House votes to hold Leon Black in contempt of Congress over Epstein subpoenas defiance

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with subpoenas issued to him related to a committee’s ongoing investigation of the notorious late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The vote by unanimous consent sets the stage for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to certify the matter to refer Black’s conduct to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution.

It came a day after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in a 41-0 vote, passed a resolution recommending the full House hold the former Apollo Global Management CEO in contempt.

It is not clear whether the DOJ would prosecute Black.

Defendants convicted of contempt of Congress face a possible sentence of not less than one month and not more than 12 months in prison.

The contempt action stems from Black’s failure to appear for a transcribed deposition by the committee on Sept. 3 after it issued him a subpoena for that appearance, and his failure to comply fully with a separate subpoena seeking copies of nondisclosure agreements he has been party to.

Black gave the committee one of the NDAs, which his lawyers said was the “only” one that Epstein knew about, but withheld others.

“This vote is an important step towards justice and accountability,” said Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight panel.

“Leon Black has continued to defy two congressional subpoenas and we need to know why he gave Jeffrey Epstein $180 million dollars,” Garcia said. “We will continue to center the survivors in our fight to hold those responsible for these horrific crimes. We are just getting started.”

Black’s attorneys blasted the House for its contempt holding, calling it “an outrageous action that ignores the facts and the truth about Mr. Black.”

“The House of Representatives has rushed through every stage of this inquiry. First, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Chairman Comer rushed to issue him subpoenas,” the lawyers, Susan Estrich and Aaron Cutler, said in a statement.

“Then, the Committee rushed to hold him in contempt, even in the face of active litigation and an ethics complaint. Now, the full House is holding him in contempt without any regard to the active litigation challenging the lawfulness of the Committee’s actions and the ethics complaint against Chairman [James] Comer.”

“Mr. Black is a private citizen who has helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs, has given away more than $700 million in philanthropic and charitable contributions, and has supported research that has been at the vanguard of cancer treatment,” the attorney said. “To think, he is being held in contempt over invalid subpoenas is ridiculous. It is so out of line that the behavior of this Committee is reminiscent of the 1950’s where another Congressional Committee abused its investigative authority and destroyed people’s lives.”

 Black sued the committee and Rep. Comer, R-Ky., on Sept. 3, seeking to block those subpoenas. That lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Washington.

“The subpoenas are invalid to the extent they exceed [the committee’s] delegated authority in seeking private information that bears no legitimate connection to [its] legislative purpose,” the suit says.

The civil complaint says the subpoenas issued by the panel “would also expose women who value their privacy, who have no known or public connection to Epstein, who bargained for confidentiality and have refused to release it, and who have no ability to protect themselves and their privacy before the Committee.”

In their statement Wednesday, Black’s lawyers said: “Our lawsuit shows the Committee and Chairman Comer abused their Congressional power and broke the law.”

They also said that they believe a confidential ethics complaint they filed against Comer, R-Ky., “will further show that Chairman Comer violated the rules of the House.”

Black has not been charged with any wrongdoing in connection with his dealings with Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 after being charged with child sex trafficking.

But he stepped down as Apollo’s chief executive officer in March 2021, two months after the firm disclosed that Black had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning advice from 2012 through 2017.

Black, who has said Epstein’s advice led to significant savings for him, knew at the time that Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida state court in 2008 to two prostitution-related charges, among them soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.

“Mr. Black has repeatedly said that he feels terrible for Epstein’s victims and that he regrets ever doing business with Epstein,” Black’s lawyers said Wednesday.

“He never abused a woman. He never was with an underage woman. He never engaged in sex trafficking. He never paid Epstein for access to women. He was never blackmailed by Epstein. Mr. Black had no knowledge of any of Epstein’s heinous conduct. He never forced any woman to sign any NDA.”