Financier refused to comply with subpoenas seeking his testimony for the investigation into the late sex offender
The House oversight committee voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend that theHouse of Representativeshold Leon Black, the billionaire financier, in contempt of Congress, after he refused to comply with subpoenas seeking his testimony and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) sought by the panel as part of its investigation intoJeffrey Epstein. Black contends the subpoenas are “invalid” and he is suing to block them.
“Subpoenas are not suggestions; they carry the force of law and require full compliance” the representative James Comer, who chairs the committee, said in the chamber on Tuesday afternoon before the voting began. “Mr Black’s testimony is crucial to our investigation because he maintained a close personal relationship with Epstein for years during the time when Epstein was engaged in sex trafficking.”
He added: “We made it clear to Mr Black and his attorneys that if he did not comply, then the committee would initiate contempt proceedings.”
The bipartisan committee passed the resolution 41-0. Comer said that the committee now “moves the report to the full House”.
The office of the House speaker,Mike Johnson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday about whether the lower chamber would consider the contempt measure.
The decision is the latest escalation in the dispute between the committee and Black, whose name hascome uprepeatedly in theEpstein files, and who, as reported bythe New York Times, paid Epstein a total of $170m for what he described as tax and estate planning services from 2013 to 2017.
Black has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and has said that he had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Comerannounced last week that that the committee wouldconsider the resolutionto hold Black in contempt. It came after Blackdid not appearfor his deposition scheduled for 3 September and did not produce all of the nondisclosure agreements sought by the committee.
Instead, Black sued to block the subpoenas, arguing that they were “invalid to the extent they exceed” the committee’s “delegated authority in seeking private information that bears no legitimate connection” to its legislative purpose.
Black’s lawsuit also argued that the subpoenas would “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”.
The committee issued the subpoenas in June, after Black appeared voluntarily before the panel for a transcribed interview. The interviewended abruptlyafter lawmakers from both parties said that Black refused to answer questions about NDAs. Comer then issued the two subpoenas: one demanding that Black produce “all non-disclosure agreements to which he is a party”, and another requiring him to appear before the committee again. In August,Comer threatenedto hold Black in contempt if he did not fully cooperate with the committee’s subpoenas.
On Tuesday, during his remarks in the chamber before the vote, Comer said that Black “only produced one NDA to the committee” and noted that Black did not appear for his 3 September deposition.
Attorneys representing Black had asked for a postponement of the committee’s markup earlier on Tuesday, and described it as a “complete abomination”.
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