Leon Black held in contempt by US House in Epstein probe

The US House of Representatives held billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress on September 16 after he defied subpoenas in its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

The House adopted the resolution by unanimous consent, without a recorded vote, a day after the House Oversight Committee unanimously recommended the action. The matter will now go to the Justice Department, which will decide whether to pursue criminal charges.

Panel chairman Jamie Comer said Black had defied two subpoenas and that the committee would continue seeking testimony and documents in its investigation of the federal government's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell criminal cases.

Black, the billionaire co-founder of Apollo Global Management, failed to appear for a September 3 deposition and did not fully comply with a separate subpoena seeking nondisclosure agreements.

His lawyers called the House action "outrageous," accused lawmakers of rushing the process and said they would continue a court challenge to the subpoenas.

Black appeared voluntarily before the committee in June and said he paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate-planning advice. That session ended early after he declined to answer questions about some nondisclosure agreements, leading lawmakers to seek further testimony and documents.

Black has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said he had no knowledge of Epstein's criminal activities.

Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges involving minors. Authorities ruled his death a suicide.