The House of Representatives held billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress on Wednesday. The bipartisan move came after Black refused to provide additional information on his relationship with convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. It's the first time lawmakers have held a witness in the House Oversight Committees' Epstein investigation in contempt.
Black defied two congressional subpoenas from the House panel that was looking into his relationship with Epstein. He did appear for a closed-door, voluntary interview in June, but he walked out before it ended. 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, a Republican from Kentucky, accusing them of overstepping their authority.
Addressing the committee on Tuesday, 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 Wednesday "politically motivated and completely retaliatory." They said Black cooperated with the committee 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.
Others have also balked at the House committee looking into Epstein's crimes. In January, the committee voted to recommend contempt charges for former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Clintons initially fought calls to testify before the committee, saying they knew very little about Epstein and had already shared everything they knew.
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