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Congress Subpoenas Leon Black After Epstein Testimony Standoff (7/2/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. Last Friday, which was June twenty sixth, Leon
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Black got up and walked out of his interview with Congress.
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That came after he was subpoenad in the middle of
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that interview by Congress. And why did they hit him
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with a subpoena. Well, he was refusing to answer questions
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about NDAs and if they had any relation to Jeffrey Epstein.
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And since it was a voluntary interview, he could get
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up and walk out at any time, and that's exactly
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what he did. But now he's going to have to
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come back and be compelled under oath to answer these questions,
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and if he doesn't, well, he's going to be held
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in contempt. So things have gotten a bit serious for
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Leon Black. Now not serious on the end of Epstein Justice,
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but as far as the cover up, as far as
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what's going on now, Oh yeah, he's exposed. And this
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is what I've been telling you for about a year. Now,
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focus on the cover up. Focus on the things that
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we can prove that we have tangible evidence of. And
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if we open those doors and we walk through them,
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we're gonna find pay dirt. People like Leon Black breaking news.
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Not exactly a squeaky clean guy. And the fact that
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he wouldn't answer those questions about NDAs and Jeffrey Epstein,
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well that tells me everything I need to know. So
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today we have an article from ABC News and the
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headline comer subpoena is Leon Black after his refusal to
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answer some Epstein questions from the panel. This article was
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authored by Lauren Peller, James Hill, Peter Charlembeau, and John Parkinson.
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House Oversight Committee James Comer issued two subpoenas to Leon
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Black after Comer said the private equity billionaire refused to
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answer some of the committee's questions about convicted sex offender
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Jeffrey Epstein during Black's closed door appearance before the panel
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on Friday. Oh what you thought he was going to
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tell the truth? Did we really think that Leon Black
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was gonna come clean? This guy has paid out more
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money than you could possibly imagine when it comes to
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Epstein related nonsense. But sure he had nothing to do
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with it. He had no exposure. Guys like Leon Black,
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they just hand out money. You should go to his
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house tomorrow and ask him for some money. Very generous guy,
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very altruistic. Black, who was appearing before the Committee is
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part of its ongoing probe into the government's investigation of Epstein,
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walked out of his transcribed interview. During questioning, Comer told
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reporters that the two subpoenas compelled Black to appear for
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a deposition on July sixteenth, as well as produced purported
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non disclosure agreements that he was questioned about. Look, if
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he had nothing to hide, he'd a pony that shit up.
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But you know that Leon Black is not going to
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go down without a fight. He's gonna have his legal
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team going crazy, and they're going to be looking for
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what loopholes they think they can find. And my guess
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is they'll find some. And when you're paying the kind
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of money that Leon Black's paying for his legal team,
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you have to expect that. But I would hope that
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the Committee is prepared to dig as deep as they can,
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and not only that, but go further. If it comes
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out that Leon Black is lied, or anybody is lied,
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they need to be referred to the Justice Department for
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a prosecution. And then if the Justice Department doesn't act, well,
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just another bit of evidence of the cover up. And
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I'm telling you right now, if anyone goes down for anything,
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it's going to be this cover up. During today's voluntary
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transcribed interview, mister Black stated he won't answer questions about NDAs.
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Answers about the terms and substance of these NDAs are
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critical to our investigation. Comer said, we owe it to
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the American people to provide transparency and insure accountability for survivors. Well,
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believe me when I tell you, mister, we're not counting
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on that from you. Now. This is a good move,
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and you should be doing this. But why weren't you
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showing the same kind of interest in Les Wexner? Why
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didn't any of you guys show up? Because I'm telling
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you right now, Les Wexner involved just as deeply, if
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not more deeply, than Leon Black. So it's not like
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Les Wexner is just some guy that's been targeted. Why
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did the GOP treat him differently? Why didn't anybody show
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up to ask him questions? The optics are terrible. NDAs
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are between him and other women. We want to know
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was Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs? Was he involved
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in the writing, was he involved in awarding funds to
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the women for the NDAs. What was the reason for
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the NDAs. We don't know everything about the NDAs, so
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that's very important to our investigation, to the subpoenas that
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were issued. We expect to see him back here in
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a few weeks, Comer said, And I wonder if his
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tune's gonna change. Probably not. I bet you he's going
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to be even more ob toes, even more difficult, because
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now he knows he has something on the line. Previously,
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it was just a friendly conversation quote unquote, not Now
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now you're under oath. You couldn't handle things the right way.
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You couldn't do it on your own. Now you have
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to be compelled to tell the truth. Imagine being that
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big of a scumbag that you have to be compelled
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to tell the truth about Jeffrey Epstein and what Epstein
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was up to and what you were up to with him.
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And then imagine that this dude's father is part of
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the administration. You know, there was a point in time
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in this country where we had enough respect for ourselves
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and the nation where a guy like that would never
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have a job in the administration. But those days are
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long over. This is very important for our investigation. Comer said,
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we knew for a long time that there were NDAs
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out there by various people. Obviously, they're very hard to obtain,
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and with the subpoena, we expect to get those NDAs
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in hand. Look great, And as I've told you before,
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I'm willing to ride any one of these politicians and
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this committee until the wheels fall off. When I criticize them,
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it's not saying that they don't do anything that's worthwhile,
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but the overall tenor and the way that the committee
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handles itself. It's obviously not going as far as they
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need to go, but when they do something good, we'll
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ride that shit. And I think going deeper with Leon
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Black is certainly a good idea. I just wish it
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was this kind of colonoscopy for everybody, especially the people
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that were deeply involved, you know, the Wexner's, the Jess Staleys,
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the Glen Dubins, the Leon Blacks. Asked about Black's response
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during the interview, Comer said his response was that he
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wasn't allowed to discuss the term of the NDAs well.
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That's weird. Why not. Ranking committee member Representative Robert Garcia
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of California said he agreed with Comer's decision to issue
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the subpoenas. The NDAs are central to us understanding what
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actually happened. There are real accusations, and there are survivors
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who have accused mister Black of horrific things. Garcia toll reporters, Well,
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that's really the gist of it. Now. Of course Black
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will say he had nothing to do with the abuse,
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not one single thing to do with any kind of abuse,
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But that doesn't change the allegations. The allegations are what
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they are, and they've never been investigated fully. And that's
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the big problem, isn't it. You can't run around and
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say that this is a big hoax when there's never
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been a real investigation, and when there were investigations, they
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all pulled up short. Ask yourself why this is literally
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the only case that I can point out where that's happened.
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When the federal government gets a beat on you, they're
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coming in hard, they're giving you the diddy business. But
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for some reason, when it comes to Epstein and his friends,
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it's a hands off approach. Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, claimed
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to reporters that the decision to serve Black with the
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subpoena during the interview was a premeditated political decision and
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claim that Epstein had no involvement with a purported non
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disclosure agreements. Why not just answer? Why not just come clean?
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Everybody knows that Leon Black is a scumbag. Everybody knows
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he was cheating on his wife while she was sick.
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Everybody knows. So what else is he hiding? It can't
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be reputational, that's already in the gutter. So what is
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this boob hiding? And furthermore, why does he look like
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Rex Huwerman? Him and the Long Island serial killer looked
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like they could be related. They made a premeditated political
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decision to serve him with subpoenas after less than an
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hour of questioning, and before they even asked a single
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question about his legitimate payments to Epstein. She said this
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was nothing more than a planned political stunt. Mister Epstein
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had no involvement with any NDAs, whether they exist or not. Well,
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if that's the case, why are you being so evasive?
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Why not just answer the question under oath? Nope, had
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nothing to do with Epstein. Sorry, keep moving, unless, of course,
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they had something to do with Epstein, and my guess
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is they did. The latest in a series of rich
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and powerful people questioned about the relationship with Epstein as
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part of the Oversight's Padel probe. Black maintained a social
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relationship with Epstein since the mid nineties and eventually paid
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him more than one hundred and seventy million dollars for
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tax and estate planning advice. According to the Senate Finance Committee, like,
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I'm not going to beat that dead horse, but come on,
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that kind of money ponied up and you're getting advice,
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that's fucking Pablo Escobar kind of money. Bro one hundred
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and seventy million. Black is denied wrongdoing of knowledge ah
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of Epstein's crimes, though his financial payments to Epstein served
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as a lifeline to the convicted sex offender in the
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years after Epstein's two thousand and eight prison sentence for
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soliciting a minor for a prostitution. Representatives Sujas Submarannium Toll
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reporters after Black's appearance, this is the first time a
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witness during this probe has walked out in the middle
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of an interview. It's because we had very important questions
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about Leon Black's past with Jeffrey Epstein. He said, this
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is also the first time I heard someone gush poetically
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about how smart and how great Jeffrey Epstein was. Leon
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Black was a lot closer to Epstein than he wants
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you to know, and there were a lot better friends
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than he wants you to know. Same story with just Day,
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and it's been obvious for a very long time, but
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now the email confirm it, and there's no denying it anymore.
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There's no backtracking or trying to cover up the facts.
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They are what they are, and they don't look good
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for Leon Black. He was smug. Representative yoasimin and sorry
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seat of Black's appearance. He refused to answer questions, but
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at the same time was emphasizing how he was being
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transparent because this was voluntary, But when pressed on critical
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questions about his own sexual abuse and the allegations against
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him and non disclosure agreements, he absolutely refused to answer
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these questions. She said, well, to play devil's advocate. Maybe
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he just didn't want to screw with his case. That
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might have something to do with it, right, And I
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hate giving him any kind of defense, but we have
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to be real. Maybe he didn't want to expose any
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kind of legal strategy as far as his other cases.
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But he should have said that, no, this will give
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me exposure and I'm not going to talk about it
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because I have other cases going. That's not what he did. Though.
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In his appearance before the committee, Black said he was
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unaware of Epstein's demonic life and that the money he
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paid Epstein was for legitimate services and bonafide advice. According
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to a copy of his opening remarks reviewed by ABC News,
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Black and his prepared remarks during his closed door interview,
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cast him as the victim of ugly and vicious narratives
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around Epstein, saying he's been the subject of baseless allegations
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and conspiracy theories about Epstein. That extraordinary damage has been
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done to me and my family. Oh please, extraordinary damage, Huh?
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Has nothing to do with your own behavior, has nothing
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to do with the fact that you were cheating on
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your wife. Everybody else's fault. Don't talk about Jeffrey Epstein.
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You might embarrass me. I wish I had never met
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Jeffrey Epstein. I regret ever doing business with them, my
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association with them, The frivolous but destructive litigation, the endless
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rumor mill have created a toxic environment for my wife
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and family, which I deeply regret, the prepared remarks said.
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Addressing the massive amount of money he paid Epstein, Black
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in his remarks said those were legitimate payments and that
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he was never blackmailed by Epstein. Let me state unequivocally
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that I have never abused women. I have never been
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with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking.
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I have never paid Abstein for access to women. I
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was never black mailed by Epstein. I was not involved
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with it. Had no knowledge of any of Epstein's and
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his conduct. His prepared remarks said. No, I had no idea.
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One of the smartest men in the world, but I
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had no clue. Okay, let me give you a couple
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hundred million to invest for me. According to Black, Epstein
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lived a jekyl in Hyde existence and that he at
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first only saw the positive side, including his unrivaled network
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of relationships with individuals in finance, academia, science and politics.
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Black in his remarks said his relationship with Epstein began
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as personal but grew over time to helping manage his
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family investment office. Yeah, he called your kids retarded, and
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you kept doing business with them. With hindsight, I now
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see that Epstein exaggerated and bellish, manipulated and outright lied
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prolifically and without concern for me or my family. And
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I now see that that his deceit was not limited
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to me, but also extended to numerous highly sophisticated individuals.
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Black's prepared remarks said, Oh, well, he got fooled, so
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it's no big deal that I did. You can't call
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yourself the smartest man in the room if you're a
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dumb fuck. Thanks for coming to my ted talk. While
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Black said that Epstein took credit for other people's ideas
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and made false claims about investments, Black also argued that
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Epstein was able to resolve a massive estate problem for
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him that would have destroyed enormous value. According to Black's remarks,
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he originally thought he was paying Epstein ninety five million
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in net fees, though that was actually one hundred and
15:01
fifty eight million because Epstein lied about the tax deductibility
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of the payment. Well, that's convenient, Epstein lied. Believe me,
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you have no other choice. Epstein's dead. That's Black strategy.
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That's the whole strategy. Folks. Black also said in his
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prepared remarks that he was aware of Epstein's two thousand
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and eight conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, but
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that Epstein lied about the nature of the crime. Oh well,
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I'm just gonna go on the trust you system. Imagine
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somebody tells you they've been convicted of that kind of
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crime and you don't look any deeper into it. You
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don't have Google. Google doesn't work over at Apollo Global.
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Epstein told me that it was an isolated incident resulting
15:45
from a fake ID five years after his conviction. I
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gave Epstein a second chance, as did many others. I
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wish I had not, he said, according to his prepared remarks.
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According to Black, he cut ties with Epstein in twenty
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eighteen after Epstein failed to repay most of a thirty
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million dollar loan. Black said he grew tired of his
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relentless pursuit of more and more money from me or
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professional services. Oh please. What he means is the heat
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was getting too hot and he had to back off.
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While Black, according to his remarks, said that he was
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glad to answer the committee's questions, he noted that he
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will not speak about the personal lives of adult women
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that he believed should not be connected to Epstein. This
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is where he's running into trouble, and this is where
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he's going to get in trouble. I'm here to voluntarily
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answer questions about the work that Epstein did for me
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and for the services for which I paid him. I'm
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not here to answer questions about my personal life, which
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would be hurtful to my wife, children, and family. And
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I will not speak about the personal lives of adult
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women who have not chosen and do not deserve to
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be connected by me or anyone else to Epstein. Black said,
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per his remarks, he had no problem sending those private
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investigators to that girl's house. Though, huh, the girl with
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mosaic down syndrome, No big deal there. Comer told reporters
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Friday's proceedings at Black's appearance could be a pretty significant interview.
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So of all the witnesses that have come thus far,
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this one has the potential to be the most groundbreaking
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deposition in my opinion. Comer said, does Comer not know
17:19
the story? Have you not been following along the biggest
17:23
groundbreaking interview? God, I dislike James Comer there's a lot
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of concerning things in the documents. There's a lot of
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statements from the survivors that are very concerning as well
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with respect to mister Black, Comer said. The chairman said
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the committee would ask Black hundreds and hundreds of questions
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about financial transactions, about bank violations, about email documents, pictures,
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and communication with survivors. Comer said the committee's investigation is
17:50
on a timeline. This Congress will expire the end of
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the year, so we want to certainly get done as
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quickly as possible, said Comber, who added that we hope
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acting a turn, the General Blanche will sit for an interview. Nope, subpoena.
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Why are you giving him the benefit of the doubt,
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James Comer, Oh, that's right. You're not part of the
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team that's looking for justice. You're part of the cover up.
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I remind everyone the purpose of our investigation to get
18:19
to the truth to the American people and determine how
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the government failed the survivors by not prosecuting Epstein. Comer said.
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Garcia told reporters prior to Black's appearance at Epstein would
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not have been able to commit the horrific crimes without
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the support of mister Black, Representative Sujas Submarinium said, we
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want him to answer the tough questions about what he
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knew about Jeffrey Epstein and whether he was involved with
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some of the crimes himself. Leon Black was one of
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Jeffrey Epstein's primary sources of income, flooding him with cash
18:50
at the time when he was already a registered sex offender.
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Black has not yet offered a compelling explanation regarding the
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origination and execution of Epstein's extraorordinary compensation scheme for alleged
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tax services. Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the
19:05
Senate Finance Committee, wrote in a letter to the House
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Oversight Committee earlier this month. The Senate Finance Committee is
19:12
leading its own investigation of Epstein's finances. Black has long
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been scrutinized over his relationship with a disgraced financier, describing
19:21
it as a horrible mistake, and was forced out of
19:24
his firm, Apollo Global Management, following an external investigation that
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reveal payments to Epstein totaling at least one hundred and
19:32
fifty eight million. Knowing all that I have learned in
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the past two years about Epstein and his reprehensible and
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despicable conduct. I deeply regret having any involvement with him,
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Black said during a twenty twenty Apollo earnings call. With
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the benefit of hindsight, working with them was a horrible
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mistake on my part. I'm not seeking to excuse that decision,
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but I do believe it may be helpful to convey
19:55
some relevant facts. While the investigation concluded that Black and
19:59
other others were aware of Epstein's two thousand and eight conviction,
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or report summarizing its findings said that Black was not
20:06
involved in any way with Epstein's criminal activities at any time,
20:10
or aware of the scope and details of Epstein's sex trafficking.
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Black has never been charged with a crime. Well, okay,
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pack it up. Nothing to see here breaking news. You
20:21
have to investigate somebody before you charge them. When Black
20:24
first retained Epstein, he believed that Epstein had served his
20:27
time for the originally charged defenses and believed that it
20:30
was not inappropriate to give Epstein a second chance, as
20:34
many other prominent figures in business, science, politics, and academia
20:38
had done. The report said. The release of the Department
20:43
Justice Epstein files earlier this year casts more scrutiny on Black,
20:47
whose name appears in the files more than eight thousand times.
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Epstein at one point appeared to serve as a middleman
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to pay one hundred thousand to a woman with whom
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Black allegedly had an affair, according to emails included in
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the files, and routinely served as a fixer for issues
21:04
involving his finances. Leon, as you were well aware, there's
21:08
little I won't do for you, or at least try
21:10
to do as a friend, and a great deal that
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I have already done, both known and some things that
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will need to remain unknown, Epstein wrote to Black in
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a twenty fourteen email. In another email in twenty seventeen,
21:22
Epstein described his relationship with Black as saving you from yourself.
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In a statement to ABC News, Black's attorneys, Who's an Estrich,
21:30
pointed to the external investigation conducted for Apollo that found
21:34
Black had no awareness of the criminal activity that led
21:37
to Epstein's arrest in twenty nineteen, and noted that Black
21:41
was called for an independent investigation of his relationship with Epstein. Well,
21:46
independent like the FBI. How about that kind of investigation.
21:51
Let's have that one, no internal investigation? One done by
21:55
the federal government. Widen of the Senate Finance Committee as
22:00
called on the House over site members to scrutinize till
22:02
one hundred and seventy million that Black paid Epstein between
22:05
twenty twelve and twenty seventeen for purported tax in his
22:09
state planning. According to Widen, those payments are sixty times
22:13
more than what Epstein paid his other tax and his
22:16
state professionals during the same timeframe. Like for real, Leon Black,
22:24
What have you believe that he's that stupid? Huh okay?
22:27
I guess Black is a well advised businessman with access
22:32
to sophisticated attorneys. Yet it appears Epstein was able to
22:35
shake him down for money that he wasn't legally owed.
22:39
This suggests that Epstein may have extorted Black or performed
22:42
other unseemly tasks on his behalf. Wyden wrote earlier this month.
22:47
Attorneys for Black of pushback against Widen's accusations, accusing him
22:51
of harassment and saying the billionaires cooperated voluntarily and without compulsion. No,
22:57
he hasn't. Saying you're going to cooperate and doing it
23:00
are two different things. We are aware of No other
23:04
private citizen subjected to more written requests from you over
23:08
the same period. Black's attorneys wrote in an April twenty
23:11
twenty six letter to widen, your continued attempts to invade
23:15
into matters pretending to mister Black's personal life, without the
23:19
support of any legitimate legislative purpose, appear targeted to unfairly
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harassed mister Black in a manner that completely disregards the
23:27
proper scope of Congress's investigative powers. Oh Black's the victim? Huh,
23:33
Leon Black, mister victim. According to the twenty twenty one
23:39
external report, Epstein was paid proportionally to the amount of
23:42
money he saved Black, and that Epstein provided advice that
23:46
conferred more than one billion and as much as two
23:48
billion or more in value to Black. However, the report
23:51
also acknowledged that Epstein's advice was often not useful and
23:55
that he was generally a disruptive and caustic force. The
23:59
externals reports that investigators found no evidence suggesting that Black
24:03
ever compensated Epstein for any services other than Epstein's legitimate
24:07
advice on trust and a state planning and other issues. Okay, cool,
24:13
if that's the case, be forthcoming, open your books up,
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let's see it all. But instead he did the absolute opposite, right,
24:20
So I think that Comer and the Committee did the
24:23
right thing by hitting him with a subpoena to compel
24:25
them to come back and tell the truth. And now
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that's scheduled for the middle of July, and you already
24:32
know we're going to be here for all of it.
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And when they release the transcript, we'll get that added
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to the catalog. Until then, that's going to do it
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for this one. All the information that goes with this
24:43
episode can be found in the description box.