House Oversight Committee Demands Interview with Former Epstein Prison Guard

Panel seeks information from guard on duty during Epstein's death in 2019

Mar. 13, 2026 at 4:51pm

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The House Oversight Committee is requesting an interview with Tova Noel, a former prison guard who was on duty the day Jeffrey Epstein died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. The committee believes Noel has information that could assist its investigation into Epstein's death, which was ruled a suicide. Noel and another guard were previously charged with falsifying records, but the case was later dropped.

Why it matters

Epstein's death in federal custody sparked widespread speculation and conspiracy theories, with many questioning the circumstances surrounding his apparent suicide. The House Oversight Committee's investigation aims to shed more light on the events leading up to and surrounding Epstein's death in order to provide answers and reassure the public.

The details

The House Oversight Committee sent a letter to Tova Noel, a former guard at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, requesting an interview as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's death. Noel and another guard, Michael Thomas, were previously charged with falsifying records, but the case was later dropped. The Justice Department had alleged that Noel and Thomas 'sat at their desk, browsed the internet, and moved around the common area' instead of conducting required inmate counts, and then 'repeatedly signed false certifications' to cover up their failure to perform their duties.

  • Jeffrey Epstein died in August 2019 while in federal custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.

The players

Tova Noel

A former prison guard at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York who was on duty the day Jeffrey Epstein died.

Michael Thomas

Another former guard at the Metropolitan Correctional Center who was charged along with Tova Noel for falsifying records, though the case was later dropped.

House Oversight Committee

A congressional committee investigating the circumstances surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's death in federal custody.

Jeffrey Epstein

A financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide while in federal custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in 2019.

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What they’re saying

“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.”

— House Oversight Committee

“For substantial portions of their shifts, Noel and [Michael] Thomas sat at their desk, browsed the internet, and moved around the common area ....To conceal their failure to perform their duties, Noel and Thomas repeatedly signed false certifications attesting to having conducted multiple counts of inmates that they did not do.”

— Department of Justice

“There's no DNA, there's no audio, there's no fingerprints, there's no suspects, there's no accomplices, there's no tips, there is nothing.”

— Dan Bongino, Former FBI Deputy Director

What’s next

The House Oversight Committee will interview Tova Noel, the former prison guard who was on duty the day Jeffrey Epstein died, as part of its ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death.

The takeaway

The House Oversight Committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's death in federal custody aims to provide answers and reassure the public, as Epstein's apparent suicide sparked widespread speculation and conspiracy theories. The committee's request to interview the former prison guard on duty that day suggests they believe she may have information that could shed light on the events leading up to and surrounding Epstein's death.