The House Oversight Committee announced on Friday it is seeking to hear testimony later this month from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s prison guards, as Congress continues to probe the deceased financier.
Tova Noel is one of the Metropolitan Correctional Center prison guards who was on duty when Epstein died in the New York facility in 2019, according to Chairman James Comer (R-KY). At the time, authorities attributed Epstein’s death to suicide, an assessment that the FBI reiterated last year. However, that conclusion has been questioned by some critics.
Comer requested that Noel sit for a transcribed interview on March 26. The development comes after newly released documents from the Justice Department revealed that the prison guard Googled “latest on Epstein in jail” twice, minutes before he was discovered dead in his cell, according to the New York Post.
“Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, and documents obtained by the Committee, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation,” Comer wrote in a letter to Noel.
Another prison guard, Michael Thomas, is the one who discovered Epstein in his cell. Both Thomas and Noel were later fired from their jobs after admitting to falsifying records to say they checked on Epstein throughout the night before his death. Criminal charges against both guards were later dropped in 2022 in a prosecution deal. At the time, prosecutors said the two guards shopped online, took breaks, and napped instead of checking Epstein’s cell every 30 minutes as required.
“Because of the fact that, honestly, most people on the committee aren’t confident 100% that Epstein’s death was by suicide, we’re going to ask Ms. Noel to come in for a transcribed interview,” Comer told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Tuesday.
EPSTEIN ACCOUNTANT RICHARD RICHARD KAHN FACES HOUSE OVERSIGHT QUESTIONS IN CLOSED-DOOR DEPOSITION
During the interview, Comer also said he wanted to question Noel about a $5,000 deposit she made 10 days before Epstein’s death that a bank had flagged as being suspicious.
“That’s a mystery there, and that’s something that, according to the DOJ documents, they never looked into, never asked her about,” Comer said.
