The House Oversight Committee on Friday issued two subpoenas to billionaire investor Leon Black as part of the panel’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with both Republicans and Democrats criticizing Black for refusing to answer “vital” questions.
The subpoena of Black happened in the middle of his voluntary interview with the Oversight panel on Capitol Hill on Friday. Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), the chairman of the committee, told reporters that the subpoenas were for nondisclosure agreements that Black may have been party to and for a sworn deposition with the committee next month.
“This is a result of refusing to answer specific questions about the NDAs and the terms,” Comer said. “We believe that information is vital to our investigation.”
Lawmakers said that the NDAs they want to review are between Black and other women, and said they want to know whether Epstein was involved. Black, a longtime Epstein associate, told the committee in his opening statement Friday that he did not have any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, but was aware of Epstein’s 2008 sex crime conviction.
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Black also moved in the same New York financial and social circles as President Donald Trump for decades, although there is no known significant connection between Black and the president.
“We want to know was Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs? Was he involved in writing? Was he involved in awarding funds to the women for NDAs?” Comer said. “We expect to see him back here in a few weeks.”
Comer’s unexpected subpoena of Black was a rare moment of bipartisan agreement in a probe that has turned bitterly political. Democrats said on Friday that they supported Comer’s move and the NDAs are essential to the probe.
“The NDAs are central to us understanding what actually happened,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters. “To issue subpoenas for those NDAs, the documents, and for Mr. Black to appear under oath, answering questions and on video is incredibly important. So I just want to add that I completely support the chairman.”
Black appeared voluntarily before the Oversight Committee on Friday and was not under oath. Democrats have criticized Republicans for allowing witnesses in the investigation to speak with the panel under the same terms, including former Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Comer told reporters that Black has been subpoenaed for a deposition on July 16, saying the committee is “going to get those NDAs, and he’s going to answer questions.”
“They knew what we needed when we came in here. We were hoping we would get it, but we didn’t,” Comer said.
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