Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Tova Noel And The Transcript From Her Congressional Testimony (Part 1) (6/18/26)

Transcript

Tova Noel And The Transcript From Her Congressional Testimony (Part 1) (6/18/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. Now that we finished up with the Sarah
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Kellen transcript from her visit to Congress, we're going to
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begin diving in to tauven Noll's, who, of course, was
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one of the guards that was tasked with watching Jeffrey
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Epstein on the night that he died. And the person
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asking the questions this time around is miss fair Abend.
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This is a transcribed interview of Toauvin O Well conducted
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by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform granted
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to it pursuant a House Rule X. Accordingly, House Rule
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X grants, the Committee brought jurisdiction for the Committee to
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conduct investigations of any matter at any time. This interview
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was requested by Chairman James Comer as part of the
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Committee's investigation into the circumstances and subsequent investigations into the
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crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Glenn Maxwell, the operation of
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sex trafficking rings, and waits for the federal government to
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effectively combat them, the ways in which mister Epstein and
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Miss Maxwell sought to curry favor and exercise influence to
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protect their illegal activities and potential violations of ethics rules
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related to elected officials. Can the witness please state her
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name and spell her last name for the record, Miss Noel,
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Tova Noel no E l, Miss Farra Bend. I want
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to thank Miss Noel for appearing here voluntarily today. My
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name is Emily Feyer Bend and I'm counsel for Chairman
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James Comer. Under the Committee on Oversight and Government Reforms rules,
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you're allowed to have council present to advise you during
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this interview. Do you have counsel representing you in a
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personal capacity present with you today, Miss Noel, yes, question.
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Will counsel please identify themselves for the record. Mister Foy,
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Jason Foy, Mister Brioche, Rudy Brioche, Miss Fierra Bend, thank
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you and for the record. Starting with the Majority staff,
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can the additional staff members please introduce themselves with their name,
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title and affiliation. Billy Grant, Deputy Chief Council for Investigations
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Chairman Comber, Jack Emmer, Chief Council for Investigations for Chairman Comber.
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Mister Ashworth, General Council for Chairman Comber. Ryan Giaketty, Chief
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Council for Chairman Comber. Will Harnie, Professional staff Member for
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Chairman Comber. Hannah Cathay, Professional staff Member Chairman Comer, Ellison
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Tolan Council Chairman Comber, Brittany Brignac, Senior Council for Chairman Comber.
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Ashley Vineyard, Deputy Staff Director for Chairman Comber. Mister Spector
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Peter Spector, Director of Oversight for Chairman Comer, Mallory Koeger,
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Director of Operations and Chief Clerk for Chairman Comber. The
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next group of names all redacted, so we're just going
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to skip them, Miss Fierra Ben and thank you all.
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And I also see that we have a member that
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just joined us. Would he please identify himself? Mister Walkinshaw,
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Good morning. I am James Walkinshaw from Virginia's eleventh District. Question.
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Thank you, Miss Noel. Before we begin, I'd like to
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go over the ground rules for this transcribed interview. The
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questioning will proceed in rounds. The majority will ask questions
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for up to an hour, and then the minority will
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have the opportunity to ask questions for up to an
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hour if they choose. To the extent. The members have
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questions for the witness. They will be propounded during the
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side's respective rounds. The clock will stop if you need
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to confer with counsel, your council is speaking, and when
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members of staff are speaking. During the opposing sides round
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of questions, we'll alternate back and forth until there are
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no more questions. Do you understand Miss Noel, yes, ma'am question?
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There is a court reporter taking down everything I say
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and everything you say to make a written record of
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the For the record to be clear, please wait until
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the staffer questioning you finishes each question before you begin
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your answer, and the staffer will wait until you finish
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your response before proceeding to the next question. Further, to
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ensure the court reporter can properly record this interview, please
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speak clearly, concisely, and slowly. Also, the court reporter cannot
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record nonverbal answers, such as nodding or shaking your head,
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so it's important that you answer each question with an
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audible verbal answer. The exhibits may be entered into the record.
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Majority exhibits will be identified numerically, Minority exhibits will be
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identified alphabetically. Do you understand Miss Noel, yes, ma'am? Question?
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We want you to answer our questions in the most
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complete and truthful manner possible, so we'll take our time.
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If you have any questions or do not fully understand question,
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please let us know. We will attempt to clarify, add
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context to, or rephrase our questions. If we ask about
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specific conversations or events in the past, and you're unable
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to recall the exact words or details, you should testify
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to the substance of those conversations or events to the
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best of your recollection. If you recall only a part
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of a conversation or event, you should give us your
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best recollection of those events or parts of conversations that
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you recall. Do you understand Miss Nova, yes, ma'am question.
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Although you're here voluntarily and you will not be sworn in,
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you are required by law pursuing the Title eighteen of
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the US Code, Section one thousand and one to answer
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questions from Congress truthfully. This also applies to questions posed
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by Congressional staff in the interview. Do you understand Miss Noel, Yes,
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ma'am question. This includes both knowingly providing false testimony, but
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also stating that you do not recall or remember something
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when in fact you do do you understand? Furthermore, you
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cannot tell half truths or exclude information necessary to make
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your statements accurate. You're required to provide all information that
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would make your response truthful. A deliberate failure to disclose
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information can constitute a false statement. Do you understand, Miss Noel,
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Yes ma'am question? Is there any reason that you are
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unable to provide truthful testimony in today's interview? Noel, no
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ma'am question. Please note that if you wish to assert
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privilege over any statement today, that assertion must comply with
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the rules of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
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pursu into that Committee. Rule sixteen see one states for
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the charit to consider assertions of privilege over testimony or statements,
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witnesses or entities must clearly state the specific privilege being
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asserted and the reason for the assertion honor before the
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scheduled date of testimony or appearance. Do you understand, Miss Noel,
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yes ma'am question. Ordinarily we take five men and a
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break at the end of each hour of questioning, but
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if you need a longer break or a break before that,
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please let us know and we'll be happy to accommodate. However,
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to the extent that there is a pending question, we
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would ask you finish answering the question before we take
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the break. Do you understand miss Noel, Yes, ma'am question.
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Do you have any other questions before we begin? Noel, no,
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ma'am question. I understand you have an opening statement. Would
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you like to read that now? Noel? Yes, Good morning.
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My name is Touvin Noel and I'm thirty seven years old.
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I appear here today voluntarily in response to the request
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of the House Oversight Committee to answer questions about the
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circumstances and subsequent investigation of the death of mister Jeffrey
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Epstein in twenty nineteen. Before I begin my opening statement,
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I would like to take a moment to say that
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my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein,
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and that my decision to voluntarily appear before this committee
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in part is influenced by my desire to provide clarity
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for the women harmed by mister Epstein and as co conspirators.
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I emigrated from Antigua to the United States when I
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was twelve years old. At sixteen, I graduated high school
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in Pennsylvania. When I turned seventeen, I attempted to enlist
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in the United States Army, but was unable to do so.
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I was a minor and my mother refused to consent
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to my enlistment. When I turned nineteen years old, I
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enlisted and served in the Army National Guard for six years,
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receiving an honorable discharge in twenty fourteen. During my military service,
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I was deployed during Operation and During Freedom, and stationed
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in Kuwait. While serving our country, I became a US
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citizen in two thousand and nine. During my final year
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in the Army, I finished college level courses and earned
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an Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice in twenty fourteen.
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I went back to school to earn a bachelor's degree
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in criminal justice from John Jay College. In twenty seventeen,
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where I earned my bachelor's degree, I briefly worked at
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the United States Postal Service until the opportunity to work
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as a Federal correctional officer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
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I decided to pursue the role because it was in
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the criminal justice field. On June twenty fourth, twenty eighteen,
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I began working for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. I
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was assigned to the MCC in Manhattan around March twenty nineteen.
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During my first year as a Federal correctional officer, I
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sustained an injury on the job. While on leave, I
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missed training classes that were required to be assigned to
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the shoe. These training courses were specifically related to the
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duties and responsibilities to work in the shoe. When I
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returned to work in June twenty nineteen, I was assigned
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to work in the shoe, even though I never received
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the required specialized training. Prior to June twenty nineteen, I
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never worked in the shoe. When I was assigned to
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the shoe, I was instructed to sign a document that
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indicated that I received the shoe training. When I advised
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my supervisor that I did not receive the training, I
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was told not to worry about it. I was instructed
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to sign so that the facility could pass its program review.
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When I was placed in the shoe, I was assigned
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to the four pm to midnight shift most of the time.
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Due to understaffing issues, my colleagues and I were required
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to work overtime on a regular basis to avoid being
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mandated or work a second consecutive shift at midnight. I
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would often volunteer to work the eight am to four
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pm shift and then work my regular shift from four
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to midnight. When mister Epstein was lodged at the mcc
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honor about July sixth, twenty nineteen, I did not know
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who he was or anything about his past. I had
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limited interactions with mister Epstein because he spent most of
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each day downstairs in the attorney conference room. I wasn't
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aware of the public's interest in mister Epstein until shortly
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after the July twenty third, twenty nineteen incident, when he
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was placed on suicide watch. I wasn't working the shift
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when the July twenty third incident occurred. On August ninth,
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twenty nineteen, I was scheduled to work by four pm
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to midnight shift. Because I had a personal obligation that day,
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I could not work the eight am to four pm shift.
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As a result, I was mandated to work the August tenth,
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twenty nineteen, midnight to eight am shift. It was also
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my first time that I worked in the shoe with
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Officer Michael Thomas. It was my understanding that Officer Thomas
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was working the midnight shift in addition to working his
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assigned eight am to four pm shift on August ninth
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and tenth, twenty nineteen. I acknowledged with full candor that
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I did not execute the counts and the rounds properly.
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I admit that there were tasks that I failed to
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complete which resulted in the improper execution and inaccurate documentation
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of the counts and the rounds. The failure to execute
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my duties and my responsibilities properly, and the submission of
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it inaccurate documentation were not related to mister Epstein or
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his death in any way. The inaccurate documentation were executed
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at the beginning of each shift and were not done
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to cover up my conduct or the conduct of my colleague.
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At the time, I considered what I was doing as
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the MCC way. I used the term mcc way because
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it's a phrase I heard countless times from multiple colleagues
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while learning on the job prior to being assigned to
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the shoe. There's only one problem with this opening statement.
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It doesn't match up with what we've heard from the
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other interviews with the OIG. In other words, I was
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trained in a way that suggested that the policy guidance
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and operation protocols set forth and writing by the Federal
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Bureau of Prisons may be applied differently at MCC. My
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conduct regarding documentation and execution of the counts and rounds
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was based on what I observed experienced officers doing. Because
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I believe that video surveillance cameras inside MCC were working properly,
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I was not at tempting to get away with something
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that I believed to be a crime. It was a
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surprise to me to learn months later that the video
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surveillance system was not working properly. Again, my failure to
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complete those duties were not because of mister Epstein. My
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inadequate job performance was due to my inexperience, inadequate training,
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and being overworked due to understaffing issues. The amount of
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overtime I was required to do resulted in my me
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earning my full base salary an approximately six months time
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on the job. As a result, my inadequate performance on
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the shoe on August nineth and tenth of twenty nineteen
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was based on the dysfunctional culture at MCC, which was
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well documented in multiple reports issued by the Department of Justice,
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Office of the Inspector General. The same report that didn't
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say that he tried to commit suicide three times. That
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report got it. My responsibility was to conduct counts and
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rounds was improperly executed because of severe understaffing, a lack
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of adequate training, inadequate communication between management and frontline correctional officers,
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and other systemic failures. The systemic failures at the MCC
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were documented by the Office of Inspector General and multiple
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journalists long before the death of mister Epstein. The systemic
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failures were communicated to the Federal Bureau of Prisons leadership
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by the Correctional Officers union leadership long before mister Epstein's death.
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The only connection I have to the death of mister
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Epstein is that I happen to be mandated for over
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time when he died. No, you were responsible for making
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sure that that didn't happen. And you see what they're
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doing here, right, everybody's coming in with the same story.
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Let's blame the system so nobody is held responsible and
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then we can all just get away with it. My
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life has drastically changed since August tenth, twenty nineteen. Since
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that day, my life has been extremely difficult. This situation
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has been one of the hardest things I've experienced in
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my life. Well, if you didn't fall asleep. For over
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two years, my freedom was in jeopardy. After the case
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against me was dismissed in twenty twenty one, with the
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unwavering support of my family, friends, co workers, my attorney
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Jason Foy, and God, I thought that I would be
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able to privately rebuild my life and my career. Instead,
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I have been consistently the subject of threats of my life,
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conspiracy theories, and outrageous rumors impacting my mental and physical health.
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I have received threats from strangers. I have witnessed strangers
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pontificate about whether I'm a murderer or that I'll end
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up dead. I am consistently harassed at my residence, place
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of employment, in emails and on the phone. Every few weeks,
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there's a new article based on a new theory with
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little to no factual basis. When Congress passed the Epstein
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Files Transparency Act, my personal identification information was released to
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the public without proper redaction of my debt of birth
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and other personal information. Sorry, you're a government official. You
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were being paid by the American tax How can we
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hold anyone accountable if your name is redacted? And now
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I've been asked to come before you to speak for
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the first time publicly and answer your questions related to
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the investigation and death of mister Epstein. My goal today
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is to be honestly. My goal today is to honestly
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answer the committee's questions to the best of my recollection,
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and finally put this behind me permanently. I would like
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to ask the world to allow me to heal and
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move on with my life. I'm not a criminal. I
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didn't inspire to cause mister Epstein's death. It's my desire
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to be left alone. After all of today's interview, Thank
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you all right, folks, We're gonna wrap up right here,
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and in the next episode we're gonna pick up where
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we left off. All the information that goes with this
16:44
episode can be found in the description box.