House holds billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt over Epstein probe

(CNN) — The House of Representatives held billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress on Wednesday for refusing to comply with subpoenas as part of the congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

It is now up to the Justice Department to consider whether to pursue criminal prosecution against Black.

The move is the latest escalation in the long-running congressional probe, which has brought in at least 19 high-profile witnesses, many of whom had never been questioned about their ties to Epstein, but has failed to produce the kind of revelations many lawmakers and Epstein survivors had hoped for.

The vote by the full House triggers a referral to the Justice Department and came after the oversight committee unanimously held Black in contempt on Tuesday for refusing to turn over nondisclosure agreements and appear for a deposition.

Black is currently suing the panel and House Oversight Chair James Comer to try to block the lawmakers from obtaining his documents and testimony, but lawmakers have argued that Congress is entitled to the information.

“I subpoenaed Leon Black for testimony and documents critical to our investigation. But he has refused to comply. Leon Black is legally required to appear for a deposition in front of the Oversight Committee and required to turn over all nondisclosure agreements to which he was a party,” Comer said at the committee meeting on Tuesday.

Attorneys representing Black admonished the committee for taking this step and said they have filed a confidential complaint on Tuesday with the Office of Congressional Conduct requesting an investigation into Comer.

“This an outrageous action that ignores the facts and the truth about Mr. Black,” Susan Estrich, of Estrich Goldin, and Aaron Cutler, of Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, said in a statement.

“To be clear, our lawsuit shows the Committee and Chairman Comer’s abused their Congressional power and broke the law. We believe that our confidential ethics complaint will further show that Chairman Comer violated the rules of the House,” they added.

The attorneys said that Black provided the panel “with the only confidentiality agreement that Jeffrey Epstein knew about as part of Mr. Black’s cooperation with the Committee’s efforts to ferret out the truth about Epstein. He also testified to this fact. We also told them that Ghislaine Maxwell had absolutely nothing to do with any of the agreements.”

“The Committee has continued to insist on looking for information that does not exist. They are looking to ask questions about every NDA Mr. Black ever signed including with business partners over his 50 year career and also with individuals who he never met. This is absurd. They even asked him to give the names of individuals in his social circle who have NDA’s,” the lawyers said in their statement provided to CNN.

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

Black initially appeared for a voluntary interview in June, but that ended abruptly when Comer issued two subpoenas as lawmakers said that Black refused to answer a series of questions. Instead of appearing for his deposition, Black filed the lawsuit earlier this month.

Black is one of many influential and wealthy individuals whose past relationships with Epstein have come under further scrutiny since the Justice Department’s release of millions of Epstein files.

In his voluntary closed-door June interview, Black told members of Congress that he did not know the extent of Epstein’s crimes — and that he himself never abused women or had sexual relations with minors, according to a copy of his opening remarks shared by his legal team.

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

In a letter to the committee obtained by CNN earlier this month, Black’s attorneys argued that the nondisclosure agreements the panel was seeking were too broad, had no connection to Epstein and disregarded the privacy interests of third parties.

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