What is document EFTA00027936?

This is a chain of internal emails between prosecutors at the Southern District of New York (SDNY) from August 11-12, 2019, one day after Jeffrey Epstein's death. The emails include updates to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman about the FBI/OIG investigation into the circumstances of Epstein's death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Who is mentioned in this document?

The document names Jeffrey Epstein, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and two correctional officers—Officer Noel (Tova Noel) and Officer Thomas (Michael Thomas). These two guards were later criminally charged for falsifying records and failing to conduct required checks.

What does this document reveal?

The document reveals the earliest known evidence that guards admitted to not performing required cell checks. It shows that within 24 hours of Epstein's death, investigators had a supervisor's report documenting Officer Thomas's admission that 'we didn't do any rounds.' It also reveals that a critical surveillance camera in the SHU had not been functioning since Thursday—two days before Epstein died on Saturday—and that FBI seized 18 hard drives of video for analysis.

Why is this document significant?

This document provides a real-time snapshot of the investigation just hours after Epstein's death, before the public narrative was established. It shows that prosecutors knew immediately about the guards' admissions and the camera failures. These findings later formed the basis for criminal charges against the guards in November 2019 and the DOJ Inspector General's scathing 2023 report finding 'negligence, misconduct, and outright job performance failures.'

What happened to the guards mentioned?

Officers Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were criminally charged in November 2019 with falsifying records and conspiracy. In May 2021, they received a deferred prosecution deal, avoiding conviction by complying with specific terms. Both left the Bureau of Prisons in April 2022. The DOJ Inspector General later found their failures left Epstein unmonitored for nearly 8 hours before his death.

What is document EFTA00027936?

This is a chain of internal emails between prosecutors at the Southern District of New York (SDNY) from August 11-12, 2019, one day after Jeffrey Epstein's death. The emails include updates to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman about the FBI/OIG investigation into the circumstances of Epstein's death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Who is mentioned in this document?

The document names Jeffrey Epstein, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and two correctional officers—Officer Noel (Tova Noel) and Officer Thomas (Michael Thomas). These two guards were later criminally charged for falsifying records and failing to conduct required checks.

What does this document reveal?

The document reveals the earliest known evidence that guards admitted to not performing required cell checks. It shows that within 24 hours of Epstein's death, investigators had a supervisor's report documenting Officer Thomas's admission that 'we didn't do any rounds.' It also reveals that a critical surveillance camera in the SHU had not been functioning since Thursday—two days before Epstein died on Saturday—and that FBI seized 18 hard drives of video for analysis.

Why is this document significant?

This document provides a real-time snapshot of the investigation just hours after Epstein's death, before the public narrative was established. It shows that prosecutors knew immediately about the guards' admissions and the camera failures. These findings later formed the basis for criminal charges against the guards in November 2019 and the DOJ Inspector General's scathing 2023 report finding 'negligence, misconduct, and outright job performance failures.'

What happened to the guards mentioned?

Officers Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were criminally charged in November 2019 with falsifying records and conspiracy. In May 2021, they received a deferred prosecution deal, avoiding conviction by complying with specific terms. Both left the Bureau of Prisons in April 2022. The DOJ Inspector General later found their failures left Epstein unmonitored for nearly 8 hours before his death.

EFTA00027936 - EFTA00027937

Internal SDNY prosecutor emails from August 11, 2019 discussing the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's death at MCC, revealing that guards admitted to skipping required cell checks.

This document contains internal email correspondence between prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), including U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, from August 11-12, 2019—just one day after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell. The emails reveal critical early findings from the FBI/OIG investigation, including that Officer Noel signed all 30-minute check logs between midnight and 6am despite 8 other officers being on duty, that camera footage in the Special Housing Unit was not functioning since Thursday, and most significantly, that guards admitted in a supervisor's report to not conducting the 3am or 5am rounds, with Officer Thomas stating 'we messed up... we didn't do any rounds.'

Key Highlights

•Guards admitted to supervisors they did not conduct required 3am or 5am rounds—Officer Thomas said 'we messed up... we didn't do any rounds'
•The camera pointed at the SHU hallway that would have captured who entered or looked into cells had 'not been functioning since Thursday'
•FBI seized 18 hard drives of video from BOP for analysis
•OIG requested all log slips from BOP; Officer Noel signed every 30-minute check between midnight-6am despite 8 other officers on duty
•Geoffrey Berman, SDNY U.S. Attorney, was directly receiving updates on the investigation findings

Frequently Asked Questions

Books for Further Reading

Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story

Julie K. Brown

Investigative journalism that broke the Epstein case open

Filthy Rich: The Jeffrey Epstein Story

James Patterson

Bestselling account of Epstein's crimes and network

Geoff, the life of Geoffrey M. Shaw: A biography

Document Information

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EFTA00027936 - EFTA00027937

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Document Content

Page 1 - EFTA00027936

From (USANYS)" c To: -(USANYS)" Subject: RE: Re: Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2019 15:05:14 +0000 Thanks for sending. From USANYS) c > Sent: Monday, August 12, 2019 8:53 AM To: (USANYS) Subject: FW: Re: FYI. Sorry, I didn't realize you weren't on this. (I realized I wasn't on it, becaus==forwarded it to me). From: (USANYS) Sent: Sunday, August 11, 201912:12 PM To USANYS) Subject: Fwd: Re: Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: "Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS)" " Date: August 11. 2019 at 11:52:46 AM EDT To: USANYS " Cc: " USANYS " Subject: Re: This is great. Thanks. On Aug 11, 2019, at 11:48 AM, Hi Geoff, The answers to your questions are below. > SANYS)" (USANYS)" USANYS) < > wrote: I. OIG requested all of the relevant log slips from BOP this morning. To date, we have received the log for the 30-min checks for Friday night, which shows that the same officer (Officer Noel) signed each of the 30- min checks between 12-6am on 8/10, although there were 8 other officers on duty in the SHU that night. We also received the report that Michael Horowitz referenced last night, which was written by a supervisor (M the report states that wheri responded to Epstein's cell following the emergency call, Officer Noel admitted that they did not conduct the 3am or 5am rounds. Another officer, Officer Thomas, then said "we messed up" and then "I messed u , she's not to blame (referring to Officer Noel), we didn't do any rounds." We are reaching out t oday to set up an interview. We want to approach and interview the relevant officers after we have analyzed the video we seized, as discussed below. EFTA00027936

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2. There was a camera in the SHU that was pointed at the hallway and would have captured who was entering or looking into each cell. However, FBI/OIG was told yesterday by BOP that the camera had not been functioning since Thursday. FBI seized 18 hard drives of video from BOP and are analyzing them to confirm whether there was in fact any video. We hope to have a preliminary analysis done of the SHU camera by tomorrow. 3. Epstein was removed from suicide watch on 7/29, and was not required to have a cellmate. His cellmate went to Court on Friday and was released from Court. There was not an officer responsible for assigning him a cellmate because it was not required. CMG has not interviewed any officers; we intend to start with an interview wita as referenced above. The autopsy is happening this morning. We will continue to keep you posted. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks, On Aug 11, 2019, at 9:58 AM, Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) wrote: OAG has asked us for answers to the questions below, whenever we get them. Perhaps we can run these questions by the OIG agent. I assume that in addition to the log for the 30 minute checks that there are also log slips for the two head counts at 3am and 5am. That's what I was told by BOP. With respect to the video, is there any video in that SHU that would show if the COs did the counts? Have they uncovered any information about why the Epstein did not have a cell mate ? Was the CO responsible for assigning Epstein a cell mate interviewed? I understand BOP has not talked to him. EFTA00027937