A whistleblower who got here ahead to Home Democrats alleging convicted intercourse offender Ghislaine Maxwell obtained preferential therapy at a federal jail camp in Texas says she was not motivated by politics.
As an alternative, “this was about widespread human decency and doing what’s proper for all inmates,” Noella Turnage, a nurse who labored at Federal Jail Camp Bryan since 2019 till she was fired final week, advised NBC Information on Monday.
She added that when even one inmate is wrongly retaliated towards, “and affect will get one other one protected, someone needed to say one thing.”
Maxwell’s time at FPC Bryan, an all-women’s minimum-security facility, has come beneath scrutiny since her switch there in early August from a low-security jail in Tallahassee, Florida. Her relationship with the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein has grow to be a focus as Democrats and a few Republicans renew their push to compel the Justice Division to make all investigative recordsdata surrounding Epstein’s case public.
Turnage mentioned she was not pushed by public outrage surrounding Epstein, Maxwell or some other public figures, however acted as a result of she felt “failed by the establishment” when colleagues and others have spoken out about alleged management misconduct and retaliation.
She mentioned the federal Bureau of Prisons fired her on Nov. 10. The choice got here a day after the highest Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump saying they’d obtained data from a “whistleblower” indicating Maxwell was engaged on submitting a “commutation utility” and receiving particular therapy not usually afforded to inmates at Bryan. The data obtained by the Home Judiciary Committee included electronic mail correspondence that Maxwell despatched throughout her first few months on the jail camp.
Leah Saffian, an legal professional for Maxwell, mentioned Friday that workers at FPC Bryan misplaced their jobs in mild of Maxwell’s emails being shared.
There have been workers “terminated for improper, unauthorized entry to the e-mail system utilized by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to permit inmates to speak with the surface world,” Saffian mentioned in an announcement.
NBC Information beforehand reviewed Maxwell’s emails which indicated she was “happier” together with her transfer to a facility that was cleaner and the place employees have been pleasant.
Maxwell’s emails additionally instructed she had direct entry to Bryan’s warden, Tanisha Corridor, for assist, together with arranging visits and speaking together with her attorneys — actions which can be extremely uncommon, different attorneys with shoppers on the jail say.
The BOP and Corridor didn’t reply to requests for remark about workers terminated in reference to Maxwell.
Turnage mentioned she was involved with the Home Judiciary Committee after Raskin wrote a letter to Corridor on Oct. 30 asking about Maxwell’s perceived “VIP therapy.”
In that letter, Raskin mentioned he was alarmed by information studies that the jail was giving particular lodging to Maxwell’s guests and different alleged perks, equivalent to meals despatched to her dormitory room, late-night exercises and the power to bathe after different inmates have been already in mattress for the night time.
His inquiry additionally raised different accusations made by inmates that they’ve been threatened with retaliation in the event that they talk about Maxwell to the media. No less than two inmates have been transferred out of Bryan after doing so, in accordance with media studies that reviewed BOP data. NBC Information has not confirmed the explanation for the transfers.
Turnage and one other former Bryan worker, Ashley Anderson, mentioned they spoke with Home Democratic committee employees about allegations that BOP coverage has been repeatedly violated and retaliation exists towards those that report wrongdoing.
Anderson, who had been a senior specialist officer at Bryan for a decade earlier than she was terminated in August, mentioned that she has tried to talk out in assist of inmates who’ve reported alleged abuse however that there stay “flaws in a system that always lacks transparency, accountability, and equity.”
Saffian has referred to as the discharge of Maxwell’s emails “improper” and denied {that a} pardon utility had been made to the Trump administration. She additionally mentioned she can be submitting a habeas petition with the Southern District of New York to problem Maxwell’s 20-year jail sentence for recruiting minors to be sexually abused by Epstein.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York Metropolis jail in 2019 as he awaited trial on intercourse trafficking expenses.
Maxwell’s switch to FPC Bryan in early August got here days after she met with Deputy Legal professional Common Todd Blanche in July. At that assembly, Maxwell advised Blanche she by no means witnessed any inappropriate conduct by Trump or some other distinguished figures related to Epstein’s orbit, in accordance with a transcript. Trump, whose identify appeared within the unsealed data as a buddy of Epstein’s earlier than they’d a falling out, has not been accused by authorities of any wrongdoing.
Trump initially supported the discharge of paperwork associated to Epstein earlier than sparring with Democrats and a few members of his personal social gathering, saying not all recordsdata ought to be made public.
Final week, hundreds of emails from the Epstein property have been launched by the Home Oversight Committee, together with many who referenced Trump. On Sunday, Trump unexpectedly modified his stance on the problem, writing on his Reality Social account that Home Republicans ought to vote to launch the Epstein recordsdata “as a result of we’ve got nothing to cover.”
Turnage and Anderson mentioned in an extra assertion that talking to members of Congress about their time at Bryan was not about swaying the political narratives within the bigger Epstein saga.
“This was about fact, and nothing else,” they mentioned. “It was about telling the reality about how each employees and inmates have been handled.”
