Tova Noel, a former prison guard who has said she believes she was the last person to see Jeffrey Epstein alive, sat for an interview with the House Oversight Committee last month, the first time she had spoken publicly about the convicted sex offender’s suicide.
The transcript of that interview, released by the panel on Thursday, sheds light on the working culture and conditions at the now-shuttered detention center in Manhattan where Epstein was found dead in his cell in August 2019.
Noel worked as a correctional officer at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, where Epstein was being held on sex trafficking charges. She and another officer on duty at the time of Epstein’s death were charged with falsely noting on prison log entries that they had checked in on inmates that night when neither had done so. They both agreed to a plea deal that entailed cooperating with the investigation into Epstein’s death. Noel has been the subject of a deluge of conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s suicide.
Here are four details related to Epstein’s death revealed by the transcript of her interview. Scroll to the bottom to read the full transcript.
Noel admitted she failed to perform her duties properly
Noel described the working culture at the MCC as “dysfunctional” and that she was “trained in a way that suggested that the policy guidance and operation protocols set forth in writing by the Federal Bureau of Prisons may be applied differently at MCC.”
She was on duty from 4 p.m. on Aug. 9, 2019, until 8 a.m. the next day, when Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell.
“The failure to execute my duties and responsibilities properly and the submission of inaccurate documentation were not related to Mr. Epstein or his death in any way. The inaccurate documentation were executed at the beginning of each shift and were not done to cover up my conduct or the conduct of my colleague,” she told the committee.
“My inadequate job performance was due to my inexperience, inadequate training, and being overworked,” Noel said, adding that she earned her full base salary in approximately six months because of the amount of overtime she had to work due to understaffing issues.
“The only connection I have to the death of Mr. Epstein is that I happened to be mandated for overtime when he died,” she said.
She denied falling asleep during her shifts, but she said she had used the computer to look at furniture online. Justice Department documents reveal FBI investigators probed Google searches by Noel the morning of Epstein’s death, including for “latest on Epstein in jail” less than an hour before he was found dead.
As she told federal investigators previously, she said during her House Oversight testimony that she did not recall making that Epstein-related search.
“I don’t recall doing that; only what I said. Like, if I see it on the homepage, I click on it and read it,” she said. “But as far as performing a physical search, I don’t recall doing that.”
Noel said her life has changed ‘drastically’ since Epstein’s death
Noel told lawmakers that her life since Epstein’s death “has been very difficult,” pointing to the public backlash and speculation over his suicide.
“This situation has been one of the hardest things I have experienced in my life,” she said.
Noel said her personal details, including her birth date, were unredacted in the documents released by the DOJ.