The House unanimously voted Wednesday to hold billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his network.
“Leon Black has continued to defy two congressional subpoenas and we need to know why he gave Jeffrey Epstein $180 million dollars,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement. “We will continue to center the survivors in our fight to hold those responsible for these horrific crimes. We are just getting started.”
Black is the first witness in the probe to be held in contempt of Congress. The Oversight Committee voted earlier this year to advance contempt proceedings against former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but those charges did not reach the House floor after the Clintons agreed to testify.
Black spurned a subpoena for a deposition in the Epstein probe earlier this month and has sued the Oversight Committee in federal court to block its demands for his testimony and for nondisclosure agreements involving Black and women that might be related to the Epstein case.
Trending
The case will now be referred to the Department of Justice.
Black’s lawyers blasted the House vote as an “outrageous action,” arguing in a statement that the committee and its chair, Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), “abused their Congressional power and broke the law.”
“It is politically motivated and completely retaliatory by a Chairman who is focused solely on himself and his own political ambitions without any regard for the truth and the law,” Susan Estrich of Estrich Goldin and Aaron Cutler of Hogan Lovells Cadwalader said. “We intend to pursue our litigation challenging this action and will hold the Committee and Chairman Comer accountable in the courts.”
The contempt referral passed by unanimous consent just a day after the Oversight Committee voted unanimously to send it to the floor. Both Republicans and Democrats have criticized Black for dodging his deposition.
Author
