← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
Tova Noel And The Transcript From Her Congressional Testimony (Part 5) (6/20/26)
00:12:37
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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Marine Corps Speaker
The wrongs we must right. The fights we must win. The future we must secure together for our nation. This is what's in front of us. This determines what's next for all of us. We are Marines. We were made for this.
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Congressional Hearing Questioner
What's up everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up where we left off with the Tova Noel interview with Congress. Question we mentioned Mr. Tartaglioni. Who did you understand him to be at the time? Tartaglioni was Mr. Epstein's prior cellmate. Question when you say prior, what time frame are you referring to? Because after the incident when Mr. Epstein got a different cellmate question in the shoe. Correct answer. Correct. Ms. Fairbend, I'd like to enter majority exhibit one. This is a New York Times article titled, quote, purported suicide note is released, end quote. The New York Times recently reported that a federal judge in White Plains, New York recently released Jeffrey Epstein's purported suicide note. We'll pass that out and have you take a look at it just for a minute. So on the front you'll see the New York Times article that was published on May 6, 2026. And then the photo of the purported suicide note. I can read how the New York Times article quoted it. Question the note reads, quote, they investigated me for months, found nothing. Two exclamation marks. So 16 year old charges resulted. Is it a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye? What you want me to do? Bust out crying? No fun not worth it. End quote. Have you ever seen this suicide note before? How is that a suicide note? He says, what do you want me to do? Bust out crying? No fun. Not worth it. I think that could be taken several different ways. No. Never. Question. Do you know whether this suicide note belongs to Jeffrey Epstein? I don't know. The New York Times article says that Mr. Tartaglioni said he discovered the suicide note in July of 2019, after Mr. Epstein's first suicide attempt. Did Mr. Tartaglioni ever speak to you or any other correctional officer about the note? Speak to me about the note? No. To anyone else? I'm not aware. Question. Were you ever made aware at the time that a suicide note was discovered? No. This is my first time seeing it. Okay. Did you ever witness or hear anything from other correctional officers about Jeffrey Epstein writing a suicide note? No. Question. Are you aware that when Officers responded to Mr. Epstein at 1:27am On July 23, 2019, he was found to be unresponsive on the floor and with an orange fabric noose around his neck? Answer. In July, I was not working. No. Question. Okay. Are you aware that Mr. Epstein had told officers he thought he had been attacked by his cellmate, Mr. Tartaglioni, in his cell? I learned that after. How soon after? When it came out in the paper. Okay. Mr. Tartaglioni, he denies the accusations and claims that he was the one who called for help. Were you aware of that? Only in the paper. I saw after. Question. Okay. Do you have any reason to believe that Mr. Epstein did not attempt suicide on July 23, 2019? I don't know. Do you have any further details of what transpired in the early morning hours of July 23, 2019, in Mr. Epstein and Mr. Tartaglioni cell? No. I was not working. Question. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Question. Were you ever paid not to check on Mr. Epstein's cell the night before his death? Never. Did anyone ever force you not to check Mr. Epstein's cell? Never. Did anyone ever threaten you not to check Mr. Epstein's cell? Never. Did anyone ever ask you not to check Mr. Epstein's cell? Never. Do you know whether Mr. Thomas was paid not to check Mr. Epstein's Cell? I don't know. Do you know Whether Mr. Thomas was forced not to check Mr. Epstein's cell'? I don't know. Do you Know whether Mr. Thomas was threatened to not check Mr. Epstein's cell? I don't Know. Did anyone ever ask Mr. Thomas to not check Mr. Epstein's Cell? I don't Know. Mr. Emmer, thank you. We're coming to the end of the majority's first hour.
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Marine Corps Speaker
We.
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Congressional Hearing Questioner
We're going to discuss this more specifically during the upcoming hours. But there's been payments that have been identified or reported on that have been suspicious. Specifically, there was a cash deposit of $5,000 from an unknown sender on July 30, 2019, just 10 days before Jeffrey Epstein's death. What was that payment for, Ms. Noel? So you said unknown sender. Like, I deposited my money into my bank account, and that's from my personal savings plan, and no one has ever approached me or given me money in reference to Mr. Epstein at all. Mr. Emmer, for the record, you never. Is it your testimony that you never received money from Jeffrey Epstein or anyone affiliated with Jeffrey Epstein as it relates to his incarceration at MCC? Ms. Noel? Correct. I think that'll be the end of our first hour. We can go off the record now. They're back on. Good morning, Ms. Noel. Good morning. My name is Giancarlo Pellegrini. Nice Irish name, huh? I'll be doing most of the questioning for the minority today. First, thank you for your time, and thank you for your service to our country. We really appreciate it. You're welcome. As you know, today's conversation will focus on your work at the McCarthy and circumstances surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's death. I wanted to start for a moment with a topic that just came up at the end of the previous hour. Those cash payments. One of the documents that was released in the DOJ files says that in November of 2019, JPMorgan Chase provided a suspicious activity report to the FBI regarding 12 cash deposits that you made between April 2018 and July 20, 2019. I know you were just asked a moment ago, was there any connection between those deposits and your official duties at mcc? No question. Was there any connection, direct or indirect, between those deposits and Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell in any way? Answer. No question. There was a deposit, specifically of $5,000 on July 30, 2019. So that's about 11 days before Mr. Epstein died. I know that's included in what I just asked, but was there any connection of any kind specifically between the deposit and your official duties at mcc? No question. Was there any connection of any kind between that deposit and the death of Jeffrey Epstein? No. And any connection, direct or indirect, between that deposit and Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell in any way? Answer. No question. Okay. Thank you. Answer. You're welcome. Question. We're Going to ask some questions. Some of them are similar to what you were already asked. We have to try to cross those out so you don't have to get asked the same thing twice. Answer okay. Question we might not always be successful, but we'll do our best. Answer okay, Question Couple of questions Going to the layout in the shoe you described. There are, I think, six different tiers, is that right? Correct Question and how many cells in each tier that I don't remember. Question Is there a locked door for each tier you talked about the grill. Answer the grill. What's the grill? Answer it's the. So it's because it's a grill, because it's not an actual door and that's what allows you to enter the tier and that's locked. Question so there's a physical key to get into that? Yes. Question okay, so to get into any of the tiers, one of the CO needs a key. Answer Key Correct Question okay, we do have an additional member who has since joined us. If that member could just identify himself. Ro Khanna from California. 17. Question how many in the shoe, specifically how many inmates would there typically be in each cell? Answer it could be one or two. Is there any rhyme or reason as to whether it's one or two? So the shoe doesn't have to be full? If it's full, then it will be two, because the maximum it can hold in one cell is two. But it could be just one. As far as you can recall, would it be one in every cell and then once that's done, you start adding cellmates? No. So like for example, let's say if on L tier there is like, everybody paired up and somebody got in trouble from a different unit and they're coming and they're single, they have to place them in a cell so they may be alone until somebody else comes in that has to go to the shoe. Or if somebody else got in trouble, then they could pair them with them. Or if for whatever reason that inmate, for whatever their stipulation is, needs to be with someone, they can move someone from someplace else and put them with them. So it can be single or double, depending on what specific inmate is going on. Question thank you. That's helpful. The shoe, I think we read, had two different entrances, a primary entrance and a secondary entrance. Is that right? Answer Correct. Question what was the difference between those entrances in terms of who would use them? Answer so for the outer door, that has to be properly by control, the inner door, someone on the inside has to let you in. Question Got It. But is it right that there were. So I understand that the way to get into the Shoe, where you have to go through two different doors. Answer. Correct question. Was there a totally different second way to get into the shoe? A different entrance of any kind? Was it just the one you're describing? Answer the one I'm describing. That's the only one that I know. The double doors. Question. Okay. Can you describe your recollection of how a typical cell in the Shoe would be laid out? It's a bunk bed and the bathroom area, if you want to call it that's pretty much it, a bunk bed. And I think like a sink, a toilet, and a little mirror, I guess. And you talked about this a little bit. Where did the CO sit that were on duty? In the shoe. When you come into the shoe? In the common area, right in the middle. Question. Is there like a table and chairs kind of thing? It's a desk, like an L. From that desk, were you able to see all cell doors, any cell doors? What could you see in terms of the cells? From the desk? Answer from the desk, if you're sitting, because the desk is an L. So if you're on this side. No. If you're on the front side, then you can see just the beginning of the L tier on the right side. So you can see the door. Question. And from that point at the desk, would you, if you remember, would you have been able to see Mr. Epstein's cell door from the front of the desk? Yes. Would you have been able to see into his cell? No. Question. Would you have been able to see from, I guess, that spot on the desk, anybody entering or exiting the Shoe? Definitely. And there was a separate unit that got mentioned. Call 10 South. Correct. What is 10 South? So on the last tier, you can go up the stairs and go to 10 South. That's a more secure area. And it's like a wing up there, but it's laid out differently. It's supposed to be more secure than the Shoe, and shoe is secure. What's the typical difference, or was the typical difference between inmates in 10 south versus in the shoe? How do you land in 10 south? How do you land in 10 South? I don't know. But I do know that in 10 south you're not coming out, whereas they get an hour in chew to come out. You're not coming out. You can't even go to your attorney. The attorney goes up to 10 south to you. So it's very secure. But as far as I know, how you get to 10 South. I'm not aware. Question. Is it correct that the only way to get into 10 south is to go through the SHU answer shoe? Correct. 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, we're to going where we left off. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.