← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
Tova Noel And The Transcript From Her Congressional Testimony (Part 4) (6/20/26)
00:12:07
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...
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
A
What's up, everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to dive right back into the Tova Noel transcript of her meeting with Congress. Question Would you fill out any kind of blog or report for a round or account? Answer so account happens throughout the whole institution, like at those specific times that I give you the irregular rounds every 30 minutes in the shoe is specific to the shoe, not a regular housing unit in the shoe. The logs are filled out for rounds. The count. It's also filled out throughout the whole institution for a count. Mr. Foy, if I could have just one word. Miss. Sure. We can go off the record. Back on the record. Ms. Noel, just to clarify, the rounds in the shoe, it's twice an hour with no more than 40 minutes in between. So it. It's irregular rounds. Question okay. Were you required to fill out a report for every one of those irregular rounds? Answer yes. Question what did that report look like? Answer A log sheet. Question how long would that take you to complete? Answer for the log sheet, I would fill it out before, like filling it out or in before or sometimes after, depending on the day, in hopes to make the rounds, not at the accurate time that it's been being filled out. Question Was that how it was supposed to be done? Answer no, but that's how I seen them do it. So I did the same thing. Question did someone show you how to do it that way? Answer not specifically showing me, but that's how I observed them doing it. Question okay, and what were you writing down on the round log? Answer the time. Question so you would have. She gets cut off by Noel. Like it'd be the tears. So I think it'll say like L tier, J tier, and then it'll have the times. Question okay. Answer and your signature, your initials. Question what was the signature supposed to represent? Answer who did it? Question okay. And were you certifying that the inmates were in their cells? No. You're certifying that you made the round. Question okay. Answer I think the count would be that you're certifying that they're in the cell. Question okay. Would you ever report whether on a round or afford institutional count, any unusual activity? Answer no. Question. Anything out of the ordinary that would get reported? Answer no. Question. You would only report for the number of inmates for the count and for the round that they were in fact checked on? Answer yes. Question okay, what were the cell blocks in the shoe? What were the lock systems like? Answer Regular lock, like you put the key in, you turn it and it's locked. Question so a physical key? Answer yeah. Question Would you ever whether you were conducting a count or around, would you ever physically unlock the door? Answer so the person the keys are, the person that's on the grill doesn't have the keys for the cell door and the person that's going down range doesn't have the key for the cell door. Question okay. Answer so you can't really. Not that you can't, but you wouldn't have it. Question so would the access to lock or unlock the door the person that was doing the range wouldn't have the key with them? Answer Right. Question okay. Answer It'd be the person on the grill. Question Was that standard? Answer yes. Question Was that like protocol that was required? Answer yes. Mr. Emmer jumps in question and I apologize if I'm gonna make you repeat yourself, but you'd mentioned earlier that account required two individuals to conduct. Is that right? Answer yes. Question Was that the same for around? Answer for around no. Question and you had mentioned that Mr. Thomas had told you earlier in the night in question that he didn't want to do a count. Did he ever make any comments about not wanting to do rounds as well? Answer so let me explain. So with the count, the person is on the grill and then one person goes down and counts. Then you switch places and the other person goes down and counts. With a round, you still have two people because somebody has to open the gate. But the one person can make the round. The one person doesn't have to go behind. So. So you still need two people physically going to the tier, but the round can just be one person. The count you have to cross. Count. What's the gate that you just mentioned? Noel? Every cell block has a gate, the grill. So like to get in the cell block, you're opening the grill door. Okay, Mr. Emmer, just a general question here. You had mentioned Mr. Thomas not wanting to conduct the rounds. Was that the first time that it happened during your time working at the SHU where an individual said they don't want to conduct rounds? Ms. Noel? No, because I worked the four to midnight also where my other colleague was tired from working a triple. He was on the 22nd hour of his shift. God, that's such bullshit. So if a pilot works extra hours and crashes the plane, it's not his fault? No, it's his fault. It. If you're too tired to work, don't work. Mr. Emmer. Thank you, Mr. Grant. Who is your colleague? Ms. Noel Bonhomme. Ms. Noel, his name Bonhomme. So moving forward to August 9, 2019, you checked into your shift at 4pm that day, is that correct? Correct. And what time did you leave the next day? Answer after 8. Question. A.m. a.m. Correct. How many rounds did you conduct in the shoe on your shift on that night? On the four to midnight? Yeah. I don't have an exact number, but I did a few rounds. I can tell you. I can't tell you an exact number. Question. And what about counts for the counts? I counted at 10. Improperly. Improperly. Because Officer Thomas did not want to do it with you. Bonhomme. Bonhomme. Thank you. How many rounds would you say that Mr. Epstein cell got the night of August 9, 2019? I can't give you an exact number, but a few. Like we went to go feed. While you're feeding, you're going to each tier, you're conversing with the inmate, you give out toilet paper, you're going to each cell, you're conversing with the inmate. So there was a few. I can't give you an exact number. And that was on the floor to midnight. And Epstein was not there the entire shift. Epstein would have come up later on that evening because he was in attorney conference. Just to be clear. So like at 4, when I had come on, he's not there. Question. Do you know what time he came into his cell? I want to stay after eight. What did that process look like? The moving of the shoe inmate from one cell, like with his attorneys, to a shoe cell. So when Epstein got to the shoe, he came in the shoe with his name was Bullock and he was placed in a shower. He didn't go directly to his cell, but placed in the shower to use the phone, not the shower. Question. Why was there a phone in the shower? Because there is only one jack that works near the shower. So he was placed there where it was plugged in because the jack was closest to the shower cell. Question. Could inmates make calls from the shower? That's where they put the shoe to make the call. Because the jack is there. Question. Right. Could they make calls anytime they wanted to to shower? No. Question. Was it regulated sewing the shoe? It's specific to like a certain time that you get to use the phone. And I think you're on the disciplinary, you don't get to use it. That's like different. But that day boy Bullock allowed Mr. Epstein to use the phone. Question. And Bullock was a correctional officer. Answer. No. Bullock was a counselor. Question. Okay. Answer a unit Counselor. Question. Okay, Mr. Grant. Question. You Mentioned that you would converse with inmates when giving them their food or when giving them toiletries, such as toilet paper. Can you recall what your interactions with Mr. Epstein were when you would interact with them? Did he see him in good spirits? Did he? You have conversations? Answer. He was never there for that. Question. He was never there for that. Okay. Is that unusual that inmates is never there when you're providing food or providing toiletries? Answer for Mr. Epstein because he's downstairs with his attorney the entire time that he's allotted to be with his attorney. So 90% of the time, he's not on the shoe unit. Question. Understood. Thank you. You're welcome. Were you aware that Mr. Epstein attempted to commit suicide in his cell on July 23, 2019? Yes. How did you become aware of this incident? An inmate told me. Do you know which inmate? Tartaglioni. Is that Mr. Nicholas Tartaglioni? Yeah. So he's the source of all this information about what happened in that jail cell? Go ahead and believe it if you want. We're not going to be buying it here. Question. How soon after the incident happened were you made aware of it? Answer. The next day. Question. Was that your next shift? Answer. Yes. Question. So the inmate told you on your next shift? Answer. Correct. Mr. Grant, did anyone else at the MCC inform you of Mr. Epstein's suicide attempt? The first one. Ms. Noel? Not to my recollection, no. Question. Were you involved in any way of handling of the incident? Answer. Of the attempted suicide? Question. Yes. Answer. I wasn't on shift that day. Question. Okay. Was there anything that was happening the next day while you were on shift? Answer. No. Mr. Foy, I need to have a word real quick with Ms. Noel. Mr. Foy, the thing I'm trying to clarify. Right, you're saying that Jeffrey Epstein attempted to commit suicide on July 23, 2019, after the fact? Of course. There were reports to suggest that maybe he didn't. Right. That it was some. Some sort of way to manipulate his cell situation and different things. Weather. Right. Tartaglioni did something to him. And then, of course, Jeffrey doesn't remember what happened. So when we're saying he tried to commit suicide on July 23, that's not her saying that. Because it's up in the air whether that was actually a suicide attempt versus a manipulation on behalf of Epstein in the case, or if it was just an attack by Tartaglioni to send a message. It's amazing that so many people discount that. But it's okay. In about five years, when I'm proven right again, we'll be here. Question so I just didn't want it to be that she is somehow confirming that he tried to kill himself on July 23rd. Question and we have some questions that will come up that will help clarify that. Question. As a result of the incident, were you directed to take specific approaches to Mr. Epstein? No. Question did you have to make any sort of special report? Answer no. Question. Fill out any log? Answer no. Question. Make note of any of his behavior? Answer no. Question did you have to speak with any MCC psychologist? Answer no. Question would MCC psychologist come and visit Mr. Epstein while you were on shift? Answer no. Question at no point while you were working in the shoe, did you see an MCC psychologist visit Mr. Epstein? Not on my shift. Question did you know whether they did? Answer I don't know. All right, folks, we're going to wrap up right here. And in the next episode dealing with the topic, 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.