Tova Noel, the prison guard on duty the night of Jeffrey Epstein’s death, is the latest witness to give testimony as part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into the late convicted sex offender.
The circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death have dramatically fueled conspiracy theories around the case, despite the fact that the Justice Department determined that Epstein died by suicide behind bars.
Noel, who appeared for a closed-door interview Monday with the committee, has said she believes she was the last person to see Epstein alive.
“Jeffrey Epstein got special treatment in that facility,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) said Monday. “He got access to medications in a way no one else did. He got access to extra bed linens, which helped him commit suicide. He got access to a CPAP machine, which had a long cord. And so Jeffrey Epstein — just like Ghislaine Maxwell, right now — was given special treatment in incarceration.“
Maxwell, the only co-conspirator in Epstein’s schemes to be convicted, was transferred to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas after she sat for questioning with then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — a move that was highly criticized.
Few lawmakers on the Oversight panel attended the transcribed interview with Noel, as there are no votes scheduled in the House until Wednesday. Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) was unable to participate due to family obligations back home, according to a committee spokesperson.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), who attended part of the interview Monday, blamed the poor attendance on the “chaotic majority” and “the constant changing of the schedule.”
She added that she believed Noel had been forthcoming with the panel.
Noel and a co-worker were previously charged with falsifying records at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in what the DOJ called an effort to hide the fact that they were not performing their jobs. The charges were ultimately dropped after the two abided by the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement.
A spokesperson for Noel did not return a request for comment.
