The House of Representatives held billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, September 16, after he refused to provide additional information about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The bipartisan vote marked the first time the House has held a witness in the Epstein investigation in contempt. Black defied two congressional subpoenas issued by the House Oversight Committee, which is examining his relationship with Epstein. He did appear for a closed-door, voluntary interview in June, but he walked out before it ended, and lawmakers said he declined to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements.
The Republican-led committee subpoenaed Black to return for a deposition under oath and to turn over any nondisclosure agreements he signed, including those he may have signed with survivors of Epstein's abuse. Instead of complying, Black filed a lawsuit against the committee and its chairman, Rep. James Comer, accusing them of overstepping their authority.
Addressing the committee, Comer said that Black 'defied Congress.' 'Mr. Black is hiding behind litigation to delay having to provide answers to the American people,' Comer said. 'No one is above the law.' Black's lawyers, Susan Estrich and Aaron Cutler, called the resolution 'politically motivated and completely retaliatory,' insisting Black had cooperated by appearing for the initial transcribed interview. 'This is an outrageous action that ignores the facts and the truth about Mr. Black,' they said in a joint statement. The resolution will now be sent to the Department of Justice, which will decide whether to prosecute Black.
The case is not the first contempt fight in the Epstein probe. In January, the committee voted to recommend contempt charges for former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; that vote never reached the House floor because the Clintons relented and appeared for recorded depositions. Prosecuting contempt cases is rare, though it has happened — during the Biden administration, former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro each served four months in prison after failing to cooperate with the January 6 investigation.
Black, the co-founder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, paid Epstein millions of dollars between 2013 and 2017 — after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea to prostitution charges involving a minor. In his June appearance, Black delivered a lengthy written statement explaining that he paid Epstein over $100 million for tax and estate planning services, work he said saved him 'billions of dollars.' Black stepped down from the top job at Apollo in 2021 after the payments became public, and he has denied any wrongdoing tied to his relationship with Epstein.
A number of survivors of Epstein's abuse signed a statement commending Comer: 'By moving to hold Leon Black in contempt, Chairman Comer is sending a clear message that wealth and influence do not put anyone beyond the reach of congressional oversight.' The survivors are also pushing the committee to hear from Epstein's former attorney Alan Dershowitz and Attorney General Todd Blanche, who oversaw the release of the Epstein files. As the investigation moves into its second year, the committee has heard from 19 people, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Bill Gates, and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.