House Oversight Questions Tova Noel About Epstein’s Final Hours (5/19/26)

Former MCC guard Tova Noel, believed to be the last person to see Jeffrey Epstein alive before his death in August 2019, testified before the House Oversight Committee that Epstein received “special treatment” while housed at the federal jail in Manhattan. According to lawmakers who attended the interview, Noel said Epstein was treated differently from other inmates, including receiving extra bed linens, access to a CPAP machine, and medications in a manner that stood out from normal inmate handling. That testimony immediately sharpened the central question surrounding Epstein’s custody: not simply whether he died by suicide, but how a high-profile inmate who had reportedly attempted suicide weeks earlier was still able to obtain the very materials later tied to his death.Noel also addressed questions about roughly $12,000 in cash deposits she received between April 2018 and July 2019, including one deposit shortly before Epstein died, saying those transfers had nothing to do with Epstein. Lawmakers noted that earlier FBI review of her bank records did not find evidence of a bribe, but the broader picture remains damning for MCC’s basic security failures. Noel and another guard had previously been charged with falsifying records to make it appear they performed required inmate checks, with both later reaching deals that led to the charges being dropped. The testimony adds another layer to the long-running scrutiny of Epstein’s death: a facility already plagued by staffing failures, missed rounds, falsified logs, unexplained special privileges, and a chain of custody so broken that even lawmakers who accept the official suicide finding are still asking how the system allowed it to happen.to contact me:[email protected]:Epstein got 'special treatment' in jail, former guard tells House Oversight Committee - ABC News