Lawmakers question guard believed to be last person to see Epstein alive
Members of the House Oversight Committee are set to interview Tova Noel on Monday morning, bringing the woman believed to be the last person to see Jeffrey Epstein alive back into the center of questions surrounding his death. Noel was a correctional officer on duty at New York’s Metropolitan Corrections Center when Epstein was found dead in his cell in 2019.
New York’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide, but failures inside the jail and lingering questions surrounding his final hours have kept the case under renewed scrutiny. That attention intensified again earlier this month after Epstein’s suicide note was made public.
Why lawmakers want to hear from Noel
Noel has remained a central figure in questions surrounding Epstein’s death because of her actions during the hours before he was found unresponsive.
Federal prosecutors previously accused Noel and another prison guard of failing to perform required inmate checks and falsifying records to make it appear those checks had been completed. The two later reached an agreement with prosecutors that led to the charges being dropped.
Now, lawmakers want to speak with her again because they “aren’t confident 100% that Epstein’s death was by suicide,” according to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer.
Comer said the committee is not accusing Noel of wrongdoing, “but we have a lot of questions about Epstein.”
Investigators previously reviewed financial records and video
Investigators also reviewed a series of cash deposits Noel received between April 2018 and July 2019 totaling roughly $12,000.
Authorities also examined internet searches linked to Noel, including one asking for the “latest on Epstein in jail.”
ABC News reports investigators found no evidence that the deposits or searches were tied to bribery, and Noel later told the Justice Department inspector general that she did not remember making the searches.
When the Justice Department released the Epstein files, it also included surveillance video from the jail the night Epstein died. In that video, a flash of orange appears near Epstein’s cell. The inspector general identified the person as a corrections officer “believed to be Noel” carrying linens to the area.
Noel, however, disputed that account in a sworn 2021 interview, saying she “never gave out linen” and denying she provided Epstein with anything that could have been used to make a noose.
Noel’s interview with the House Oversight Committee is scheduled to take place behind closed doors.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
