By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-16 22:55:34 | Updated at 2026-09-16 23:49:09
58 minutes ago
The U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 16 voted to hold billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress for skipping a deposition on his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Wednesday, the House voted to move forward with the charge via a unanimous consent vote, often used in the House for quickly clearing non-controversial agenda items.
The House Oversight Committee had recommended Black for censure a day earlier in a vote on Tuesday. The committee unanimously voted 41–0 to advance a contempt resolution of Black, 75, to the full chamber.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) introduced the measure on the House floor, and Oversight lawmakers on both sides of the aisle praised the outcome.
“Leon Black defied lawful subpoenas and tried to hide behind litigation to avoid answering our questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein,” Republicans on the committee wrote in a post on X. “No one is above the law.”
Echoing the sentiment, Democrats on the committee wrote: “Leon Black was just held in CRIMINAL CONTEMPT for refusing to comply with our subpoenas. Billionaires like him may be powerful and wealthy, but they are not above the law.”
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) provided additional comments on the case in an interview on the steps of the U.S. Capitol following the vote.
“Leon Black gave Jeffrey Epstein $180 million,” Garcia alleged. “We don’t know for what, what the reasoning was, what the accounting is. Clearly Jeffrey Epstein used it to involve his sex-trafficking ring.”
Black had previously appeared for a voluntary interview, but had refused to answer some key questions, prompting subpoenas by the House panel.
Black was subpoenaed to testify to the committee regarding his relationship with Epstein, who was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution and faced sex trafficking charges at the time of his death in federal prison in 2019. The Oversight panel had previously subpoenaed Black for documents—including non-disclosure agreements he had signed with several women—which it described as critical to the investigation of Epstein and his network.
“He defied Congress and refused to do either,” Comer said ahead of the Sept. 15 vote. “Instead, Mr. Black is hiding behind litigation to delay having to provide answers to the American people. No one is above the law. Mr. Black will be treated the same as anyone else in this investigation, and his actions have consequences.”
Black’s lawyer did not return a request for comment by the time of publication.
Black sued the committee after avoiding the subpoenas, telling a court that the subpoenas were invalid because they sought “private information that bears no legitimate connection” to the committee’s legislative purpose and 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.”
“This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black,” Susan Estrich, attorney for Black, said in a statement to news outlets at the time. “We were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit in response to an abuse of Congressional power.”
That case is ongoing.
Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, had a “close personal relationship” with Epstein during the time that Epstein was allegedly engaged in sex trafficking, according to a report from the panel. Black also allegedly paid Epstein more than $158 million over the years, and potentially more than $170 million, according to the report.
“As a result of his extensive dealings with Epstein, Mr. Black possesses firsthand information regarding the activities of Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell and their efforts to establish relationships and curry favor with influential individuals while engaged in sex trafficking,” the report stated. “His testimony may inform the Oversight Committee’s consideration of legislative reforms designed to combat the operation of sex-trafficking rings and efforts to shield such activities from scrutiny.”
Garcia said on Tuesday that lawmakers believe Black “is at the heart of the Epstein network.”
“This is a private equity billionaire worth roughly $13 billion. We need to know why Jeffrey Epstein got over $180 million from Mr. Black. We know this money enabled Epstein’s activities for years, and we need to know how and if it led to the abuse of women and girls. We need to know about Leon Black and Jeffrey Epstein’s financial dealings,” he said.
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
