← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
Tova Noel And The Transcript From Her Congressional Testimony (Part 3) (6/19/26)
00:14:46
Tova Noel, one of the two correctional officers assigned to the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s Special Housing Unit on the night Jeffrey Epstein died, told the House Oversight Committee that she failed to conduct the required inmate checks and...
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Melanie Stansberry
What's up everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up where he left off with the Tova Noel transcript from her meeting with Congress. Question. You mentioned that you worked with a senior officer and then there were also people above you while you were on your shift. Did you have a good relationship with those people you work with? Yes. Have you ever had any issues with any of your colleagues? No. Well, that's not what the captain told us. Remember in the OIG interview that we did with the captain, what he said about Tova Noel? That's interesting. Would anyone else ever instruct you on how to do your role while in the shoe? No question. What kind of authority did you have to make a decision? I would say I didn't have authority to make decisions. I was just a correctional officer. Okay. I believe we have another member that's entered. Would you please introduce yourself for the record? Good morning. I'm Melanie Stansberry. I represent New Mexico's 1st congressional district. Thank you. Question While you were in the shoe, what cell blocks or areas were you responsible for overseeing? Answer all of them. Question okay, how many cell blocks total were in the shoe? Answer 6. Question who can access the shoe? Answer from the outside? Uhuh, anyone can access the shoe from the outside if control pops the door and lets you in. Or Question by everyone, do you mean MCC staff? Correct. Okay, so it's not closed off to shoe employees. Answer Correct. Could you walk us through the procedures required for conducting cell checks as an officer in the shu? Answer A cell check. Question. Like rounds, doing your rounds? Answer okay, so during the rounds there is an officer that opens the grill, which is the door of the tier, and then the other officer goes down and checks on every single person and come around, check on every single person and exit. Question when you say check on every person seeing an alive breathing body, would that require you to enter the cell? No. Question okay, would you look through a window? Answer A window, Would you talk to them? Answer Sometimes. Okay, can you describe how you would access the shoe when you would start your shift? When I get to the door, control has to let me in the first door. Then when you come through the door, there's a second door and. And the officer on the inside has to let you in the second door. Question so you would say that's two layers of security. To be able to get in, would you have to scan in? Did you have a badge or anything like that? No. Question. I understand MCC is a high rise building. Correct. Would you go up an elevator to get to the shoe? Correct. Okay, what floor was the shoe on? The ninth floor. Question out of how many? 10, do you think there was any reason why it was as high up as it was? I don't know. Okay, could you explain to us the layout of the shoe block or the shoe unit at the mcc? So when you enter the shoe and you walk towards the center, the common area, there's a desk with computers. Before the desk, there are two tiers up and down, then two to the. If you're facing the desk, left in the middle, there's two more tiers up and down. And then off to the far left there's the last two tiers up and down. So it's really like a circle. It's like the desk. And then two tiers. Two tiers, two tiers. And then going up the last set of tiers you could go up the 10 south wing. Question so does that make it two or three tiers total? Answer well, 10 south is technically not connected, so. So in Shoe. It's still six, but you can access the door there. That goes to 10 south, which is another unit. Question. Okay, that's not included in the shoe. Answer. Correct. Question. How many inmates are typically housed in the shoe? Answer. Shoe. It varies because the shoe does. Doesn't have to be full because people are placed in the shoe for different reasons. So it could be any number. Question. Why would inmates go to the shoe? Answer. Some inmates go to the shoe. Some inmates go to the SHU for disciplinary segregation. Some inmates go because they have to be separated. Some go because they're high profile. Would they ever go for mental health reasons? I'm not sure. How long did inmates typically stay in the shoe? I don't know. You mentioned some inmates would go to the shoe for disciplinary reasons. Some would go for the fact that they were high profile. Why was Mr. Epstein sent to the shoe? Mr. Epstein was in the shoe because he was a high profile inmate and not because of his mental health issues at the time? Correct. Okay. Is there any reason why shoe inmates would be assigned to a cell in the upper tier versus lower tier? No. So like a high profile inmate wouldn't go to an upper tier versus a lower tier? No. Okay. Where was Mr. Epstein's cell located within the shoe? As soon as you enter the shoe, the first two tiers, he was on the top tier, the first door to your right. Question. Do you know the name of the staircase that he would have been next to? Answer. I can't remember. She gets cut off. Does L tear? He gets cut off now by her. I was going to say. I think it's l. Where was Mr. Epstein's cell in relation to your station? Answer. So the cell block, when you go up the stairs, the. The desk is like right off to the left as far as feet go? I don't know. Question. Was your station on the same level as Mr. Epstein's cell? No. He would have been up the stairs and the desk would have been on the ground. Answers. Noel. Question. Would you estimate about how long it would take for you to walk to a cell? Answer. Oh, to walk like two minutes. Question. I know you mentioned him previously, but who is Officer Michael Thomas? Officer Michael Thomas is the materials handler officer that worked with me on August 10, 2019, from midnight to 8 in the morning. Did he work the 4pm to midnight shift on August 9? No. Who worked that shift with you? Davis and Bon Homme. How long had you and Officer Thomas worked together in the shu? That was my first time working with Officer Thomas. It doesn't seem like There was that many correctional officers working in the shu. Was it just happenstance happen chance that you work with them? Yeah. Okay. Had you guys worked together before in any other MCC unit? No, we never worked any units before. Question. You mentioned he was a senior correctional officer. Yeah. Would that make him technically your supervisor? So he wouldn't be my supervisor. He was a correctional officer before, and then he got promoted to materials handler, but not making him my supervisor. So you both had authority to make your decisions while on shift? Yes. Did you consider him? I know you said you'll only work with him one shift with him, but in that time, did you consider him to be a good employee? No. Question. Why not? Because he was tired. Question. From working long shifts? Correct. Overtime shifts. Overtime. Mandated overtime shifts? Yes. Did you and Mr. Thomas have a good working relationship? That was actually my first time working with him, so I would say we didn't have any relationship. Okay. Did y' all speak during your shift? Yes. Question. Do you remember what you discussed? I went to him to conduct the count and he expressed to me that he was tired. Question. So because he was tired, he wouldn't do the count? Correct. Question. So what was your response to that? Answer. Okay. Question. So did you in fact do the count by yourself? Answer at 10:00pm? Question. Okay. Answer improperly. Noel. Just to clarify, Thomas goes on at 12. That count that I did at 10 wouldn't have been when he was there. When he was there. I didn't do any. Question. When did you leave the mcc tova? Noel. August 10th. Mr. Grant jumps in. You mentioned that you did 10pm Count improperly. What about. What about that made it improper? Noel? Because I did it by myself. An account is supposed to be conducted with two people, Mr. Grant. Thank you, Noel. You're welcome. Questions again. Now by Ms. Fireabend. So you left August 10, 2019. Why did you leave? That was my morning. My shift was over at 8am Question. Okay, maybe I should clarify. Leave MCC meaning when did you stop working for Metropolitan? As in. So the last day I was in the building was August 10th, when they terminated me. I don't remember the date, Mr. Foy. But that was. It was years later, though. Noel. Yeah. Years later. Were you terminated from MCC as a result of what happened the morning of August 10, 2019? Correct. Was there an internal review that was conducted by MCC following the incident of Jeffrey Epstein's death? Yes. Was there one conducted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons? Yes. Question. Were you interviewed as part of those reviews? Answer. Yes. Question. What were the findings of those what were you asked about in those reviews? Do you recall? Answer I was asked about the culture of mcc. The mandations, the counts, the rounds. Question and what did you tell either MCC or BoP about the culture and everything you just mentioned?
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- [11:51]
Melanie Stansberry
Answer I spoke about how often we were mandated to work at. As a result of that, the job was not performed accurately because people were tired and I attempted to do the count and the rounds. But it has to be conducted with two people. So if the other person is tired, then it cannot be carried out accurately. I also took accountability for performing my job and duties inaccurately. Thank you. You're welcome. Why was Mr. Epstein moved to the shoe? I don't know. When did you first learn that Jeffrey Epstein was being moved to the shoe? When Epstein came in, he went straight to the shoe. So moved like cell block or moved like into the shoe? Into the shoe. He came into the shoe. Okay. Do you remember the date of that he came in July of 2019. Were there any discussions amongst the MCC staff, or specifically the shoe staff, that Jeffrey Epstein was going to be incarcerated at mcc? No question. Was he known to you or to others, to the best of your knowledge, before he was incarcerated? So for others, I don't know. For me, no question. So for the record, did you know who Mr. Epstein was at the time? No question. Had you ever personally spoken to Mr. Epstein prior to him being moved to the shoe? Moved. He came to the shoe in July and I worked in the shoe from June. So to me he wasn't moved. He was always in the shoe. Okay, I'll rephrase it. So did you ever speak with Mr. Epstein prior to him being in jail? No. So Mr. Epstein, as we all know now, was a high profile figure. That's why he was moved into the shoe. And his case was pretty widely known and reported on before he was incarcerated at mcc. Were any aspects of his case or any of his crimes discussed amongst MCC staff? No, not to me. No one to your knowledge spoke about Mr. Epstein? To me? No. Okay. How long was Mr. Epstein in MCC before his death on August 10, 2019? He came in in July to August 10. And you were assigned to work the shoe for the entire time that Mr. Epstein was held there, Is that correct? Correct. Roughly how many shifts did you work during the time Mr. Epstein was in the shoe? I don't know to give you an actual number, but From June to August 10, June is when you started working in the shoe? Correct. Okay. But Mr. Epstein didn't get there till July. And you said earlier that you worked four or five times a week. Uh huh. Question Shifts a week. Correct. 16 hour shifts. 16. Okay. While you were on shift, were you directly responsible for Mr. Epstein's cell? No. How so? I was responsible for all the inmates in the shoe, not Mr. Epstein's cell. Sure. But Mr. Epstein's cell was included in all of the cells that you are responsible for? Answer yeah. Question okay, how often were you required to check his cell when you were on duty? Answered the standard required time. Conducting irregular 30 minute rounds and counts. So could you kind of help me explain this a little bit? So you did rounds that were every half hour? Answer yes. Question but then the counts were different than the rounds? Answer yes. Question how so? The counts were conducted. So like I start at 4. There's 4. There's a 10 midnight, 3am and 5am and you're responsible for each of those counts? Answer yes. Let me just clarify. So on the four, there's three of us working, so there's two people that have to count. So I don't necessarily have to count, it just has to be two people. Question and this was the same requirement, the counts in the rounds, for all inmates that were housed in the shoe. Answer Shoe Correct. Question okay, what's the difference between account and around in terms of what you were actually doing or looking for or your responsibilities at the time? Question because account, you're counting and also making sure that you're seeing a live breathing body. But a round is just seeing a live breathing body. You're not necessarily counting how many people are in there? Question so the rounds were a bit more relaxed, so to speak. Answer Correct. Question so what were the goals or purposes of around an account? I know you just mentioned it, but. Answer around would be to make sure that everyone's okay. Account would be to account that the amount of people that are housed in there. Question okay, they go off the record, then they come back on. All right, folks, we're going to wrap up right here. And in the next episode, we're going to pick up where we left off. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.
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