind of described in that fashion, 14 he's well educated, very well educated. 15 that's his take. That's how he goes. 16 his personality. He is renowned in terms of 17 business. 18 renowned in terms of business. 19 But That's If you Google John Ashford, he's And he grew up with another guy, Nat 20 Reese. 21 two guys are movers and shakers across 22 corporations, across political entities, across 23 entities like Entergy. 24 and a shaker. 25 A. If you Google Nat Reese, I mean, these John Ashford is a mover Would you agree with that? I mean, I'm not that familiar with his JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 189 1 background. But if you said he's world 2 renowned, that's -- 3 Q. You know -- 4 A. -- or nationally renowned, then I 5 assume that to be the case, which is why I think 6 it would be fair for somebody to assume that he 7 would conduct himself appropriately, along with 8 other members of his organization. 9 Q. One of the interesting things that 10 have come out here is that what few, if anyone, 11 at Entergy actually did what I just said. 12 A. What's that? 13 Q. Google John Ashford, Hawthorn. I 14 mean, just do a little Google search. 15 so interesting in terms of the people we have 16 talked to that that hasn't come out; that is, is 17 that, well, we just out of caution, we looked up 18 Hawthorn to see what they were about. 19 talk to a person from Entergy who said they did 20 that. 21 answer is no, because you actually already said 22 no, you didn't. 23 Did you do that? A. I didn't. It's just I didn't I don't think -- The But he had done work for 24 the company previously and apparently had done a 25 good job. JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 190 1 Q. Did Hawthorn or any other entity 2 similar did this kind of work for ENO before, 3 specifically? 4 A. I had never hired Hawthorn. 5 Q. Well, no, not only just Hawthorn, but 6 any entity similarly structured as Hawthorn do 7 this kind of work? 8 A. To do community outreach? 9 Q. No. No. Get money from ENO to get 10 people to come to a council meeting and to speak 11 at a microphone, specifically, any entity ever. 12 A. Are you asking me if ENO ever paid 13 people to show up at a meeting? 14 question? Is that your 15 Q. I'm not -- No. 16 A. I'm trying to understand your 17 18 19 I'm not saying -- question. Q. For purposes of this question, I'm not asking that. 20 A. Okay. 21 Q. For purposes of this question, I'm 22 only asking, has Entergy ever in the past paid 23 someone like Hawthorn to do what you paid 24 Hawthorn to do? 25 A. To help get grassroots support? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 191 1 Q. You paid Hawthorn. The menu that Matt 2 went through, you paid Hawthorn to have people 3 come and have people speak. 4 terms of this question that you paid the people 5 to do anything. 6 do those things. 7 A. 8 respect -- 9 Q. 10 11 I'm not saying in I'm saying you paid Hawthorn to That's a fact, isn't it? No, it's not a fact. I give up. With all due If that's not a fact, I've got to give up. A. With all due respect, we retained 12 Hawthorn to do grassroots outreach. 13 pay Hawthorn or retain Hawthorn to pay people to 14 show up at a meeting. 15 was retained. 16 people in the community that would be supportive 17 of safe, reliable power, economic development, 18 all the things that we were trying to do to 19 better this community. 20 Q. We didn't That was not why Hawthorn Hawthorn was retained to identify I'm just going to leave it alone after 21 this. But if I have a point -- And in life I 22 have been pointless. 23 point is that what you gave a contract to 24 Hawthorn to do, Entergy had never done that 25 before. If I have a point, my And if Entergy had ever done it before, JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 192 1 2 3 tell me when those instances or instance was. A. Again, the contract was for grassroot support. 4 Q. Charles, the contract that you gave to 5 Hawthorn -- 6 A. It was to identify supporters. 7 Q. I don't care what it was. Have you 8 ever done that before with any entity whatsoever 9 other than Hawthorn ever, ENO ever doing 10 11 12 anything like that before in the history of ENO? A. I can't speak for the entire history of Entergy New Orleans -- 13 Q. I hear you. 14 A. -- which has been around for almost -- 15 I guess since the turn of the century. 16 BY JUDGE JOHNSON: 17 I guess I have made this long 18 19 20 story longer. I'm done. I'm done. EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. I just have a couple of follow-ups. 21 So, prior to the October 16, 2017 meeting, the 22 orange T-shirt photograph, Mr. Rice, that we 23 were discussing before, did you ever -- did you 24 or anyone else with Entergy ever use the phrase 25 "cascading outages"? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 193 1 A. Cascading outages? I mean, that was 2 part of the testimony that was filed with regard 3 to the need for the power plant to prevent 4 cascading outages. 5 Q. In fact, I think you referenced that a 6 couple of times in your December testimony, 7 cascading outages. 8 9 A. Does that sound familiar? My testimony at the evidentiary hearing? 10 Q. Yes, sir. 11 A. I'm sure I said that. 12 Q. And let me see -- Could I borrow your 13 stash right quick? 14 A. Sure. 15 Q. Oh, and real quick, the meeting was on 16 October 16, 2017. 17 starting in kind of August of 2017 between 18 Entergy and the Hawthorn Group. 19 that the contract was not executed until 20 Halloween, October 31st of last year, 2017, 21 would you have any cause to disbelieve my 22 assertion? 23 A. 24 25 We've seen the e-mail traffic If I told you If that's what the document says, that's what the document says. BY MR. COMAN: JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 194 1 Let's take a five-minute break. 2 3 4 (BREAK TAKEN) EXAMINATION BY MR. COMAN: Q. Going back on the record, Exhibit 68, 5 it looks like maybe the third page here, 6 Mr. Wood, this individual, you testified earlier 7 you don't know who he is, correct? 8 A. I don't know who he is. 9 Q. And this was a meeting that you 10 attended and observed speakers, correct? 11 A. I'm sure I was there. 12 Q. He used the phrase "cascading 13 outages." 14 he said it? 15 A. 16 17 Did you notice that at the time when No. I may not even been in the room when he spoke. Q. And Mr. Hampton, who's from Marrero, 18 you identified him earlier as somebody that you 19 recognize from somewhere. 20 phrase "cascading outages." 21 the time it occurred? He also used the Did you see that at 22 A. I have no recollection. 23 Q. And do you agree or disagree with the 24 following statement: "Astroturfing is a serious 25 threat to public discourse"? JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 195 1 2 A. I don't know what type of public discourse you're talking about. 3 Q. Public debate. 4 A. Let me say this. I would hope that no 5 one on the City Council made their decision 6 based upon how many people showed up at that 7 meeting on one side or the other. 8 that any politician, when he has to make a 9 decision, is basing that decision on whatever I would hope 10 evidence that's presented to them and based upon 11 what he or she feels is the right thing to do 12 for their constituents. 13 I don't know who made that statement 14 about astroturfing. 15 debate because I'm not a political science 16 professor, nor am I an expert in what 17 constitutes appropriate public discourse. 18 I don't want to get into a But I will just leave it with saying I 19 would hope that the council members that voted 20 for or against this project based their decision 21 on the information and evidence that was 22 presented and not based upon how many people 23 showed up at a meeting in favor of one side or 24 the other. 25 Q. Right. And I'm not asking for a JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 196 1 political science expert opinion. I'm saying 2 Charles Rice's opinion. 3 for here. 4 former, do you agree or disagree, quote, 5 astroturfing is a serious threat to public 6 discourse or public debate? That's what I'm looking The ENO president and CEO, although 7 A. Mr. Coman, I'll just tell you the 8 truth. 9 to answer. I don't think that's appropriate for me And I could be getting myself in hot 10 water one way or the other, but I just don't 11 think it's appropriate for me to opine one way 12 or the other. 13 But I will tell you and I will say it 14 again. 15 other places. 16 it's had on other things, but there are 17 politicians that pay people every election 18 season to come out and wave signs in support. 19 So, is that considered a detriment to public 20 discourse? 21 attempting to lie to people and feign their 22 support? 23 24 25 I'm sure this has occurred or occurs in I don't know what the impact that Is that considered where someone is That's not for me to say. BY MR. COMAN: Unless the investigators have any additional questions, this will JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 197 1 2 3 conclude Mr. Rice's sworn statement. We thank you for your time. [WHEREUPON THE SWORN STATEMENT WAS CONCLUDED] 4 5 6 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 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 198 1 REPORTER'S PAGE 2 3 I, Leslie L. Nicosia, Certified Court 4 Reporter, in and for the State of Louisiana, the 5 officer, as defined in Rule 28 of the Federal 6 Rules of Civil Procedure and/or Article 1434 (B) 7 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, before 8 whom this sworn testimony was taken, do hereby 9 state on the record; 10 That due to the interaction and the 11 spontaneous discourse of this proceeding, dashes 12 (--) have been used to indicate pauses, changes 13 in thought, and/or talk-overs; that same is the 14 proper method for a court reporter's 15 transcription of proceeding, and that the dashes 16 (--) do not indicate that words or phrases have 17 been left out of this transcript; that any words 18 and/or names which could not be verified through 19 reference material have been denoted with the 20 phrase "phonetically spelled." 21 22 _________________________ Leslie L. Nicosia, C.C.R. 23 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993 CHARLES RICE October 15, 2018 199 1 2 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. 3 4 I, LESLIE L. NICOSIA, Certified Court Reporter in and for the State of Louisiana, the "Officer" before whom this sworn testimony was taken, do hereby certify: 5 6 That CHARLES RICE, to whom oath was administered by me upon authority of R.S. 37:2554, did testify as herein set forth in the foregoing pages; 7 8 9 That this proceeding and 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; 10 11 12 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; 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 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; 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; 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 ______________________________ LESLIE L. NICOSIA, CCR Cert. No. 95004 23 24 25 JOHNS, PENDLETON, FAIRBANKS AND FREESE 504 219-1993