Michael William Aznaran — Testimony and Travel-Records Hearing
556 linesDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. EVERDELL:
MR. EVERDELL: Good afternoon, Mr. Aznaran.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Good afternoon.
MR. EVERDELL: How old are you, sir?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Thirty-seven.
MR. EVERDELL: Where do you work?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I currently work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection here in Manhattan at the New York/New Jersey HIDTA task force.
MR. EVERDELL: What is Customs and Border Protection?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It's a federal law enforcement agency that mainly works out of the land border seaports and airports around the United States.
MR. EVERDELL: And generally, what functions do they serve at the borders?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Basically, checking incoming either passengers or land border travelers entering the United States.
MR. EVERDELL: Did Customs and Border Protection used to be known as something else in the past?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It did, yes.
MR. EVERDELL: What was that?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It's actually made up of two legacy agencies. One was the INS, Immigration and Naturalization Service; the other one was USCS, U.S. Customs service.
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. And those are both now combined in CBP or Customs and Border Protection?
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. How long have you worked at Customs and Border Protection?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Since July of 2008.
MR. EVERDELL: And can you just describe the different positions you've held at CBP and your duties and responsibilities in those positions.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Sure. July of 2008, I entered the service. I went to the academy for about four months. When I got back from the academy, I was assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport, passenger operations.
MR. EVERDELL: Can you explain what passenger operations is?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Yes. It's considered what we call the core process. So any travelers that are coming into the United States at JFK, when they get off the plane from a foreign country, they have to go down to what's called an FIS, a federal inspection site. At that site, we have officers, uniformed officers, in booths that basically check the -- check each and every traveler, swipe their passports, and either admit them or deny them entry into the United States.
MR. EVERDELL: So are those the folks that are in the booths or the kiosks you show your passport to when you're traveling internationally when you arrive?
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. So how long did you do that job for?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I did that for approximately three and a half years.
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. And did you say which airport you were in?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: JFK, John F. Kennedy.
MR. EVERDELL: What did you do after that?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: At that point I was selected to go up to what's -- what used to be called PAU, passenger analysis unit. And more specifically, I was assigned to what's called RCLG, regional carrier liaison group.
MR. EVERDELL: Can you explain for the jury what the passenger analysis unit is and what the RCLG is?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Sure. PAU used to be mainly an intel center made up of several different functions such as narcotics, terrorism, and RCLG. RCLG, we were more or less liaisons that would communicate with airline and airport employees in foreign countries. And we would make recommendations to those airline employees if we basically found or noticed a particular passenger that would be on one of their flights coming into the United States that might have some kind of an issue being admitted into the United States. We would then, if we did find a passenger such as this, we would recommend to that airline to do what we call an offload. So it's just a recommendation to that airline saying, If this passenger does travel on your airline into the United States, there is either a high probability or a certainty that they will not be admitted, be able to be admitted into the United States. We recommend they go to the closest embassy and get their issue figured out there.
MR. EVERDELL: How long did you do that work for at CBP?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Roughly four and a half years.
MR. EVERDELL: And did you have a position after that?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I did. In 2015, I was promoted to first line supervisor, at which point I was then placed back into passenger operations.
MR. EVERDELL: And that's what we discussed before?
MR. EVERDELL: This time you were a supervisor?
MR. EVERDELL: I see. And what airport were you working there?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Same airport, John F. Kennedy International.
MR. EVERDELL: And is that your current position?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It is not.
MR. EVERDELL: What position did you hold after that?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: So in April of 2018, still as a supervisor, I was selected to be a task force officer with the New York/New Jersey HIDTA task force.
MR. EVERDELL: What's HIDTA?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: HIDTA is H-I-D-T-A, high intensity drug trafficking area.
MR. EVERDELL: What does that mean? What did you do for HIDTA? What's the mission?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: So I'm still currently assigned to HIDTA. My function is basically to act as a liaison between my agency, Customs and Border Protection, and the roughly 30 to 35 other law enforcement agencies that also have representatives at HIDTA.
MR. EVERDELL: And how long have you held that post?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Since April of 2018, so almost four years now.
MR. EVERDELL: And that's your current position?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct.
MR. EVERDELL: All right. Mr. Aznaran, does Customs and Border Protection keep records on people that are entering or exiting the United States?
MR. EVERDELL: And where is that information stored?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It's stored in the system that we call TECS, T-E-C-S, Treasury Enforcement Communication System.
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. And are you familiar with the TECS system?
MR. EVERDELL: Can you just describe what the TECS system is.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It's a -- it's a law enforcement system which acts as a platform. It collects data from several other systems and kind of compiles it into one system that CBP -- we own and control TECS. So we are able to utilize all that information to see who's coming into or possibly departing the United States. We also have access to NCIC, National Crime Intelligence Center. So we can see if people have warrants for their arrest, missing persons, things of that nature.
MR. EVERDELL: So you mentioned that TECS pulls information from lots of different sources; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: What sorts of information does the TECS system store from these sources?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: You have -- you have travel -- I'm sorry, international travel records, you have passengers' travel documents, such as passports and visas. We are able to do queries of addresses, vehicles, license plates. NCIC, as I mentioned, already warrants missing persons, stolen vehicles.
MR. EVERDELL: And does the information you just mentioned include also border-crossing information?
MR. EVERDELL: Now, with respect to border-crossing information, what kinds of information are stored in the TECS system?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: As far as border crossing?
MR. EVERDELL: Yes, specifically border crossing.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: So within the aviation and vessel or, more commonly known as cruise line information, you would normally have somebody's full name, their passport number that they are using to travel, what location they are traveling from, what location they are traveling to, if they are traveling into an airport, which airport they are traveling, the site code.
(Continued on next page)
BY MR. EVERDELL:
MR. EVERDELL: And just to be clear, when I refer to border crossing, what does that mean to you?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: That, it could mean either any international traveler coming into the United States at any international airport, seaport, or land border along the Mexican or northern border of Canada.
MR. EVERDELL: And the information you just listed is stored in the TECS system for those passengers that are entering through ports of entry; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: How far back do the border crossing records go in the TECS system?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It's hard to say. In my experience, I have not seen any border crossings any earlier than roughly the early '90s, mid '90s.
MR. EVERDELL: And how does the border crossing information that is stored in the TECS system get input into that database?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: So, there is another system, it's called APIS, Advanced Passenger Information System, and essentially what happens is international airlines or any airline that has international flights coming into or departing the United States, they're required to submit their manifest to us. The manifest gets loaded into APIS, which is then linked to text, and that's how we're able to see that information.
MR. EVERDELL: What sort of information is contained in the manifest from the airlines?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Generally, the name of the passenger, their date of birth, the document that they're using, whether it's a passport or a green card, the flight information, the carrier code, the flight number, where they're traveling from and where they're traveling to.
MR. EVERDELL: Is there any information in the TECS system about a border crossing that gets supplied by those immigration officials we talked about at the primary immigration line as opposed to the airlines?
MR. EVERDELL: So the people who check you in through the kiosks, is there any information that gets input from there?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Not by the officers themselves. Once a passenger is processed, there are certain fields that will be automatically updated.
MR. EVERDELL: But those fields get updated once they go through the immigration line; right?
MR. EVERDELL: That doesn't come from the airlines?
MR. EVERDELL: For the information that comes from the airlines, the information you mentioned, how soon after the flight takes off does that information get input into the TECS system?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It's supposed to be what's called the securing of flight doors. So once the door to the aircraft is shut, the information or the manifest is supposed to be sent to APIS.
MR. EVERDELL: So the manifest information is supposed to reflect the people who are on board at the time the doors are shut at the gate?
MR. EVERDELL: Before wheels up, I guess?
MR. EVERDELL: All right. And how soon after the traveler passes through the immigration line at the kiosk is that information populated into the TECS system?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question.
MR. EVERDELL: You mentioned that certain information gets populated after the traveler goes through the immigration line at, say, the airport they're coming into; right?
MR. EVERDELL: How soon after the passenger travels through that immigration line does that information hit the system, hit the TECS system?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It should be at that same time.
MR. EVERDELL: And is it the regular practice of customs and border protection to keep this type of border crossing information in its records in the TECS system?
MR. EVERDELL: Is the text database searchable?
MR. EVERDELL: And what fields can you search with?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: You could search by name, last name, first name. You could search by a combination of last name, first name, and date of birth. You could search by a passport number. You could search by a visa number.
MR. EVERDELL: And those names you mentioned, those are the names of the travelers; right?
MR. EVERDELL: So can you search by a particular traveler?
MR. EVERDELL: Can you limit the search to a particular timeframe?
MR. EVERDELL: Now, if you search the TECS system for the border crossing records for a particular traveler, what does the database generate?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It would generate basically any border crossings or encounters for that particular person within that timeframe. It would basically be like rows of information for each encounter or border crossing.
MR. EVERDELL: And it would be for whatever time period you put in for; right?
MR. EVERDELL: And then that report contains the information that you had been discussing?
MR. EVERDELL: Are those reports generated in the normal course of CBP's regularly conducted activity?
MR. EVERDELL: Mr. Aznaran, did there come a time when you were asked to search the TECS system for certain border crossing records related to this case?
MR. EVERDELL: And were you asked to search for certain travelers?
MR. EVERDELL: How many travelers were you asked to search for?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Three.
MR. EVERDELL: And do you know the names of those travelers without telling me the name?
MR. EVERDELL: So I want to show you first what is admitted under seal as Government Exhibit 12.
MR. EVERDELL: With the Court's permission, I'll show it just to the Court and the deputy and the witness. GX12, please, under seal.
MR. EVERDELL: Mr. Aznaran, do you see that on your screen, that document?
MR. EVERDELL: That's a document that's already in evidence under seal as Government Exhibit 12. Do you see the name on that document? Just a yes or no.
MR. EVERDELL: I'm going to refer to that person as Jane and you should, as well. All right?
MR. EVERDELL: Was Jane one of the people whose border crossing records you were asked to search for?
MR. EVERDELL: We can remove that. Now I want to bring up what's also in evidence already under seal as Defendant's Exhibit LV4. With the Court's permission, just show it to the Court, the deputy, and the witness.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
MR. EVERDELL: Mr. Aznaran, do you see that document?
MR. EVERDELL: You're looking at a document already in evidence under seal as LV4. Do you see the name on that document? Yes or no.
MR. EVERDELL: I'm going to refer to that person as Kate, and you should, as well. All right?
MR. EVERDELL: Was Kate one of the people whose border crossing records you were asked to search for?
MR. EVERDELL: All right. We can bring that down.
MR. EVERDELL: Are you also familiar with the name, Annie Farmer?
MR. EVERDELL: Was Annie Farmer one of the people whose border crossing records you were asked to search for?
MR. EVERDELL: So were Jane, Kate, and Annie Farmer the records you were asked to search for in the TECS system?
MR. EVERDELL: Were you asked to search for the records in a particular date range?
MR. EVERDELL: What was that date range?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It was from January 1st, 1994, to December 31st, 2010.
MR. EVERDELL: Did you perform those searches?
MR. EVERDELL: And when did you conduct that search?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: A few days ago.
MR. EVERDELL: Did the TECS system generate the three reports from those searches?
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, at this time, I think we may need to have our sidebar.
JUDGE NATHAN: I'll give the jurors their mid afternoon break. We'll resume in about 15 minutes. Thank you.
(Jury not present)
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay. Mr. Everdell.
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, the exhibit is marked for identification as MA1, and I'll hand up a paper copy to the Court, and I believe the government has a copy, but I have another one for them, as well.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay. I'll hear the objection.
MS. POMERANTZ: Thank you, your Honor. Just briefly, the question posed to the defense is what is the relevance of these records, and in particular, we're talking about victim travel records that go over 15 years of victim travel records that extend well beyond the period charged in the indictment. And so, we would ask for a proffer of relevance for the admissibility of such extensive travel information, private information of the victims.
JUDGE NATHAN: So no objection within the charged timeframe?
MS. POMERANTZ: No objection.
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, for example, these records go up to 2010, which was the cutoff point for the request when we issued the subpoena, we, in fact, negotiated with the government over how broad the subpoena would be and we agreed that it would go to 2010. Now, as to the relevance -- and that's why the records go that far. As to the relevance, I mean, for example, we see Jane's travel records going all the way up to 2010. Jane testified in this case already that she continued to travel after she had left New York and continued to travel, and I think this is, if it's already in the record, that she continued to travel. I don't think this is in any way prejudicial --
JUDGE NATHAN: I just would like to know what the relevance is.
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, she also testified — Jane, I'm referring to — that she came from a family that did not have much means when she first -- when she was younger. She testified extensively about the fact that she didn't have much money, and these records show extensive foreign travel, going on well into the 2010s. So it tends to counter that. Same thing with Annie Farmer. She said she came from a family with a single mother, didn't have much money, and these travel records show travel to Mexico and places like that. For Kate, there was a discussion about she traveled after the incidents that she talked about in the United Kingdom and she was open-ended about how often she traveled and how long she traveled. And there was also testimony that she was still in contact with Jeffrey Epstein well into the 2000s. I think some of the emails are in the 2010s, 2015. So these travel records show her whereabouts and show her traveling around the same time when she's still in contact with Jeffrey Epstein.
JUDGE NATHAN: What's the relevance of that?
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, I don't plan to make much of an argument about those records that are happening after the charged time period --
JUDGE NATHAN: You haven't asserted any relevance with respect to after the -- where is the government with respect to the time cutoff request?
MS. POMERANTZ: Your Honor, our proposal would be that it would be redacting anything that postdates the charged conspiracy.
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, there is probably a practical solution that we could come to with this, because I don't think that we -- you want to give me a moment, your Honor. I'll just confer with my colleagues.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, one other point about Kate in particular, I believe her testimony was that she was on public assistance at some point in her life that correspond to when she's flying all over the world. So I think that those records --
JUDGE NATHAN: Is that during the time of the charged conspiracy?
MR. EVERDELL: I don't know if she put a timeframe on exactly when that was. I'm told it was not -- she testified it was not during the period of the charged conspiracy when she was on public assistance, but she did testify to it and that's now on the record, and if these records tend to counter that point, that she had made that point to the jury, I think we could use these records to show that. With the other travelers, your Honor, I think we can come to a practical solution.
JUDGE NATHAN: See if you can come to a solution and you can tell me where we are. We'll break for 10 minutes.
(Recess)
JUDGE NATHAN: All right. Where are we?
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, we conferred with the government. We reached agreement as to redactions and other omissions from this exhibit and we're just now printing new copies of the revised exhibit. We have about half of those copies. It's coming up right now and we'll have the other half shortly in just a couple minutes.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, I have your copy I'll hand up, and one to the government, and we'll put one, with the Court's permission, facedown in the witness box.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay. Ms. Pomerantz, acceptable?
MS. POMERANTZ: Yes, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay. We can bring in the witness.
MS. MENNINGER: Your Honor, may I raise one issue? Your Honor gave us a 5 o'clock extension of filing of a brief today. Can I ask for one hour so that we could -- until 6:00 p.m. for that filing so we can confer with our office?
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
MS. MENNINGER: Thank you.
JUDGE NATHAN: I don't even know what it is. I'll still be here at 6:00. That will be fine.
MS. COMEY: Your Honor, just one thing to alert the Court. I believe the parties have reached, in principle, agreement on a stipulation regarding Mr. Glassman. So that will obviate the need to deal with the service issue for his live testimony.
JUDGE NATHAN: Sounds like a good idea.
MR. PAGLIUCA: It could have been fun, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: If only someone had thought of that sooner. The witness is coming back and we can bring in the jury. Thank you for working out agreement on the timeframe issue.
MR. EVERDELL: Yes, your Honor.
(Witness present)
JUDGE NATHAN: You may take a seat and you can remove your mask. Just waiting for the jury.
(Jury present)
JUDGE NATHAN: Thank you for your patience, members of the jury. We will continue with the direct examination of Mr. Aznaran. Mr. Aznaran, I remind you are you under oath. Mr. Everdell you may inquire.
MR. EVERDELL: Thank you, your Honor.
BY MR. EVERDELL:
MR. EVERDELL: Welcome back, Mr. Aznaran.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Thank you.
MR. EVERDELL: If you recall when we left off, I was asking you about some reports that you ran in the TECS system; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: Can you remind us how many different travelers' reports did you run in the TECS system?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Three.
MR. EVERDELL: I believe you said those were for Jane, Kate, and Annie Farmer; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: With the Court's permission I want to show him what's been marked for identification as MA1.
MR. EVERDELL: Mr. Aznaran, there is a document on the floor next to you, you can pick that up, and a copy has been provided to the government and the Court. Can you look at that document marked as MA1 for identification.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Okay. Yes.
MR. EVERDELL: Do you recognize what MA1 is?
MR. EVERDELL: What is MA1?
JUDGE NATHAN: Just without saying any of the names.
MR. EVERDELL: Without saying the names of the travelers, please.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: It is a person encounter list from TECS.
MR. EVERDELL: Are these the person encounter list from the three travelers you were asked to look at?
MR. EVERDELL: And how do you recognize them?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I ran them on December 14th of 2021.
MR. EVERDELL: And are they fair and accurate copies of the three TECS reports that you searched for and pulled off the system for the border crossing records of Jane, Kate, and Annie Farmer?
MR. EVERDELL: Your Honor, defense offers MA1 under temporary seal to allow for redactions to protect privacy of witnesses in this case.
MS. POMERANTZ: No objection.
JUDGE NATHAN: All right. MA1 is admitted under seal to redact the identifying information of witnesses who I have allowed to testify under pseudonyms. Thank you.
(Defendant's Exhibits MA1 received in evidence)
MR. EVERDELL: With the Court's permission, I'll hand out copies to the jury.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
MR. EVERDELL: Mr. Aznaran, do you have the document in front of you?
MR. EVERDELL: First I'd like you to walk us through the various columns that are in this report. But just for clarity sake, do domestic flights appear on these reports or just international flights?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Just international.
MR. EVERDELL: And if you could explain please then the different columns as you read across the first page, what those mean.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: The first column is last name, last name of the passenger.
MR. EVERDELL: Again, please don't read the name.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Last name of the passenger or the person that's been queried. The next column is the first name, which is the first name of the person. DOB is for date of birth. DOC type is the document type that's on record, such as, in this case, the first page, the letter P is for passport. Document number is the number of the documents, on this case, the passport number. Date and time, eastern. So the date is the date of the border crossing. The time is the time that they were processed when they came through port of entry. Carrier code is two letters, that's the airline code. So towards the bottom of the first page, AA is American Airlines, for an example. Carrier number is the number of the flight. I/O is indicating whether that particular record was for an inbound or an outbound travel. Site is the particular federal inspection site that the person was encountered at.
MR. EVERDELL: Could you explain that a little more. What do you mean by the federal inspection site?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: So on this first page, you have the very first site at the top is Alpha 271. That is the specific terminal at whatever airport that that traveler was encountered. So if I flip to -- it's been redacted, but -- for example, JFK airport has five international terminals. Terminal 4 is Alpha 471. Delta used to be Alpha 473.
MR. EVERDELL: When we're referring to the sites, are those the sites where the booths or the kiosks are where the immigration officials stamp your passports?
MR. EVERDELL: Going to the right, what else do you see on these columns?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Then you have type. So that is the type of or more like the way that this information was obtained for each border crossing.
MR. EVERDELL: And on that, if you look at the first entry --
JUDGE NATHAN: Can't quite hear you there, Mr. Everdell.
MR. EVERDELL: Sorry.
MR. EVERDELL: On the column marked type, you see the first entry on the top, it says airline, not API?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Right.
MR. EVERDELL: And the one below that says APIS?
MR. EVERDELL: Can you explain the difference between the two.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: So the first one, airline, not API. An airline employee at some point manually entered that person's information into their manifest system as opposed to APIS, which is Advanced Passenger Information System. That means that that airline submitted their manifest electronically to the APIS system and it was electronically and automatically uploaded into TECS.
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. And what's next?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: The next column is status.
MR. EVERDELL: What does that indicate. Actually, if I can have you look maybe at page 3 of the document, and you look at top of the page, the third entry down in the column status, it says the word passenger; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: So what does that indicate?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: That indicates that that person was, at one point or another, added to that manifest of that airline for that particular flight.
MR. EVERDELL: Going to the next column, updated status.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Updated status, I have, in all of my experience querying travel records, I have never seen anything in that column, and I honestly don't know what it means or what it's supposed to.
MR. EVERDELL: Understood. What about the columns to the right of that?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: So ARRLOC, arrival location. That is the location, on the first page anyway, all the airports that the flight is going to be arriving or landing at. And to the right of that, DEPLOC is departure location. That is the airport where the flight is departing from.
MR. EVERDELL: So let's just take one example, the first example on page 1. That reflects a flight that Jane took from CDG to LAX; right?
MR. EVERDELL: Do you know what CDG is?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Is Paris, Charles de Gaulle.
MR. EVERDELL: And LAX is what?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Los Angeles International.
MR. EVERDELL: And was that an incoming or outgoing flight?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: That would be incoming. It departed from Paris and it landed at LAX, or Los Angeles.
MR. EVERDELL: And you know the incoming from the I in the I/O category?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Yes, also Paris to Los Angeles. So that would be an incoming.
MR. EVERDELL: And the date and time reflected there is 7/25/2004; right?
MR. EVERDELL: So what does that date reflect?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: That is the date that that passenger arrived into the United States and was processed.
MR. EVERDELL: And the time?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: The time is the updated time that the passenger was actually processed by a CBP officer in the passenger operations environment.
MR. EVERDELL: All right. So looking at the information in this chart, what of this information comes from the airlines and what of this information comes from the kiosks when they're stamped into the country?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: So the airline manifest is going to provide the last name, first name, the date of birth, document type, document number, the carrier code, the carrier number, inbound or outbound, the type, the arrival location, and the departure location.
MR. EVERDELL: That all comes from the airline?
MR. EVERDELL: And the rest of the information that's not that is, I think, the date and time and the site; is that right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: The date and the time is when the manifest is first loaded. The date and the time will reflect the date of the flight and it will reflect the time of the flight, the time of arrival. Once the passenger is processed and that information is captured by their border crossing into TECS, that time is supposed to be updated to the time when they were processed.
MR. EVERDELL: Processed at the immigration kiosk?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: At the kiosk, correct.
MR. EVERDELL: At the site location listed there?
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. It looks like outbound flights, O's in that column don't have any site information typically. Why is that?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Because CBP, we don't have a 100 percent outbound mandate, if you will.
MR. EVERDELL: So you need to track incoming flights, people coming into the United States, but not necessarily people leaving the United States?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I wouldn't say track. I would say when you come into the United States, you are required to be processed or admitted into the country. When you depart the country, there is no -- for example, at JFK, there is no FIS, or federal inspection site with actual CBP officers that are processing you when you go to get on board your outbound flight.
MR. EVERDELL: Understood. So I just want to take a look at the years that's reflected in this report. If you look at the first page, which are the records of Jane's travel; right?
MR. EVERDELL: You see the earliest one there is January 6th, 1996; right?
MR. EVERDELL: And the latest one there is July 25th, 2004; right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct. Yes.
MR. EVERDELL: Now, when you originally did this search, I think you said you searched all the way up to 2010; correct?
MR. EVERDELL: And were there records going that late, do you recall?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I believe so, yes.
MR. EVERDELL: So we're just looking at a subset; right?
MR. EVERDELL: And same thing with Kate's records. If you go to page 3 of that exhibit, you see on that page, there is some records of transits, earliest one there is February 29th of 2004; is that right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: My pages are --
MR. EVERDELL: I think you have to count manually, one, two, three, third page?
JUDGE NATHAN: The page number is at the bottom right.
MR. EVERDELL: We can try that.
MR. EVERDELL: That page is 5. Do you see that?
MR. EVERDELL: For Kate, the earliest one on that page is February 29th, 2004?
MR. EVERDELL: And the latest one is April 3rd of 2006; right?
MR. EVERDELL: Going to what's page 7, there is some redacted entries, but those are also Kate records; is that right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I'm sorry?
MR. EVERDELL: Those are also Kate records on page 7?
MR. EVERDELL: And the earliest one there is November 1st, 1997; correct?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct.
MR. EVERDELL: And that one is October 14th, 2006?
MR. EVERDELL: And then finally, looking at Annie Farmer on page 9, earliest record there is July 20th, 1997?
MR. EVERDELL: And the latest one there is April 11th, 2006; right?
MR. EVERDELL: Now, just to be clear, we talked about how late you searched, 2010, but how early did you search the records?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: 1994. January 1st, 1994.
MR. EVERDELL: And these are the first records that come up in that system, going back to '94?
MR. EVERDELL: Let's actually flip back to page 1, or I guess it's page 2 of the exhibit, even though it's the first page, you'll see that's a record for Jane. If you look down at the last one on the page, the flight on January 6th, 1996 -- do you see that?
MR. EVERDELL: That is the earliest border entry in the TECS system for Jane; correct?
MR. EVERDELL: And you see the date of birth for Jane there. I don't want you to say what it is, but do you see it?
MR. EVERDELL: And if you can do the math, based on her date of birth, how old was she when this flight -- when she made this border crossing back in the United States?
MR. EVERDELL: Actually. You want to do the math again? It's date of birth --
MR. EVERDELL: I can say the year, can I not?
MR. EVERDELL: Is it accurate to say that she would have been 15 when that flight took place?
MR. EVERDELL: Then you look at the entry above that, that's the flight on April 15th of 1996; right?
MR. EVERDELL: And where did that flight arrive into?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Arrived into JFK.
MR. EVERDELL: Where did it depart from?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: MXP, which is Milan, Italy.
MR. EVERDELL: Based on the date of birth, fair to say that Jane would have been 15 when that flight took place?
MR. EVERDELL: And if you look at the flight above that, that's the flight on June 21st, 1997; right?
MR. EVERDELL: And, again, based on the date of birth for Jane, she would have been 16 when that flight took place; right?
MR. EVERDELL: Let's take a look at a few of Kate's entries. So flip to page 7 of what's marked on the bottom right as page 7.
MR. EVERDELL: You see the entry there is November 1st of 1997; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: Is that the earliest border entry in the TECS system for Kate?
MR. EVERDELL: And you see her date of birth over to the left?
MR. EVERDELL: Based on her date of birth, she would have been 20 years old when that flight took place; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: So does this report reflect that Kate had any border crossings in 1994?
MR. EVERDELL: Does it reflect any border crossings for Kate in 1995?
MR. EVERDELL: Does it reflect any border crossing records for Kate in 1996?
MR. EVERDELL: First one was that one in November 1st, 1997, when she's 20?
MR. EVERDELL: Now I want you to flip to the last page. Those are the records for Annie Farmer?
MR. EVERDELL: Why don't you look at that last entry. That's a flight on July 20th, 1997; correct?
MR. EVERDELL: What city did this flight depart from?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: DUS, which is Düsseldorf, Germany.
MR. EVERDELL: Where did it arrive?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: EWR, which is Newark Airport, New Jersey.
MR. EVERDELL: Is this the earliest border entry in the TECS system for Annie Farmer?
MR. EVERDELL: Does this report show any border crossings for Annie Farmer in 1996?
MR. EVERDELL: One moment, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
MR. EVERDELL: No further questions, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Ms. Pomerantz.
MS. POMERANTZ: Thank you, your Honor.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. POMERANTZ:
MS. POMERANTZ: Good afternoon.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Good afternoon.
MS. POMERANTZ: You've been testifying about CBP records of international flights from the 1990s and 2000s; right?
MS. POMERANTZ: In your work as a CBP officer, do you have experience reviewing flight records from before September 11th, 2001?
MS. POMERANTZ: In your work as a CBP officer, do you have experience reviewing flight records from after 9/11?
MS. POMERANTZ: Based on your review of CBP records in your experience as a CBP officer, have you noticed a difference between CBP records from before 9/11 and after 9/11?
MS. POMERANTZ: What difference have you noticed?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Well, so if you -- if you look at the records, not necessarily these, but just in general, from my experience, what I have noticed is the farther back you go from the present time, the more likelihood that you are not going to get an on-board or not-on-board status for those records.
(Continued on next page)
BY MS. POMERANTZ:
MS. POMERANTZ: As a CBP officer, is it important to your job to understand whether the CBP records you are reviewing are thorough and accurate?
MS. POMERANTZ: And in your day-to-day work as a CBP officer, do you rely on CBP records from before 9/11 to be complete?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: We'd like to rely on or hope that the records are complete, but not necessarily all the time, no.
MS. POMERANTZ: And why is that the case that records before 9/11 are not necessarily complete?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Prior to 9/11, there was a little bit of a difference between how the records were submitted to CBP systems and the reliability of the airlines was not as good as it is now or after 9/11.
MS. POMERANTZ: And when did that start to change in terms of when did the records start to be more complete and thorough?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: After 9/11, there were several acts put into place by the U.S. Government. The Department of Homeland Security was created. And basically, the airline industry was at one point mandated now to submit more complete records to CBP. I feel comfortable saying -- as far as the status indicators, I feel comfortable saying roughly 2009, 2010, based on the records that I have ran in my experience, you would see more onboard or not onboard status.
MS. POMERANTZ: I want to talk about people traveling into the United States. In your work you refer to that as inbound travel, right?
MS. POMERANTZ: Based on your review of CBP records and your experience as a CBP officer, if someone was traveling into the United States before September 11th, 2001, would CBP records necessarily reflect that person's travel into the United States?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Not necessarily.
MS. POMERANTZ: Can you explain why?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Once again, the recordkeeping and the way that the airlines used to basically operate, I'll go back to APIS, Advance Passenger Information System. Prior to 9/11, it was voluntary for airlines to submit their manifests to APIS. After 9/11 and, more specifically, the most recent update that I'm aware of in, I believe it's 2005, mandated airlines to submit full and complete manifests to CBP using the APIS system.
MS. POMERANTZ: I want to talk about when someone leaves the United States and travels internationally. In your work, you refer to that as outbound travel, right?
MS. POMERANTZ: Based on your review of CBP records and your experience as a CBP officer, if someone was traveling out of the United States before September 11th, would CBP records necessarily reflect that person's travel out of the United States?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Not necessarily, no.
MS. POMERANTZ: And can you briefly explain why?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Once again, the airlines, it was a little bit of a different -- different world before 9/11 happened.
MS. POMERANTZ: I want to turn to the records that defense counsel asked you about during direct examination. Can you be certain that all outbound travel before 9/11 for the listed individuals is reflected in those records?
MS. POMERANTZ: And again, briefly, why not?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I can't really say whether these records truly reflect exactly any passenger's complete travel history.
MS. POMERANTZ: Can you be certain that all inbound travel before 9/11 for those individuals is reflected in these records?
MS. POMERANTZ: So it is possible that the people named in these records, in fact, took international trips in the 1990s that are not reflected in these records, right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Possible.
MS. POMERANTZ: I think defense counsel had pointed you to -- if we could turn to page 9. We're in Defendant's Exhibit MA-1.
JUDGE NATHAN: I can't quite hear you, Ms. Pomerantz.
MS. POMERANTZ: I'm sorry. Defense Exhibit MA-1.
MS. POMERANTZ: We're on page 9. And on the last line there is a flight on July 20th, 1997. Do you see that?
MS. POMERANTZ: And I believe that you testified that that was a flight from Düsseldorf to Newark; is that right?
MS. POMERANTZ: But there is no flight reflected here of Annie's trip to Düsseldorf, right?
MS. POMERANTZ: So to be clear, these records are not necessarily an exhaustive list of every time Jane, Kate, and Annie traveled internationally before September 11th, 2001, are they?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Not necessarily, no.
MS. POMERANTZ: No further questions.
JUDGE NATHAN: Mr. Everdell.
MR. EVERDELL: Redirect.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. EVERDELL:
MR. EVERDELL: Mr. Aznaran, you were asked some questions on cross-examination about the completeness of the records, right?
MR. EVERDELL: And I think you mentioned that before 9/11, the airlines weren't always as complete with providing manifests as they were after 9/11; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: But as we discussed, not all the information on this TECS report comes from the airlines, isn't that right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct.
MR. EVERDELL: You mentioned certain columns that came from the kiosks and the people who actually swiped the passports in at the immigration sites; is that right?
MR. EVERDELL: And so, in fact, the site that you discussed was the site where people passed through?
MR. EVERDELL: And that would get populated when that traveler went through that site, right?
MR. EVERDELL: And the date and time you said should get updated with that information of when that passenger goes through the site in the TECS report if they go through that immigration site, right?
MS. POMERANTZ: Objection, your Honor. If we can just place this in time.
MR. EVERDELL: I'm talking about prior to 9/11.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I'm sorry, say the question again.
MR. EVERDELL: We're talking about records prior to 9/11. You said that for any of these records, before 9/11 or not, the date and time reflects the date and time -- first it reflects the date and time of the flight. But if the person goes through an immigration site, it then gets updated to reflect the time that they went through the kiosk and got their passport stamped; correct?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct. Yes.
MR. EVERDELL: And that is information that comes from the people on the ground at the immigration sites, not from the airlines, right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Not from the people, but from the actual kiosk, yeah, or the -- the booth.
MR. EVERDELL: From the computer systems that they are working on, right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct.
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. And so that's not dependent on whether the airlines has given their manifests or not, right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct.
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. So if we look at that last page again of the exhibit, MA-1, and let's just take an example. You see the second entry from the bottom, that's a flight on May 27th, 2000, for Annie Farmer?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct.
MR. EVERDELL: And you see that there is a site listed there, right?
MR. EVERDELL: That's Alpha 263, right?
MR. EVERDELL: And there is a date and time listed for that -- for that border crossing, right?
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. And it's that site and that date and time would reflect when they actually passed through immigration, right?
MR. EVERDELL: That is not dependent on the airline information; correct?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Correct.
MR. EVERDELL: All right. And if we look just down below at the entry for the Düsseldorf flight that you were just asked about, right?
MR. EVERDELL: That also reflects a site, does it not?
MR. EVERDELL: And it reflects a date at least of that entry, right?
MR. EVERDELL: So that record reflects an actual border crossing at a site in an immigration line at an airport for Annie Farmer, doesn't it?
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. And that is not dependent on the airlines, right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: No. Correct.
MR. EVERDELL: Okay. One moment, please.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
MR. EVERDELL: No further questions, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
RECROSS EXAMINATION BY MS. POMERANTZ:
MS. POMERANTZ: In the 1990s, there were no digital kiosk stands, right?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: There were no digital kiosk stamps?
MS. POMERANTZ: Stands.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: Oh, stands? I -- I don't know.
MS. POMERANTZ: Well, it was paper records; correct?
MR. EVERDELL: Objection. Foundation.
JUDGE NATHAN: Sustained.
MS. POMERANTZ: Officer Aznaran, based on your experience as a CBP officer and your review of CBP records, the CBP records from the 1990s were paper records; correct?
MR. EVERDELL: Objection. Foundation.
JUDGE NATHAN: Sustained.
MS. POMERANTZ: Your Honor, may I have just one moment please?
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
(Counsel conferred)
MS. POMERANTZ: Officer Aznaran, do you know whether they were paper records in the 1990s?
MR. EVERDELL: Objection. Asked and answered.
JUDGE NATHAN: Overruled.
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I'm sorry, say the question again.
MS. POMERANTZ: Do you know whether they were paper records in the 1990s?
MS. POMERANTZ: And were they paper records?
MS. POMERANTZ: And before 9/11, were paper records always logged in the system?
MR. EVERDELL: Objection. Foundation.
JUDGE NATHAN: Sustained.
(Counsel conferred)
MS. POMERANTZ: Do you know if in the 1990s, before 9/11, if paper records were logged into CBP's system?
MICHAEL WILLIAM AZNARAN: I would think that they were, but I'm not sure.
MR. EVERDELL: Objection. He's speculating.
JUDGE NATHAN: Well, the answer is "I'm not sure," so --
MS. POMERANTZ: Your Honor, may I have just one moment?
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
(Counsel conferred)
MS. POMERANTZ: Nothing further, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay.
MR. EVERDELL: Nothing further, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: All right. Thank you, Mr. Aznaran. You may step down. You are excused.
(Witness excused)
JUDGE NATHAN: Defense may call its next witness.
MS. MENNINGER: Your Honor, at this time we call Dominique Hyppolite. DOMINIQUE HYPPOLITE, called as a witness by the Defendant, having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
JUDGE NATHAN: Thank you. You may inquire, Ms. Menninger.
MS. MENNINGER: Thank you, your Honor.