The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to hold Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black in contempt of Congress after he defied two subpoenas tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, a move that now sends the matter to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution.
Black, a billionaire investor who paid convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than $158 million between 2012 and 2017, refused to return for a deposition under oath and declined to hand over nondisclosure agreements the House Oversight Committee demanded. Instead of complying, he sued the committee and its chairman, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, accusing them of overstepping their authority. The House responded Wednesday with a bipartisan contempt resolution, the first of its kind in the Epstein congressional investigation.
The resolution now goes to the DOJ, which will decide whether to prosecute. Black's attorneys vowed to fight.
Comer, a Republican who has led the Oversight Committee's probe into Epstein's financial and personal networks, addressed the committee on Tuesday and did not mince words. He said Black "defied Congress" and framed the billionaire's legal strategy as a stalling tactic, NPR reported:
"Mr. Black is hiding behind litigation to delay having to provide answers to the American people. No one is above the law."
The vote passed by unanimous consent, meaning not a single House member objected. That bipartisan consensus is worth noting. In a Congress that can barely agree on post office names, Republicans and Democrats found common ground on one point: a man who paid a convicted sex offender nine figures owes the public an explanation.
Black appeared for a closed-door voluntary interview with the Oversight Committee in June. He delivered a lengthy written statement explaining that he paid Epstein more than $100 million for tax and estate planning services and told committee members the tax work saved him "billions of dollars." But he walked out before the interview ended and declined to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements, the very documents the committee considers central to understanding what Black knew and when.
The committee then issued two subpoenas: one ordering Black back for a sworn deposition, and another demanding he turn over any NDAs he signed, including agreements potentially signed with survivors of Epstein's abuse. Black complied with neither.
Black's name appears thousands of times in the Justice Department's Epstein files, though appearing in those files is not necessarily an indication of criminal wrongdoing. Still, the sheer volume raised enough questions that the committee pressed for more, and Black's refusal to cooperate only deepened suspicion. As Just The News reported, Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said lawmakers believe Black's payments may have enabled Epstein's criminal activities:
"We believe that Leon Black is at the heart of the Epstein network... We need to know why Jeffrey Epstein got over 180 million dollars from Mr. Black."
Garcia, a California Democrat, spoke just before the resolution passed and called it a meaningful but incomplete step.
"What I just want folks to know is this is an important step towards justice, but there is just an enormous amount of work to be done."
Rather than comply with the subpoenas, Black filed a lawsuit against the Oversight Committee and Comer, arguing the subpoenas bore "no legitimate connection" to the committee's purpose. The suit accused the committee of overstepping its authority.
His attorneys, Susan Estrich and Aaron Cutler, issued a joint statement Wednesday calling the contempt vote "an outrageous action that ignores the facts and the truth about Mr. Black." They described the resolution as "politically motivated and completely retaliatory."
As the Washington Examiner noted, Black's legal team signaled the fight is far from over. His attorneys said they "intend to pursue our litigation challenging this action and will hold the Committee and Chairman Comer accountable in the courts."
Black has denied any wrongdoing associated with his relationship with Epstein. He stepped down from the top job at Apollo Global Management in 2021 after the payments became public. Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges involving a minor under the age of 18, received millions from Black between 2013 and 2017, payments that the New York Post reported totaled $158 million for tax advice, estate planning, and money management.
Survivors of Epstein's abuse issued a joint statement praising Comer's decision to push the contempt vote forward:
"By moving to hold Leon Black in contempt, Chairman Comer is sending a clear message that wealth and influence do not put anyone beyond the reach of congressional oversight."
On the same day the House passed the contempt resolution, Comer introduced a bill designed to allow survivors to share their sexual abuse stories even if they signed a nondisclosure agreement. The broader Epstein probe has exposed how NDAs were used to keep victims quiet, a pattern that investigations into Epstein's operations at locations like his New Mexico ranch have only reinforced.
The committee has now heard from 19 people as the investigation moves into its second year. Witnesses include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Bill Gates, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Epstein's former accountant Richard Kahn, and Epstein's former attorney Darren Indyke.
Gates's own testimony before the committee raised pointed questions about how Epstein leveraged personal relationships to maintain influence over powerful figures.
Survivors are also pushing for the committee to hear from Alan Dershowitz, another former Epstein attorney, and Attorney General Todd Blanche, who oversaw the release of the Epstein files.
The resolution now sits with the DOJ, which must decide whether to prosecute. Contempt of Congress is a federal misdemeanor that can carry up to a year in jail. But enforcement has been uneven.
During the Biden administration, former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro each served four months in prison after refusing to cooperate with the Democratic-led investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Those cases showed the DOJ is willing to prosecute contempt referrals, at least under certain political conditions.
The Clintons' experience offers a different model. In January, the Oversight Committee voted to recommend contempt charges against former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. That vote never reached the House floor because both eventually appeared for recorded depositions. Black, by contrast, has shown no willingness to cooperate, and has actively fought the committee in court.
Institutional failures surrounding Epstein have been a recurring theme, from allegations that the FBI ignored early warnings about Epstein to the sweetheart plea deal he received in 2008. The House probe represents the most sustained congressional effort to map the network of money and influence that kept Epstein's operation running for years.
Several questions remain unanswered. The exact contents of Black's NDAs, and who signed them, are still unknown. The DOJ has not publicly indicated whether it intends to prosecute. And the full scope of what Black discussed with Epstein during those years of multimillion-dollar payments has never been established under oath.
Black's legal team is betting the courts will shield him. The committee is betting the public will not tolerate a billionaire using lawsuits to dodge questions about a convicted sex offender. One side will be proven right.
When a man pays $158 million to someone later exposed as a serial predator and then refuses to explain why under oath, the public deserves more than a lawyer's press release, it deserves answers.
