Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Inside The OIG Interview: The Testimony Of The Electrical Engineer From MCC (Part 8) (4/27/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:03Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up
- 0:06where we left off with the interview given by the
- 0:09electrical engineer to the OIG investigators. Question Okay, and as
- 0:16far as that that is the one and only camera,
- 0:18that one that was up by ten South that was working. Answer, Yes,
- 0:23that was working. Question all right? Then nothing else, nothing
- 0:27else that was ever working? Answer on there were other
- 0:30ones in the sally Port, but nothing as far as
- 0:33the shoe, that was the only one in the shoe
- 0:35question all right, So as far as that camera though,
- 0:39that was showing people who was going in and out
- 0:42of the shoe? Was that working? Answer on the ninth
- 0:45Sally I'm not too sure question Okay, answer that I'm
- 0:49not too sure about. Question. You just said it was working.
- 0:52Answer I'm not I'm not too sure if it was
- 0:55working or recording. The Sally camera was recording? Question Yeah,
- 1:00that's what I was saying. The difference between working and
- 1:03recording to him is if it's actually a live feed.
- 1:08Answer yeah, I can't tell you that. It gets confusing.
- 1:12Question But all right, and again you believe that, sorry,
- 1:15start over, you believe that Epstein took his own life.
- 1:18Answer yes, based on the agent's question, you said you
- 1:22were doing feeding. Did you do feeding on el tier
- 1:25after the tier that Epstein was found in? Answer? I
- 1:29probably did, yeah, because I don't really I probably did.
- 1:33Question how long were you up there for? Answer? I
- 1:36don't know. Question do you recall if his cell was
- 1:39secured or if it was left open? Answer? Initially it
- 1:42was probably left open. Question for how long? Answer? I
- 1:47don't know. I'm not too sure. But then I think
- 1:51when I came back to feed, because we lock all
- 1:53the cells, it's probably locked when I started doing the feeding.
- 1:57Question but there were CEOs going in and out of
- 2:00their answer. No, there's no reason to go inside of
- 2:03a cell, and everybody knows, like after a suicide, it's
- 2:06a crime scene, so usually you just stay away from
- 2:09the cell. Question do you recall approximately when you came
- 2:15and they secured it as a crime scene? Answer I'm
- 2:18not too sure when that happened. Question but it wasn't
- 2:21secured when you left. Answer when when I went down
- 2:25there for the body alarm, it wasn't secure. I mean
- 2:28when I took him down to medical doing chess compressions,
- 2:31it wasn't secured. But when I came back upstairs, it
- 2:35was secured. The door was locked, I believe. Question and
- 2:38I know that I was honing in on or addacted.
- 2:41But what about Noel? Did you see Noel near the
- 2:43officer's station at all? Answer? I believe she received a
- 2:48phone call or somebody wanted to see what was going on,
- 2:52ask them like what happened? Or he gets cut off
- 2:55by the investigator. Did you see her manipulating any files
- 2:59or did with any paperwork? Answer I don't believe so,
- 3:03question no. All right, And then going back to our
- 3:07initial conversation, you said that you put in a work
- 3:10order for Signet. Was that on the ninth Answer probably before? Yeah.
- 3:17Question no, that would have been August ninth, the day
- 3:19before Epstein was found. Answer yeah, I was just troubleshooting
- 3:23with them. I was on the phone with them. It's
- 3:25not really a work order, just you know, call them up, Hey,
- 3:28this is what's going on. What should we do? Question okay,
- 3:32So there would be no paperwork showing. Answer from Signet.
- 3:36They would have the paperwork. Question so they would show
- 3:41that you called answer yes, and that you said that
- 3:44these things were down. Answer yes, and I was having problems.
- 3:48Question and you have any of those files? Answer? No,
- 3:52they have their own files that they keep. Question just
- 3:55they would be able to like he gets cut off. Yeah,
- 3:58and I was on since that. I was pretty much
- 4:01on the phone with them for like a week after that,
- 4:03so they would have the records of what I called
- 4:06or whatever happened. Question all right, and then as far
- 4:09as you know, we're going way to the beginning. You
- 4:12said that you were did you you were interviewed by
- 4:16the FBI? You said on the tenth You were also
- 4:19interviewed by them after the tenth of August. Answer, because
- 4:24I was a subject matter expert as far as the
- 4:26cameras go. So they want to know, like, how can
- 4:30you find video? If you could find video, what can
- 4:32I do? And then they came in the next day
- 4:36and they tried to as soon as I found the video.
- 4:38That's the real video they wanted because they wanted to
- 4:41make sure they had something in it, because they were
- 4:44pretty mad that there was no video at all. And
- 4:46I found that video because I wasn't sure that was
- 4:49on the recorders or what wasn't on the recorders at
- 4:53that point. Question, And that's the tenth South video. Answer yes.
- 4:58Question and do you know so if that video ever
- 5:01was enhanced to be able to see it more clearly? Answer,
- 5:04I have no idea if they did or did not.
- 5:07Question But you did not answer no, I did not
- 5:10do that. Question do you even have that ability to
- 5:13do that? Answer? Not without software? We have no not
- 5:16going to happen. Question you mentioned that maybe I'm mistaken.
- 5:20You mentioned that there was a work order created prior
- 5:23to the ninth for the camera. Answer Yeah, there were
- 5:26a few work orders that the recorders were going down
- 5:29or failing, we have problems. Question when were those created? Answer?
- 5:35Maybe a year before or six months before. It was
- 5:38just a constant thing as far as the camera is
- 5:41not working, because we was trying to get upgraded. We
- 5:45were trying to get money spent. So we have to
- 5:47create anytime there's a problem, I have to create a
- 5:50work order to tell like the regional office like there's
- 5:53a problem, but it's a work order over ten thousand,
- 5:56so they have to put money aside to do the
- 5:58work like. It's not a quick fix to fix the recorders.
- 6:02Question and these recorders were maintained in house or only
- 6:05by signette? Answer the work order we have or maintained
- 6:09here in house. Question who would have access to that?
- 6:13Answer the facility manager. Anybody in facilities pretty much would
- 6:17have access to it. But really facility manager. Question on
- 6:20August ninth, when you saw that the system was down,
- 6:24has it gone down just like that before? Answer? Yeah.
- 6:27Question how long did it take you to fix it? Answer?
- 6:30Sometimes maybe a day, maybe two days, maybe a couple
- 6:33of days. And the thing, and I have to stress
- 6:36this also is just because I saw it down. Because
- 6:39I don't check it every day. I don't know if
- 6:41it was down for a week, a month. You know,
- 6:43it's not one of those things that you check all
- 6:45the time. But I would since we're having problems more readily,
- 6:49I would always check like once a week to make
- 6:51sure that it was working. But before it was not like, Okay,
- 6:55I've got to get up there and check it out
- 6:57because it was happening. Question That was my next question.
- 7:01Did you just happen to walk in there one day? Answer?
- 7:04I already knew we were having issues, and I think
- 7:07I got the hard drives out because I was going
- 7:10to take them up there and see what was going on.
- 7:13Question Now, based on the fact that this happened before, right,
- 7:16was that same exact situation, the same exact drives. Answer?
- 7:21I think it switched. It could have been recorder one
- 7:24and then a recorder two. I don't think it was
- 7:27just the same recorder all the time, because one recorder
- 7:30was actually the whole motherboard have to get replaced. And
- 7:33that was again I think that was a recorder too.
- 7:36And before drives would go out on one or two,
- 7:39so it was just random. They were old. They just
- 7:41needed to get replaced. Question and at that point you
- 7:44knew that the drives were not recording? Answer? Yeah, Question
- 7:49were any actions taken to make sure that this does
- 7:51not happen in the future, that at least something would
- 7:54be recorded? Answer yes, exactly that question what acts were taken? Answer? Now,
- 8:02we have redundant drives, so if one drive fails, you
- 8:05always have a backup. No, No, I'm talking about prior
- 8:09to the ninth Oh, prior to the ninth No, there
- 8:12was really nothing. They just knew we had problems. We
- 8:15had ordered the new system. We were online to get
- 8:18it installed, but we were just not lucky to get
- 8:20it installed. Question and the record would show that there
- 8:24was an order answer yeah, and that we have the
- 8:27shipping stuff for the system. Actually it was here, it
- 8:30was in the building. Question you just didn't get it
- 8:34installed yet? Answer? Didn't get it installed. It got installed
- 8:37a couple on What happened on the ninth, tenth or eleventh,
- 8:40that's when the new system got installed. Question Yeah, the
- 8:44other thing. We've already asked you this, but I just
- 8:47want to make sure. So the title of your supervisor
- 8:49did you say? Facilities manager? Answer? Yeah? Question and how
- 8:54would we again figure out who that was at the time? Answer?
- 8:58I don't know. You would just have to ask. I'm
- 9:00not too sure who the facility managers was. Question but
- 9:04you don't even know how indiscernible. Answer I think it
- 9:07was redacted. But I'm not too sure because he was
- 9:10maybe acting at the time, but I don't think that
- 9:12he had the position yet. Question Is he a facilities
- 9:16manager now? Answer? Now, yes he is. Question And again,
- 9:20you know who notified whoever was the facilities manager at
- 9:23the time? Answer or my general foreman. Usually it's one
- 9:27of the two. I usually notified them both. Question So
- 9:31the general manager or general foreman? Answer and general foreman. Yeah,
- 9:37I have to notify somebody. I can't just walk out
- 9:40of the building and not say anything. Question and you
- 9:43said you're positive you definitely made those notifications. Answer, Yeah,
- 9:47I had to because I was coming back the next
- 9:50day to work. Question you said it was the general foreman.
- 9:55Answer yes, question and you know he gets cut off
- 9:59by the engineer. But I don't even think we had
- 10:02a general foreman. I'm not too sure it was two
- 10:04years ago. I'm not even sure if we had a
- 10:07general foreman. Question and being though that this was such
- 10:11a big deal and that these cameras were such a
- 10:13big part of it, did you ever learn if either
- 10:15of those people ever passed the information up? Answer? No question.
- 10:20So no, that was never spoken of. Answer, no question,
- 10:24And you guys didn't you never had the conversation with
- 10:27those supervisors after the fact. Answer did we have a
- 10:31conversation after I never really asked if if it got
- 10:35I'm pretty sure everybody knew it wasn't working because I
- 10:38came back the next day. Question, So did they ever?
- 10:42Did anyone ever say anything to you about, like, Hey,
- 10:46why didn't you tell me? Answer? No, I don't get
- 10:49that no question, no answer. No, I'm not going to
- 10:53get that question all right, answer because I would have
- 10:57told somebody I'm not going to leave because I can
- 11:00from another jail. I can't just leave it not say anything.
- 11:03Question So like SIS or the captain never came up
- 11:06to you and said, hey, what happened? Why didn't you
- 11:10let anybody know? Answer? No questions? So okay, answer because
- 11:15it was a known problem that the recorders were going down,
- 11:18so I'd have to say, hey, this is what's going on.
- 11:24Question gotcha? Answer, I'm trying to fix it. I'll be
- 11:27back tomorrow. Question Okay, I think that's all I've got
- 11:32the other investigator, that's all I have. Is there anything
- 11:34else you think that we should have asked you that
- 11:37we didn't ask? Answer? It's an investigation. I just hope
- 11:40this never happens again. I mean, I was comfortable because
- 11:44I came from another institution. I knew what I was
- 11:47doing as far as the cameras and recorders, and I
- 11:50know that all the stuff works. But I just with
- 11:52the Bureau would be more proactive as far as maintenance
- 11:56and buying new stuff. Like I know now that they're
- 11:58like more on top of everything. But it's not really
- 12:01it's not good question, all right, answer, that's just my
- 12:05only thing. Question so still to date? Answer, Yeah, they
- 12:09still got to do a lot of improvements. Question Okay,
- 12:12so you don't believe it's actually been rectified. There still
- 12:16needs a lot of work. Answer, Oh, yeah, I've been
- 12:19to other institutions. There's a lot of camera work that
- 12:21needs to get done. Question so just to keep up
- 12:25to date with other institutions. Answer, no, this institution's fine.
- 12:29I've done a lot of overtime here. Question Oh oh sure,
- 12:32I thought that's what you were saying. I thought you
- 12:34meant mcc is not up to speed. Answer No, we're
- 12:38up to speed. We're ahead of the curve. We got
- 12:40IP cameras pretty much everywhere. But I'm just saying overall,
- 12:43I just wish the Bureau was more proactive, and like
- 12:47when I came to this institution, for instance, like there
- 12:50was only one camera in a housing unit. When I
- 12:53came in Brooklyn, i was custody, it was cameras all
- 12:56over the place. I went to Indiana and I was
- 12:59a contented out a complex which was a high, medium low.
- 13:03There's a camp, there's a death row, there's cameras everywhere.
- 13:07I come to this jail in New York City and
- 13:10I'm expecting cameras everywhere, and one of the first things
- 13:13was like, oh, we don't have the money for that.
- 13:15We don't have the money for this, We don't have
- 13:17the money for that. And I just kept saying, Hey,
- 13:20you guys got to do something. This is the problem.
- 13:23God forbid, this is what happened. But I just wish
- 13:27there was more proactivity. Like he gets cut off, but
- 13:30right now mcc is up to speed. Answer we're good. Yeah,
- 13:34we're good. We don't have any issues. Question So when
- 13:37you made that statement, you're talking about other facilities. Answer yeah,
- 13:41other facilities in general. I wish the Bureau would invest
- 13:44more money. Question Okay, answer, and training too, Like just
- 13:50getting new equipment, that's not it. Also train the staff
- 13:53because even like when I learned how to do the
- 13:55camera stuff, it was just me over the phone with signet.
- 13:58I never really went to physical training. Hey, redacted, this
- 14:02is the system that you have. Take this drive out,
- 14:04do X, Y and Z. I'm just like I'm on
- 14:07the phone, I'm looking at it. Okay, the light is
- 14:09this color? This is I'm a smart guy. I could
- 14:12figure it out. But at the same time, somebody that's
- 14:15not really savvy, Yeah, they're going to be lost. Question
- 14:19all right, thank you so much for taking your time.
- 14:22I know you just had to leave training, so I
- 14:24really appreciate that. Thank you, mister redacted again. So if
- 14:30there's nothing else, this is Special Agent Redacted. The time
- 14:33is three forty four pm on Thursday July fifteenth, twenty
- 14:36twenty one. I'm turning off the recorder, ending the interview
- 14:40and turning off the recorder. All right, So there is
- 14:43the deposition given by the electrical engineer to go along
- 14:47with the other depositions that we've heard. And folks, we're
- 14:50just getting started. We have a lot of files to
- 14:53get through and a lot of ground to cover, and
- 14:55to do that, we're going to keep eating this elephant,
- 14:58one bite at a time. All the information that goes
- 15:02with this episode can be found in the description box.