Black's attorneys call the contempt markup "a complete abomination" and "retaliation - plain and simple"
Attorney for Leon Black (Estrich Goldin LLP), in a statement issued jointly with Aaron Cutler of Hogan Lovells Cadwalader
“This Committee mark-up and contempt resolution is a complete abomination. The Committee under the leadership of Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Robert Garcia has lost sight of its legislative purpose and is abusing its power. ... This is retaliation - plain and simple. We have the constitutional right to sue Chairman Comer and the Committee because the subpoenas issued were illegitimate, illegal, and a textbook abuse of power designed to bully and destroy legal protections of private citizens. ... He provided to the Committee the only NDA that was within the scope of the Committee's authority. ... This entire charade is about politics and ambition. ... there were more than enough reasons to postpone this mark-up and contempt resolution.”
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Paid press release from Black's attorneys, distributed through Business Wire, responding to the committee's markup and contempt resolution. It says the attorneys submitted letters to the committee and filed a confidential complaint with the Office of Congressional Conduct.
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About this source
Letter from Black's counsel asking the committee to postpone the September 15 markup until members had all material information, the Office of Congressional Conduct had reviewed a complaint about Comer, and the court had ruled on Black's lawsuit.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original text
About this source
Committee roll call sheet for the vote to report the contempt resolution. It records 41 ayes and 0 noes, with 20 Republicans and 21 Democrats voting aye and six Republican members not recorded.
Before the quotation
Black's attorneys sent letters that day asking the committee to postpone the markup until members had all material information, the Office of Congressional Conduct had reviewed a complaint about Comer, and the court had ruled on Black's lawsuit. They said they had filed the confidential complaint that morning.
After the quotation
The committee voted 41 to 0 that afternoon to recommend contempt, according to its roll call sheet.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: In a federal complaint, Leon Black alleged that the House Oversight Committee's two subpoenas are invalid to the extent they exceed its delegated authority by seeking private information that has no legitimate connection to its legislative purpose.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the decision to hold Black in contempt, the attorneys denounce the contempt resolution and the committee's process and say the subpoenas were illegitimate. That rejects the action itself, which is stronger than disputing how it is described.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- James Comer Jr., Robert Garcia, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Was the House justified in holding Leon Black in contempt of Congress over the Epstein inquiry?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“an outrageous action that ignores the facts and the truth about Mr. Black ... The House of Representatives has rushed through every stage of this inquiry. ... The full House is holding him in contempt without any regard to the active litigation challenging the lawfulness of the Committee’s actions and the ethics complaint against Chairman Comer ... politically motivated and completely retaliatory by a Chairman who is focused solely on himself and his own political ambitions without any regard for the truth and the law. ... To think, he is being held in contempt over invalid subpoenas is ridiculous.”Read statement
“We just unanimously voted to hold Leon Black in contempt of Congress. His name appears in the Epstein files hundreds of times, and he gave Epstein $180 million. The survivors told us to follow the money and that is exactly what we are doing. ... Whatever happened, the reality is he has a lot of information, a lot of documents that are central to our investigation and he's refusing.”Read statement
“This vote is an important step towards justice and accountability. Leon Black has continued to defy two congressional subpoenas and we need to know why he gave Jeffrey Epstein $180 million dollars.”Read statement