In this November 25, 2019 file photo, Tovah Noel, center, wearing a yellow blouse, the federal prison guard responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he committed suicide, leaves a federal courthouse in New York.
Craig Rattle | AP
The House committee investigating disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein announced Friday that it is seeking testimony from the prison guard who was on duty the night the New York financier died.
In a letter posted to the House Oversight Committee’s X account, Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) called Tovah Noel, who allegedly Googled Epstein minutes before his body was discovered, and requested a March 26 deposition.
“Based on public reports, documents released by the Department of Justice, and documents obtained by the Committee, the Committee believes that you have information that may be helpful in its investigation,” the letter to Noel said.
Epstein was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and died by suicide in a federal prison in New York City several weeks later. Noel was working that night and allegedly failed to give Epstein a routine checkup. She and another security guard were charged with falsifying records to cover up the check leak, but the criminal charges were ultimately dropped.
Noel’s deposition is part of a thorough investigation into Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and potential co-conspirators, and the circumstances of his death.
Noel did not immediately respond to a request for comment through his attorney, and to a voicemail left on his publicly available phone number.
The committee recently fired Bill and Hillary Clinton and Les Wexner, the billionaire founder of Victoria’s Secret’s former parent company L Brands. All deny involvement in Epstein’s illegal activities. The committee subpoenaed Attorney General Pam Bondi last week.
On January 21, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) speaks as ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) looks on during a meeting to vote on whether to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena to testify in the committee’s investigation into the late convicted Jeffrey Epstein. 2026.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The Epstein file has roiled Washington in recent years. President Donald Trump, a former friend of Epstein’s, had been fighting for months to keep the files hidden, but changed his tune as Congress was about to pass a bill mandating their release.
The House Oversight Committee has not asked Trump to testify about Epstein.
Since the passage of the Epstein File Transparency Act, the Justice Department has released millions of documents related to Epstein. However, the ministry failed to meet the December deadline for full release of the files, set by a 2025 law, and has faced criticism over how the files were compiled.
A bipartisan group of senators this week called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Justice Department’s response, particularly its process for deciding what to redact.
“Contrary to Congress’ clear directives to protect victims, these records included email addresses and nude photographs that identified the names and faces of publicly identified and privately identified victims,” wrote Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Ben Ray Lujan (D.M.), Jeff Merkley (R-Ore.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
“However, when it comes to information identifying powerful businessmen and politicians who are alleged to be co-conspirators and key witnesses, the Justice Department appears to have significantly redacted those records,” the lawmakers wrote.
