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Ghislaine Maxwell received preferential treatment while incarcerated at a federal prison in Texas, according to a former nurse at the facility. Noella Turnage, who has worked for the Bureau of Prisons since 2019, identified herself Monday as the whistleblower who previously provided some of Maxwell’s correspondence to members of the House Judiciary Committee, Newsweek reported.
“I actually emailed them from work, from my Bureau of Prisons email address, and said, ‘Hey, this is who I am, this is where I work, and I have some things I think you might be interested in, and documents you may be interested in,’” Turnage told KBTX. “I didn’t even specify what it was.”
A staff member for Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, responded to Turnage within 30 minutes, she said. The 46-year-old added that she has since participated in multiple follow-up calls regarding her disclosures.
“I have not shared them with anyone other than the committee,” Turnage said of Maxwell’s emails, some of which she showed to a reporter this week, KBTX reported.
Over the summer, Maxwell confirmed to the Department of Justice during a series of sit-down meetings that she did not witness Donald Trump exhibit inappropriate behavior on the occasions that she met him.
Maxwell had met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for a total of nine hours late last month. According to her attorney, she had been forthright during questioning and did not “plead the fifth.”
According to ABC News’ sources, Maxwell reportedly said that Trump had “never done anything in her presence that would have caused concern.”
As for Turnage, she said she provided Maxwell’s correspondence after facing retaliation from Bureau of Prisons officials for reporting what she described as poor working conditions and the alleged mistreatment of inmates at Federal Prison Camp Bryan.
She said her complaints resulted in her reassignment to the facility’s “phone room,” where her responsibilities included monitoring inmate telephone calls and emails, Newsweek noted.
“They call it prison jail,” Turnage told KBTX. “I would be looking for any evidence that they’re doing something they shouldn’t be. Like, are they trying to smuggle in drugs? Are they doing this? Are they whatever? But these women aren’t risking that, not for the most part. And same as emails, you’re monitoring for anything they shouldn’t be doing. Usually on the phone, the biggest thing you run into is they’ll call a family member who then conference calls somebody else that they’re not supposed to be talking to.”
Turnage said that Tanisha Hall, the warden of the federal prison, personally handled all incoming mail addressed to Maxwell.
Maxwell — who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s international sex-trafficking operation — also received “private, catered-style visitation arrangements” at the minimum-security facility, according to KBTX.
“There was the whole thing about closing down the compound for her to have a visit,” Turnage told the outlet.
Maxwell’s relatives were permitted to attend private meetings, often disguised as legal consultations, claims Turnage.
“I guess maybe they can bring everybody and say it’s a legal visit?” she continued. “I don’t know, but they’re going to have an area cornered off for you, so it won’t be a problem coming in. They’re going to provide drinks, coffee, snacks, and all this stuff.”
Some of Ghislaine Maxwell’s outgoing correspondence appeared “coded,” with irregular spacing and formatting that differed from messages sent by other inmates, according to Turnage.
The veteran Bureau of Prisons (BOP) employee printed some of Maxwell’s messages and examined them at home. After noticing a Wall Street Journal report in early October about the favorable treatment that Epstein’s former associate allegedly received at the federal prison, Turnage shared the emails with Raskin’s office.
