The House voted on Wednesday to hold billionaire investor Leon Black in criminal contempt for defying congressional subpoenas related to the House Oversight Commitee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, setting the stage for potential criminal charges.
The vote through unanimous consent marked the first time a prominent figure associated with Epstein has been referred to the Justice Department for criminal contempt proceedings.
Black, who paid Epstein more than $150 million from 2012 to 2017, refused to comply with subpoenas from the committee to produce nondisclosure agreements he allegedly signed with some of Epstein’s victims and to attend a deposition before the panel on Sept. 3.
Instead, Black sued the committee, accusing the lawmakers of exceeding their authority. He alleged that the subpoenas, if complied with, would “expose women who valued their privacy” and “have no known or public connection to Epstein.”
The Oversight Committee unanimously agreed to advance contempt proceedings against Black on Tuesday, a vote his attorney Aaron Cutler called “a complete abomination.” Black’s legal team also filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Conduct accusing the committee chair, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., of “unethical tactics.”
Black’s relationship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender found dead in his jail cell in New York in 2019, is one of many such relationships that the oversight panel has sought information about as part of its investigation. Black has said that his vast payments to Epstein were for tax and estate-planning services and that he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. He has denied wrongdoing.
Unlike other voluntary interviews conducted by the committee, Black’s appearance before lawmakers in late June went off the rails as he declined to answer questions about the NDAs. He was subpoenaed during the interview and then left the room shortly after. His attorney Susan Estrich dismissed the subpoenas as “a planned political stunt” at the time.
MS NOW has previously reported that at least one woman accused Black of initiating unwanted sexual contact with her, as documented in the Epstein files.
The committee’s focus on Black also stands in contrast to its treatment of other prominent witnesses. Former Epstein attorney Alan Dershowitz, who has said publicly that he knew a great deal, remembered everything and has nothing to hide, canceled a voluntary interview with the committee just days before it was scheduled to take place and without explanation.
Comer demanded Dershowitz appear for a rescheduled, videotaped and transcribed interview on Sept. 2, saying the committee would otherwise “explore all available tools at its disposal, including the use of the compulsory process,” meaning a subpoena. Dershowitz did not appear, however, and the panel has not made any public statements about him since.
The House vote on Black comes on the same day as an Epstein survivor, identified only as “Jane Doe,” filed a putative class-action lawsuit against the Epstein estate over the deceased sex offender’s use and possession of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, that features her and other survivors.
Doe alleges that she was about 12 years old when Epstein stole partially nude photos of her that were “taken as part of an artist study for and catalogued, numbered, and maintained by the artist in a lockbox,” as well as similar images of another minor “for his own sexual gratification” and that of others.
Another plaintiff, identified only as “Amy,” alleges that she is featured in a well-known series of CSAM that has been actively traded since the 1990s and that she believes is within the troves of CSAM seized from Epstein’s properties.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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