Epstein survivors welcome House committee vote to hold Leon Black in contempt

The House oversight committee voted 41-0 on Tuesday to recommend that billionaire investor Leon Black be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas seeking his testimony and nondisclosure agreements as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

More than a dozen survivors of Epstein's abuse issued a joint statement praising committee chairman James Comer for pursuing accountability, saying the unanimous vote proves that wealth and influence cannot shield anyone from congressional oversight. They said the vote builds on years of their efforts to expose Epstein's network and urged Congress to keep pursuing leads from the Epstein files.

Background of the dispute

Black's name has repeatedly surfaced in Epstein-related files. According to the New York Times, he paid Epstein a total of $170m between 2013 and 2017 for what he described as tax and estate planning services. He has consistently denied wrongdoing and said he had no knowledge of Epstein's criminal conduct.

Black voluntarily sat for a transcribed interview with the committee in June, but the session ended abruptly after he declined to answer questions about the NDAs. The committee then issued two subpoenas, one for the NDAs and another compelling a further deposition. Black did not appear for the scheduled 3 September deposition and did not hand over all requested documents, instead suing Comer and the committee, arguing the subpoenas were invalid and overreached the panel's legislative authority.

The contempt resolution now heads to the full House, pending a vote decision by Speaker Mike Johnson.

New legislation

On Wednesday, Comer introduced the Survivor's Voice Protection Act, intended to let survivors speak about abuse even if bound by an NDA, and to create a reporting obligation for suspected grooming behavior. Several Republican lawmakers signed on as original cosponsors.

The committee said it has so far conducted 19 depositions and interviews and released roughly 65,000 pages of documents tied to the Epstein investigation.