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A US House panel unanimously voted to hold Apollo Global Management’s co-founder Leon Black in contempt on Tuesday for defying subpoenas to testify on his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The House oversight committee advanced the measure to the full House, where Republican leaders must decide whether to call a floor vote to hold Black in contempt. The move could lead to criminal charges against Black from the justice department.
James Comer, the chair of the committee, said Black’s testimony was “crucial” to the House investigation because of the billionaire’s “close personal relationship” with Epstein and his funding of the financier’s “lavish lifestyle” that allowed him to “continue his horrific crimes”.
“He has refused to comply,” said Comer of Black. “He defied Congress . . . No one is above the law.”
Black, who had paid Epstein more than $150mn for financial advice on matters including taxes, art transactions and the management of his yacht and private plane, has sued the committee and Comer over the probe.
Susan Estrich and Aaron Cutler, lawyers for Black, earlier on Tuesday called the contempt resolution a “complete abomination”, adding the move was “retaliation — plain and simple”.
“Mr Black has repeatedly said that he feels terrible for Epstein’s victims and that he regrets ever doing business with Epstein,” they said. “He never abused a woman. He never was with an underage woman. He never engaged in sex trafficking. He never paid Epstein for access to women. He was never blackmailed by Epstein. Mr Black had no knowledge of any of Epstein’s heinous conduct.”
The committee in recent months has probed the relationships between Epstein and a number of Wall Street executives, including Jes Staley, the former Barclays chief executive, and Kathy Ruemmler, Goldman Sachs’ one-time top lawyer. Both appeared before the committee to answer questions over their links to the money manager.
Black is the first person to sue lawmakers over their investigation, which was launched last year to examine the government’s handling of the Epstein case. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in 2019 ahead of his trial on federal sex-crime charges.
The House oversight committee interviewed Black in June, when it issued two subpoenas to hand over non-disclosure documents and return for a videotaped sworn deposition.
In July, Black submitted one NDA that he signed with Guzel Ganieva, a Russian model who had accused Black of defamation and rape. He denied Ganieva’s allegations.
The New York State Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Ganieva filed against Black in 2023, and an appeals court last year upheld the decision.
Black had stepped down as Apollo’s chief executive in 2021 when his relationship with Epstein came to light. The private equity magnate quit after it was revealed that he had paid the late sex offender more than $150mn for financial advice.
“We believe that Leon Black is at the heart of the Epstein network,” said Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee. “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.”
Additional reporting by Lauren Fedor
