EFTA00092803.pdf

From: To: "Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS)" )" Cc: IMMEIr li Subject: RE: MCC Interviews - Update Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 16:02:13 +0000 The names of the officers who worked in the SHU on 8/9, excluding Thomas and Noel, are: We may be interviewing . today. wrote a memo reporting that he told Officer= and that Epstein would need a cellmate at 1:50 p.m. on 8/9. We would like to first interview him. From: Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2019 11:33 AM To: Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) Cc: Subject: RE: MCC Interviews - Update There are at least 7 officers (excluding Noel and Thomas) and 2 supervisors that should have been aware that Epstein did not have a cellmate on Friday, but did not reassign him one. We reached out to 3 of those officers yesterday, but they refused to meet with us without their union rep. Let us know if you need any of their names. From: Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2019 11:23 AM To: Cc: C Subject: RE: MCC Interviews - Update C Can we confirm that one of the co's who would not meet with FBI without union rep was the co who did not assign a new cellmate to JE when the old cellmate was moved out? Geoff From: Sent: Monday, August 12, 2019 8:49 PM To: Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) EFTA00092803 Cc Subject: MCC Interviews - Update Geoff, This afternoon, OIG, FBI, and the USAO-SDNY conducted voluntary interviews with the following MCC employees. The interviews were each about 2 hours. A high-level summary of each is below. Interview of M. is an operations lieutenant at MCC, and is responsible for overseeing the operations of the prison during his duty shifts. On the morning of August 10, 2019, M. arrived at 5:30 a.m. to relieve the outgoing lieutenant, M. At 6:33 a.m., I. heard a radio call for medical staff at the SHU. M. responded to the SHU, where he saw Officer Noel, who said that Epstein had hung himself. M. went into Epstein's cell, and Epstein was on the ground, on top of two mattresses, and Officer Thomas was performing CPR. E. a then started CPR until medical staff came. M. asked Officer Noel where Epstein's cellmate was, and she said he left, and that he didn't have one overnight. M. a told Officer Noel that she knew Epstein was supposed to have a cellmate, and Officer Noel stuttered, then said she didn't know. Officer Noel admitted to that they did not conduct the 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. counts; and Officer Thomas said "we messed up" and "we didn't do the counts" and "it's not her fault." E. a was not aware the cameras were not working in SHU. Interview of E. has worked at the MCC since May 2019, but has a lengthy BOP career. He's the institution duty officer and has responsibilities relating to multiple units. Among other things, he helps inmates make telephone calls, including legal calls and calls from within the SHU. had spoken to Epstein briefly on multiple occasions. Epstein asked for assistance making a personal call. got Epstein his pin number a few days before Epstein's death, but Epstein had not activated it. took Epstein to the SHU showers to make the phone call. Epstein told he was calling his mother. dialed a number provided by Epstein, and overhead Epstein making small talk with a male individual. whose shift was over, left Epstein with two SHU officers — Officer and a male officer — and told them to return Epstein to his cell after 15 minutes. Because Epstein's pin was not activated, dialed the number on the MCC line for legal conversations, which is not recorded. was not on duty when Epstein's body was discovered. He says he was not aware that Epstein's cellmate had moved, and he did not know the camera system was not working. Interview of al. oversees the whole prison, and all of the lieutenants of particular units (such as SHU) report to him. stated that on multiple occasions following Epstein's apparent attempted suicide, he spoke to the lieutenants that report to him about how Epstein needed a cellmate at all times. All of those commands were made orally. said they were aware that had court, which was not out of the ordinary. No one briefed him on the fact that personal property was being collected or that he was moved. did not learn that Epstein's cellmate moved until after Epstein's apparent suicide was discovered. was not working when the evening rounds and counts occurred. He was aware there was work being done on the videos but wasn't told why. Today, FBI and OIG agents also attempted to interview and (the officers who discovered Epstein), but they did not agree to speak with agents and agents were unable to (An individual who the agents believe was answered the phone but then claimed he wasn't and hung up.) Agents also contacted four of the officers on duty on Friday August 9, 2019, but they would not speak with agents without their union representatives. We will continue conducting interviews over the next few days. Finally, FBI has not completed their analysis of the video evidence yet. EFTA00092804 Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney's Office Southern District of New York EFTA00092805