Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
The Inspector General drop their report this week, and that
report is now what we would call the official narrative.
So what we're going to do is we're going to
go through the whole entire Inspector General Report, chapter by chapter,
and we're going to get the official narrative added to
the catalog without any commentary from me. That way, you
have the unadulterated version of what the government says happened here,
and then you can make up your own mind. So,
each one of these episodes that we do about this
Inspector General report will be one chapter. Now, if there
are some exceptionally long chapters, what we'll do is we'll
add two parts to that chapter, but the general format
will be one chapter, one episode until we get through
all one hundred and twenty eight pages. So let's just
dive in, and we're going to start with chapter one,
the introduction. There's a table of contents previously, and when
you click on the link, you'll be able to check
that out for yourself, but we're not going to add
that here. We're just going to add what the Inspector
General found and that starts with Chapter one, the introduction.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons BOP is a component of
the Department of Justice that operates one hundred and twenty
two institutions across the United States. According to its website,
the BOP's current mission statement is corrections professionals who foster
a humane and secure environment to ensure public safety by
preparing individuals for successful re entry into our communities. However,
the DOJ Office of the Inspector General has issued numerous
reports over more than a decade identifying long standing operational
challenges facing the BOP that have negatively effect its ability
to operate its institutions safely and securely. Those reports have
contained dozens of recommendations to BOP. As we detail in
this report, many of those same operational challenges and systemic issues,
including significant staffing shortages providing appropriate custody and cara of
inmates at risk for suicide, the absence of functional security
camera systems and management failures, and widespread disregard of BOP
policies and procedures, were once again identified by the OIG
during the course of this investigation and review into the custody,
care and supervision of one of the Goop's most notorious inmates,
Jeffrey Epstein. We therefore make further recommendations to the BP
in the conclusion of this report to help it address
these reoccurring issues. The OIG initiated this investigation upon the
receipt of information from the BP that the morning of
August tenth, twenty nineteen, in the Metropolitan Correctional Center located
in New York, New York MCC New York, inmate Jeffrey
Epstein was found hanged in his assigned cell within the
Special Housing Unit, or the SHOE. The SHOE is a
housing unit where inmates are securely separated from the general
inmate population and kep locked in their cells for approximately
twenty three hours a day to ensure their own safety
as well as the safety of the staff and other inmates.
Epstein had been placed in the Shoe on July seven,
twenty nineteen, the day after his arrest, due to the
significant media coverage of his case and awareness of his
notoriety among MCC New York inmates. According to information obtained
by the OIG during the investigation, at approximately eight p m.
On August ninth, all SHOE inmates, including Epstein were locked
in their cell for the evening. Additionally, the six separate
teers or groups of cells within the shoe were also
securely locked. At approximately six thirty a m. On August tenth,
twenty nineteen, shoe staff unlocked the door to the shoe
tier in which Epstein's cell was located in order to
deliver breakfast to inmates through the food slots in the
locked cell doors. When shoe staff entered the tier to
deliver breakfast to Epstein, Shoe staff knocked on the locked
door to Epstein's cell. Epstein, who was housed alone in
his cell, did not respond to shoe staff. Shoe staff
unlocked the cell door and found Epstein hanged in a
cell with one end of a piece of an orange
cloth around his neck and the the other end tied
to the top portion of a bunk bed. In Epstein's cell,
Epstein was suspended from the top bunk in a near
seated position, with his buttocks approximately one inch to one
inch and a half off the floor and his legs
extended straight out on the floor in front of him.
Epstein's cell contained an excess amount of prison linens, as
well as multiple nooses that had been made from torn
prison linens. Shoe staff immediately activated a body alarm, which
notified all mcc new York staff of a medical emergency
and prompted mcc new York staff assigned to the control
center to call nine to one one emergency Services. Shoe
staff then ripped the orange cloth away from the bunk bed,
which caused Epstein's buttocks to drop to the ground. Shoe
staff laid Epstein on the ground and immediately initiated CPR.
At approximately six thirty three am, other mcc new York
employees responded to the shoe. A responding mcc new York
lieutenant took over administering CPR and asked shoe staff to
retrieve an automated external defibrillator and called for the duty nurse.
A clinical nurse responded and continued to perform CPR on
Epstein in place of the lieutenant. At approximately six thirty
nine am, Epstein was placed on a stretcher and moved
by medical staff to the mcc new York Health Service Unit.
The clinical nurse continuously administered CPR until he was relieved
by outside emergency medical technicians when they arrived at the
Health Services area. Minutes later, the EMTs continued CPR, innovated Epstein,
and administered medication and fluids in their efforts to revive them.
At approximately seven ten am, Epstein was transported by EMTs
in an ambulance to New York Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital,
where he was pronounced dead by an emergency room physician
at seven thirty six am on August eleventh, twenty nineteen.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, City of New
York performed an autopsy on Epstein and determined that the
cause of death was hanging and the manner of death
was suicide. The OIG conducted this investigation jointly with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the OIG's investigative focus being
the conduct of BOP personnel, among other things. The FBI
investigated the cause of Epstein's death. The FBI determined that
there was no criminality pertaining to al Epstein had died.
This report concerns the OIG's findings regarding mcc new York personnels, custody, care,
and supervision of Epstein during his detention at the facility
from his arrest on July sixth, twenty nineteen, until his
death on August tenth of twenty nineteen. The OIG investigation
and review identified numerous and serious failures by MCC New
York staff, as well as multiple violations of MCC New
York NBOP policies and procedures. Among the most significant was
the failure to assigned Epstein a new cellmate on August ninth,
twenty nineteen, after Epstein's cellmate was transferred out of New York.
MCC that day, Epstein was required to have assellmate at
all times, pursued into a written direction that the MCC
New York Psychology Department issued on July thirtieth, after Epstein
was removed from suicide watch and psychological observation following a
possible attempted suicide biome on July twenty third. As a
result of the failure to assign him a new cell mate,
Epstein was housed a loan in his cell from the
night of August ninth until he was found hanged in
his cell by SHOE staff at approximately six thirty a m.
The following morning. In addition, we determined that SHOE staff
failed to conduct or required inmate counts and rounds, including
overnight on August ninth and tenth, and allowed Epstein to
have an excess of blankets, linens, and clothing in his cell.
These failures compromised Epstein's safety, the safety of other inmates,
and the security of the institution, and provided Epstein with
an opportunity to commit suicide while locked alone in his
cell on the morning of August tenth, without having been
subject to overnight observation or supervision by Shoe staff. The
OIG also found that an mcc new York supervisor had
allout Epstein, in violation of BOP policy, to make an unrecorded,
unmonitored telephone call the evening before his death to an
individual with whom he allegedly had a personal relationship. Further,
two days before his death, during a meeting with his
lawyers in a private room at the mcc new York,
Epstein signed a new last will and testament, which mcc
new York officials did not learn about until after his death. Additionally,
the OIG determined that mcc new York staff assigned to
the Shoe, including the two Shoe staff on duty the
night of August ninth and tenth of twenty nineteen, who
were stationed at a desk that was directly outside the
shoe tier in which Epstein was housed and diagonally across
from Epstein's cell, had falsified BOP records to claim that
they had conducted all of the required counts of inmates
and thirty minute rounds during their shifts within the Shoe,
As described in greater detail in Chapter two. Inmate counts
and thirty minute rounds are the means by which the
BOP accounts for inmates and assesses their safety, security, and
well being. BOP and MCC New York policies require the
staff members count all inmates in each housing unit within
the facility at designated times each day. Additionally, BOP MCC
New York policies require that a staff member observe all
Shoe inmates at least once during the first thirty minutes
of each hour, for example, twelve am to twelve thirty AM,
and again during the second thirty minutes of the hour, eg.
Twelve thirty to one AM, thus ensuring that inmates are
observed at least twice per hour. BOP staff are required
to document inmate counts and thirty minute rounds on a
vifial GOP forms, which are often referred to as count
slips and round sheets. During the OIG's investigation, the OIG
obtained information that the staff assigned to mcc New York
Shoe did not conduct any counts of inmates within the
shoe from August ninth, twenty nineteen, at approximately four pm
until Epstein was found hanged in his cell on the
morning of August tenth, twenty nineteen. However, in documentation completed
by the shoe staff on duty during that period, staff
members falsely certified in the count slips that they had
conducted the required counts. Additionally, the OIG investigation revealed that
the staff assigned to the MCC New York Shoe did
not conduct any required thirty minute rounds of inmates after
approximately ten forty pm on August ninth, twenty nineteen. Again, however,
shoe's staff on duty during that period had falsely certified
in the round sheet that the required rounds were conducted.
The combination of these and other failures led to Epstein
being unmonitored and locked alone in his cell, which the
OIG found contained an excessive amount of bed linens from
approximately ten forty pm on August ninth until he was
discovered hanged in his cell at approximately six point thirty
am the following day. While the OIG determined that mcc
new York staff committed significant violations of BOP and mcc
new York policies and falsified records related to their conducting
inmate counts and rounds, the OIG did not cover any
evidence that contradicted the FBI's determination regarding the absence of
criminality in connection with how Epstein died. All mcc new
York staff members who were interviewed by the OIG said
they did not know of any information suggesting that Epstein's
cause of death was something other than suicide. Additionally, none
of the other fifteen inmates who agreed to be interviewed
in connection with this investigation, ten of whom were housed
in the Shoe on August ninth and tenth, had any
credible information suggesting Epstein's cause of death was something other
than suicide. Further, the Shoe staff and the three interviewed
inmates with a direct line of sight to the door
of Epstein's cell from their cells stated that no one
entered or exited Epstein's cell. After the Shoe staff returned
Epstein to a cell on the evening of August ninth,
which is consistent with the security measures in place within
the MCC New York Shoe. Shoe staff told the OIG
that at approximately eight pm on August ninth, all Shoe
inmates were locked in their cells for the evening and
and that there was no indication that any of the
other inmates could have gotten out of their cells. Additionally,
the OIG analyzed the available recorded video of the shoe,
which was limited to the common area of the shoe,
including the shoe's officer station. Due to the MCC New
York security camera systems recording issues that we detail in
this report. The OIG analysis of the recorded video did
not identify any correctional officer or other individuals approaching any
shoe tier, including the L tier where Epstein was housed,
from the common area of the shoe, between approximately ten
forty pm on August ninth and approximately six thirty am
on August tenth. Finally, the medical examiner who performed the
autopsy detailed for the OIG why Epstein's injuries were more
consistent with and indicative of suicide by hanging rather than
a homicide by strangulation. The medical examiner also cited to
the absence of debris under Epstein's fingernails, marks on his hands,
contusions to his knuckles, or bruises on his body that
evidenced Epstein had been in a struggle, which would be
expected if Epstein's death had been a homicide by strangulation,
As discussed in greater detail in the Conclusions and Recommendations
chapter of this report. This is not the first time
that the OIG has found significant job performance and management
failures on the part of the BOP personnel, and widespread
disregard of BOP policies that are designed to ensure that
inmates are safe, secure, and in good health. The OIG
has investigated numerous allegations related to the falsification of official
BOP documentation concerning inmate counts and rounds, and has repeatedly
found deficiencies with a BOP's staffing levels, the custody and
CARA of inmates at risk for suicide, and security camera
systems at BP institutions. The combination of negligence, misconduct, and
outright job performance failures documented in this report all contributed
to an environment which arguably one of the most notorious
inmates in BOP's custody was provided the opportunity to take
his own life. The BP's failures are troubling not only
because BOP did not adequately safeguard an individual in its custody,
but also because they led to questions about the circumstances
surrounding Epstein's death and effectively deprived Epstein's numerous victims of
the opportunity to seek justice through the criminal justice process.
The fact that these failures have been reoccurring ones at
the GOP does not excuse them and gives additional urgency
to the need for the BOP leadership to address the
chronic price problems plaguing the BOP. Unless otherwise noted, the
OIG applies the preponderance of the evidence standard in determining
whether DOJ personnel have committed misconduct. The US Merit Systems
Protection Board applies this same standard when reviewing a federal
agency's decision to take adverse action against an employee based
on such misconduct. C US Code seven seven zero one
C one B and five CFR Section twelve oh one
dot fifty six B one, Section two. In Chapter two
of this report, we provide background information, including identification and
a description of significant entities and individuals, a summary of
our methodology, and the applicable laws, federal regulations, and BOP policies.
In chapter three, we outline a timeline of key events.
In chapter four, we say forth our findings of fact
relating to the BOP's custody and care of Epstein before
his death. In chapter five, we set forth our findings
of fact related to the events of August eighth through tenth,
twenty nineteen, including Epstein's death. In chapter six, we set
forth our findings of fact related to the BOP's failure
to ensure that there was a functional security camera system
at mcc New York, which resulted in limited recorded video
evidence relevant to Epstein's death. Finally, chapter seven contains our
conclusions and recommendations. All right, folks, So there it is
Chapter one to get things started with the Inspector General's
report into the circumstances surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's death while in custody.
All of the information that goes with the episode can
be found in the description box. What's up every one
and one Welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode,
we're going to continue with the Inspector General's Report into
Jeffrey Epstein's death and the circumstances that led up to it.
Chapter two Background, Part one, Significant Entities and Individuals. Jeffrey
Epstein was born in nineteen fifty three, and prior to
his arrest, worked at various jobs in the financial industry
and ultimately developed considerable wealth. On July TEWOD twenty nineteen,
a federal grand jury of the U. S District Court
for the Southern District of New York returned an indictment
that charged Epstein with engaging in sex trafficking and to
sex trafficking conspiracy in violation of eighteen US Code three
seventy one fifteen ninety one a B two and two.
These charges were based on allegations that between two thousand
and two and two thousand and five, Epstein paid girls
as young as fourteen years old hundreds of dollars in
cash each for engaging in sex acts with him at
his Florida and New York residences. The indictment further alleged
that Epstein also paid each of these minor victims hundreds
of dollars in cash to recruit other girls to engage
in sex acts. With Epstein. On July sixth, twenty nineteen.
Epstein was arrested at Teterborough Airport in New Jersey upon
his return to the United States from France and was
transported to the Federal Bureau of Prisons BOP Metropolitan Correctional Center,
located at one fifty Park Row in New York, New York.
Following a detention hearing on July fifteenth, twenty nineteen, the
court ordered that Epstein be detained pending trial based on
the court's finding that he was a danger to the
community and dad the flight risk. MCC New York is
a federal administrative detention facility operated by the BOP that
primarily provides pre trial detention services for the U S
District courts for the Southern and Eastern districts of New York.
The BOP temporarily closed MCC New York in October twenty
twenty one due to substandard conditions that are unrelated to
this investigation. When it was operational, MCC new York housed
approximately seven hundred and fifty inmates at any given time
prior to its closure. The majority of MCC new York's
inmates were individuals with pending criminal charges, as opposed to
individuals who had been convicted of offenses and were serving
a sentence of imprisonment, but whom the court had determined
under applicable law should remain in custody pending trial, either
because they represented danger to the community, a substantial flight ragate,
or both. Mcc new York has several different housing units.
Epstein was initially assigned to mcc new York's general inmate population,
but on July seventh, twenty nineteen, he was moved to
special housing Unit pending reclassification due to the significant increase
in media coverage and awareness of his notoriety among the
other inmates. The Shoe is a housing unit within mcc
New York where inmates are securely separated from the general
inmate population and kept blocked in their cells for approximately
twenty three hours per day to ensure their own safety
as well as the safety of the staff and other inmates.
Correctional Officer Touvin Owell and material handler Michael Thomas began
working together in mcc new York Shoe at twelve a m.
On August tenth, twenty nineteen. During their shift, they each
created and submitted falsified official BOP forms documenting inmate counts
often referred to as count slips, and Noel completed and
signed more than seventy five separate entries on an official
BOP form documenting thirty minute rounds, often referred to as
a round sheet, falsely stating that she and Thomas had
conducted such rounds when in fact they had not. On
November nineteenth, twenty nineteen, a federal grand jury of the U.
S District Court for the Southern District of New York
returned an indictment that charged Noel and Thomas with one
count each of conspiracy and multiple counts each of falsification
of records in violation of eighteen US Code three seventy
one one thousand and one A three and two. The
indictment alleged that on August ninth, twenty nineteen, Noel fell
to conduct the mandatory four PM and ten PM counts
of inmate in the MCC New York Shoe, and that
on August tenth, twenty nineteen, both she and Thomas failed
to conduct the mandatory twelve am, three am and five
am counts and mandatory thirty minute rounds within the MCC
New York Shoe The indictment further alleged that Noel and
Thomas created, certified, and submitted false documentation indicating that the
counts and rounds had been done as required to conceal
their failure to perform their assigned duties. As a result,
it appeared from documentation that prisoners in the Shoe, including Epstein,
were being regularly monitored, when in fact no COO had
checked on Epstein from approximately ten forty pm on August ninth,
twenty nineteen, until approximately six thirty am on August tenth,
twenty nineteen, when Epstein was found hanged in his cell.
On May twenty fifth, twenty twenty one, the US Attorney's
Office for the Southern District of New York entered into
deferred prosecution agreements with Noel and Thomas. Their respective agreements,
which are part of the court record in their case,
includes admissions by Noel and Thomas that they falsely certified
that they had conducted counts and rounds. The agreements also
required them to are truthfully and completely disclose all information
related to their activities and employment with the BOP be
interviewed by the U S Attorney's Office of the Southern
District of New York, the FBI and the OIG complete
one hundred hours of community service, refrain from violating the law,
and fulfill other conditions related to pre trial supervision and
their establishment of good behavior. On December thirteenth, twenty twenty one,
after Noel and Thomas successfully fulfilled the terms of their
deferred prosecution agreements as the tis Hermann by the prosecutors,
the U s District Court for the Southern District of
New York entered a null prosquay order and dismissed all
charges pending against them. Prosecution was declined by the US
Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York for
other BP employees assigned to the shoe who also falsely
certified inmate count slips and round sheets on the day
before and the day of Epstein's death. As discussed in
greater detail in Chapter seven of this report, the OIG
found that, in addition to Noel and Thomas, many other
mcc New York staff members engaged in administrative misconduct, exercised
poor judgment, and or failed to adequately perform their assigned
duties Part two Methodology. During the course of this investigation,
the OIG interviewed fifty four witnesses, several on more than
one occasion. The witnesses interviewed included Noel Thomas and other
mcc new York staff assigned to the Shoe on August
ninth and tenth, twenty nineteen, mcc new York supervisors at
the time of Epstein's death, including the warden, associate wardens,
captain and lieutenants, medical staff, staff members responsible for mcc
new York security camera system, other BOP staff and contractors,
and a relative of Epstein who had requested to provide information.
The BOP employees and contractors were interviewed, including employees involved
in various aspects of the emergency response, who worked at
mcc new York in the days leading up to the
response and following the response, as well as other individuals
with information pertinent to our investigation. Additionally, the OIG participated
in interviews of fifteen inmates who had been had hows
at mcc new York during time periods relevant to our investigation,
including three who were housed in the L tier of
the Shoe on the day Epstein died. Those three El
tier inmates were housed in cells opposite Epstein's cell and
therefore had a direct line of sight to epstein cell.
On the night of August ninth and tenth, the OIG
also reached out to one of Epstein's attorneys to discuss
the possibility of providing information, but ultimately the attorney declined
to be interviewed, citing attorney client privilege. The attorney client
privilege survives a client's death and issues related to ongoing
litigation involving Epstein's estate. The OIG also collected over one
hundred and twenty seven thousand documents, as well as mcc
new York video and photographs. Among these were BOP documents
including staff rosters, daily logs and reports, investigative and and
incident reports, documentation regarding inmate counts and thirty minute rounds,
inmate housing, assignment documentation, inmate transfer documents, psychology department reports,
and medical records relating to Epstein. Epstein's institutional phone call records,
mcc new York records on Epstein's visits with his attorneys,
electronic communications including text messages and emails of BOP employees
and contractors, mcc new York security camera surveillance video records
from contractors regarding the mcc new York Security Camera System,
Service records for mcc new York Security Camera System, mcc
new York photographs, including photographs taken of efforts to revive
Epstein on the morning of August tenth, twenty nineteen, BOP
policies and program statements, mcc new York post orders, and
financial records. The OIG also conducted forensic analysis of the
computers located in the shoe and BOP cellular telephones. In addition,
the OIG reviewed FBI investigative records, including reviewer reports FD
DASH three two, notes from witness interviews and other meetings,
and electronic communications. The OIG also reviewed Epstein's autopsy report
and interviewed the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Epstein.
All right, folks, so we're going to wrap up part
one of chapter two right here, and then the next
episode where we're talking about this OIG report, we're going
to pick up with Part three, which is applicable law,
regulations and BOP policies. All of the information that goes
with this episode can be found in the description box.