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Congress Subpoenas Leon Black After Epstein Testimony Standoff · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. Last Friday, which was June 26th, Leon Black
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: got up and walked out of his interview with Congress.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: That came after he was subpoenaed in the middle of
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: that interview by Congress. And why did they hit him
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: with a subpoena? Well, he was refusing to answer questions
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: about NDAs and if they had any relation to Jeffrey Epstein.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: And since it was a voluntary interview, he could get
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: up and walk out at any time. And that's exactly
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: what he did. But now he's going to have to
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: come back and be compelled under oath to answer these questions.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: And if he doesn't, well, he's going to be held
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: in contempt. So things have gotten a bit serious for
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Leon Black. Now, not serious on the end of Epstein justice,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: but as far as the cover-up, as far as what's
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: going on now, oh yeah, he's exposed. And this is
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: what I've been telling you for about a year now.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Focus on the cover-up. Focus on the things that we
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: can prove that we have tangible evidence of. And if
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: we open those doors and we walk through them, we're
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: going to find pay dirt. People like Leon Black, breaking news,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: not exactly a squeaky clean guy. And the fact that
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: he wouldn't answer those questions about NDAs and Jeffrey Epstein, well,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: that tells me everything I need to know. So today,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: we have an article from ABC News and the headline,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Comer subpoenas Leon Black after his refusal to answer some
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Epstein questions from the panel. This article was authored by
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Lauren Peller, James Hill, Peter Charlembeau, and John Parkinson. House
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Oversight Committee James Comer issued two subpoenas to Leon Black
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: after Comer said the private equity billionaire refused to answer
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: some of the committee's questions about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: during Black's closed-door appearance before the panel on Friday. Oh, what,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: you thought he was going to tell the truth? Did
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: we really think that Leon Black was going to come clean?
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: This guy has paid out more money than you could
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: possibly imagine when it comes to Epstein-related nonsense. But sure,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: he had nothing to do with it. He had no exposure.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Guys like Leon Black, they just hand out money. You
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: should go to his house tomorrow and ask him for
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: some money. Very generous guy. Very altruistic. Black, who was
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: appearing before the committee as part of its ongoing probe
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: into the government's investigation of Epstein, walked out of his
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: transcribed interview during questioning. Comer told reporters that the two
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: subpoenas compelled Black to appear for a deposition on July 16,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: as well as produce purported non-disclosure agreements that he was
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: questioned about. Look, if he had nothing to hide, he'd
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: have ponied that shit up. But you know that Leon
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Black is not going to go down without a fight.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: He's going to have his legal team going crazy, and
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: they're going to be looking for whatever loopholes they think
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: they can find. And my guess is, they'll find some.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: And when you're paying the kind of money that Leon
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Black's paying for his legal team, you have to expect that.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: But I would hope that the committee is prepared to
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: dig as deep as they can. And not only that,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: but go further. If it comes out that Leon Black
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: has lied, or anybody has lied... They need to be
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: referred to the Justice Department for prosecution. And then if
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: the Justice Department doesn't act, well, just another bit of
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: evidence of the cover-up. And I'm telling you right now,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: if anyone goes down for anything, it's going to be
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: this cover-up. During today's voluntary transcribed interview, Mr. Black stated
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: he wouldn't answer questions about NDAs. Answers about the terms
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: and substance of these NDAs are critical to our investigation,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Comer said. We owe it to the American people to
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: provide transparency and ensure accountability for survivors. Well, believe me
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: when I tell you, Mr. Comer, we're not counting on
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: that from you. Now, this is a good move, and
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: you should be doing this. But why weren't you showing
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: this same kind of interest in Les Wexner? Why didn't
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: any of you guys show up? Because I'm telling you
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: right now, Les Wexner involved just as deeply, if not
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: more deeply, than Leon Black. So it's not like Les
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Wexner is just some guy that's been targeted. Why did
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: the GOP treat him differently? Why didn't anybody show up
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: to ask him questions? The optics are terrible. NDAs are
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: between him and other women. We want to know, was
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs? Was he involved in
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: the writing? Was he involved in awarding funds to the
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: women for the NDAs? What was the reason for the NDAs?
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: We don't know everything about the NDAs, so that's very
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: important to our investigation, to the subpoenas that were issued.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: We expect to see him back here in a few weeks,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Comer said. And I wonder if his tune's going to change.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Probably not. I bet you he's going to be even
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: more obtuse, even more difficult, because now he knows he
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: has something on the line. Previously, it was just a
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: friendly conversation, quote-unquote. Not now. Now you're under oath. You
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: couldn't handle things the right way. You couldn't do it
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: on your own. Now you have to be compelled to
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: tell the truth. Imagine being that big of a scumbag
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: that you have to be compelled to tell the truth
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: about Jeffrey Epstein and what Epstein was up to and
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: what you were up to with him. And then imagine
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: that this dude's father is part of the administration. You know,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: there was a point in time in this country where
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: we had enough respect for ourselves and the nation where
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: a guy like that would never have a job in
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: the administration. But those days are long over. This is
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: very important for our investigation, Comer said. We knew for
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: a long time that there were NDAs out there by
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: various people. Obviously, they're very hard to obtain. And with
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: the subpoena, we expect to get those NDAs in hand. Look, great.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: And as I've told you before, I'm willing to ride
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: any one of these politicians and this committee until the
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: wheels fall off. When I criticize them, it's not saying
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: that they don't do anything that's worthwhile, but the overall tenor.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: And the way that the committee handles itself, it's obviously
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: not going as far as they need to go. But
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: when they do something good, we'll ride that shit. And
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I think going deeper with Leon Black is certainly a
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: good idea. I just wish it was this kind of
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: colonoscopy for everybody. Especially the people that were deeply involved.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: You know, the Wexners, the Jess Stalys, the Glenn Dubins,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: the Leon Blacks. Asked about Blacks' response during the interview,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Comer said his response was that he wasn't allowed to
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: discuss the terms of the NDAs. Well, that's weird. Why not?
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Ranking committee member, Representative Robert Garcia of California, said he
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: agreed with Comer's decision to issue the subpoenas. The NDAs
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: are central to us understanding what actually happened. There are
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: real accusations, and there are survivors who have accused Mr.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Black of horrific things, Garcia told reporters. Well, that's really
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: the gist of it. Now, of course, Black will say
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: he had nothing to do with the abuse. Not one
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: single thing to do with any kind of abuse. But
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: that doesn't change the allegations. The allegations are what they are.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: And they've never been investigated fully. And that's the big problem,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: isn't it? You can't run around and say that this
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: is a big hoax when there's never been a real investigation.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: And when there were investigations, they all pulled up short.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Ask yourself why. This is literally the only case that
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: I can point out where that's happened. When the federal
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: government gets a beat on you, they're coming in hard.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: They're giving you the ditty business. But for some reason,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: when it comes to Epstein and his friends... It's a
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: hands-off approach. Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, claimed to reporters that
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: the decision to serve Black with the subpoena during the
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: interview was a premeditated political decision and claimed that Epstein
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: had no involvement with the purported nondisclosure agreements. Why not
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: just answer? Why not just come clean? Everybody knows that
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Leon Black is a scumbag. Everybody knows he was cheating
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: on his wife while she was sick. Everybody knows. So
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: what else is he hiding? It can't be reputational. That's
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: already in the gutter. So what is this boob hiding?
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: And furthermore, why does he look like Rex Heuermann? Him
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: and the Long Island serial killer look like they could
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: be related. They made a premeditated political decision to serve
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: him with subpoenas after less than an hour of questioning.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: And before they even asked a single question about his
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: legitimate payments to Epstein, she said, this was nothing more
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: than a planned political stunt. Mr. Epstein had no involvement
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: with any NDAs, whether they exist or not. Well, if
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: that's the case, why are you being so evasive? Why
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: not just answer the question under oath? Nope, had nothing
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  Speaker 1: to do with Epstein. Sorry, keep moving. Unless, of course,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: they had something to do with Epstein. And my guess
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: is they did. The latest in a series of rich
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: and powerful people questioned about their relationship with Epstein as
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: part of the Oversight's panel probe, Black maintained a social
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: relationship with Epstein since the mid-90s and eventually paid him
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: more than $ 170 million for tax and estate planning advice,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: according to the Senate Finance Committee. Like, I'm not going
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: to beat that dead horse, but come on. That kind
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: of money ponied up and you're getting advice? That's fucking
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Pablo Escobar kind of money, bro. $ 170 million? Black is
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: denied wrongdoing of knowledge of Epstein's crimes. Though his financial
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: payments to Epstein served as a lifeline to the convicted
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: sex offender in the years before after Epstein's 2008 prison
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Representative Suhas Submaranium
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: told reporters after Black's appearance, this is the first time
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: a witness during this probe has walked out in the
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: middle of an interview. It's because we had very important
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: questions about Leon Black's past with Jeffrey Epstein, he said.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: This is also the first time I heard someone gush
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: poetically about how smart and how great Jeffrey Epstein was.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Leon Black was a lot closer to Epstein than he
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: wants you to know. And they were a lot better
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: friends than he wants you to know. Same story with
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Jess Daly. And it's been obvious for a very long time.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: But now the emails confirm it, and there's no denying
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: it anymore. There's no backtracking or trying to cover up
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: the facts. They are what they are, and they don't
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: look good for Leon Black. He was smug. Representative Yasemin
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Ansari said of Black's appearance, He refused to answer questions,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: but at the same time was emphasizing how he was
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: being transparent because this was voluntary. But when pressed on
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: critical questions about his own sexual abuse and the allegations
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: against him and non-disclosure agreements, he absolutely refused to answer
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: these questions, she said. Well, to play devil's advocate, maybe
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: he just didn't want to screw with his case. That
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: might have something to do with it, right? And I
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: hate giving him any kind of defense, but we have
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: to be real. Maybe he didn't want to expose any
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: kind of legal strategy as far as his other cases,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: but he should have said that. No, this will give
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: me exposure, and I'm not going to talk about it
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: because I have other cases going. That's not what he did, though.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: In his appearance before the committee, Black said he was
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: unaware of Epstein's demonic life. and that the money he
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: paid Epstein was for legitimate services and bona fide advice,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: according to a copy of his opening remarks reviewed by
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: ABC News. Black, in his prepared remarks during his closed-door interview,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: cast him as the victim of ugly and vicious narratives
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: around Epstein, saying he's been the subject of baseless allegations
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: and conspiracy theories about Epstein, that extraordinary damage has been
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: done to me and my family. Oh, please. Extraordinary damage, huh?
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Has nothing to do with your own behavior. Has nothing
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: to do with the fact that you were cheating on
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: your wife. Everybody else's fault. Don't talk about Jeffrey Epstein.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: You might embarrass me. I wish I had never met
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein. I regret ever doing business with him, my
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: association with him, the frivolous but destructive litigation, the endless
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: rumor mill, have created a toxic environment for my wife
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: and family, which I deeply regret. The prepared remarks said,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Addressing the massive amount of money he paid Epstein, Black
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: in his remarks said those were legitimate payments and that
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: he was never blackmailed by Epstein. Let me state unequivocally
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: that I have never abused women. I have never been
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: I have never paid Epstein for access to women. I
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: was never blackmailed by Epstein. I was not involved with
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: and had no knowledge of any of Epstein's heinous conduct.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: His prepared remarks said, No, I had no idea one
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: of the smartest men in the world, but I had
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: no clue. Okay, let me give you a couple hundred
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: million to invest for me. According to Black, Epstein lived
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: a Jekyll and Hyde existence and that he at first
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: only saw the positive side, including his unrivaled network of
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: relationships with individuals in finance, academia, science, and politics. Black,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: in his remarks, said his relationship with Epstein began as
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: personal but grew over time to helping manage his family
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: investment office. Yeah, he called your kids retarded, and you
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: kept doing business with them. With hindsight, I now see
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: that Epstein exaggerated, embellished, manipulated, and outright lied, prolifically and
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: without concern for me or my family. And I now
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: see that that his deceit was not limited to me,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: but also extended to numerous, highly sophisticated individuals. Black's prepared
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: remarks said, oh, well, he got fooled, so it's no
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: big deal that I did. You can't call yourself the
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: smartest man in the room if you're a dumb fuck.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. While Black said
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: that Epstein took credit for other people's ideas and made
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: false claims about investments, Black also argued that Epstein was
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: able to resolve a massive estate problem for him that
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: would have destroyed enormous value. According to Black's remarks, he
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: originally thought he was paying Epstein $ 95 million in net fees,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: though that was actually $ 158 million in because Epstein lied
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: about the tax deductibility of the payment. Well, that's convenient.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: Epstein lied. Believe me. You have no other choice. Epstein's dead.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: That's Black's strategy. That's the whole strategy, folks. Black also
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: said in his prepared remarks that he was aware of
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, but
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: that Epstein lied about the nature of the crime. Oh, well,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to go on the trust you system.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Imagine somebody tells you they've been convicted of that kind
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: of crime, and you don't look any deeper into it.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: You don't have Google. Google doesn't work over at Apollo Global.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Epstein told me that it was an isolated incident resulting
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: from a fake ID. Five years after his conviction, I
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: gave Epstein a second chance, as did many others. I
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: wish I had not, he said, according to his prepared remarks.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: According to Black, he cut ties with Epstein in 2018.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: after Epstein failed to repay most of a $ 30 million loan.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Black said he grew tired of his relentless pursuit of
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: more and more money from me or professional services. Oh, please.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: What he means is, the heat was getting too hot,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: and he had to back off. While Black, according to
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: his remarks, said that he was glad to answer the
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: committee's questions, he noted that he will not speak about
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: the personal lives of adult women that he believed should
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: not be connected to Epstein. This is where he's running
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: into trouble, and this is where he's going to get
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: in trouble. I'm here to voluntarily answer questions about the
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: work that Epstein did for me, and for the services
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: for which I paid him. I'm not here to answer
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: questions about my personal life, which would be hurtful to
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: my wife, children, and family. And I will not speak
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: about the personal lives of adult women who have not chosen,
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: and do not deserve to be connected by me or
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: anyone else to Epstein, Black said, per his remarks. Yeah,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: no problem sending those private investigators to that girl's house though, huh?
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: The girl with mosaic down syndrome? No big deal there.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Comer told reporters Friday's proceedings at Black's appearance could be
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: a pretty significant interview. So of all the witnesses that
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: have come thus far, this one has the potential to
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: be the most groundbreaking deposition in my opinion, Comer said.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: Does Comer not know the story? Have you not been
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: following along? The biggest groundbreaking interview? God, I dislike James Comer.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of concerning things in the documents. There's
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: a lot of statements from the survivors that are very
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: concerning as well. With respect to Mr. Black, Comer said,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Comer said the committee's investigation is on a timeline. This
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Congress will expire the end of the year, so we
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: want to certainly get done as quickly as possible, said Comer,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: who added that we hope Acting Attorney General Blanche will
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: sit for an interview. Nope. Subpoena. Why are you giving
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: him the benefit of the doubt, James Comer? Oh, that's right.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: You're not part of the team that's looking for justice.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: You're part of the cover-up. I'll remind everyone the purpose
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: of our investigation to get to the truth to the
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: American people and determine how the government failed the survivors
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: by not prosecuting Epstein, Comer said. Garcia told reporters prior
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: to Black's appearance that Epstein would not have been able
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: to commit the horrific crimes without the support of Mr. Black.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Representative Suhas Submaranium said we want him to answer the
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: tough questions about what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein and
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: whether he was involved with some of the crimes himself.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Leon Black was one of Jeffrey Epstein's primary sources of income,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: flooding him with cash at the time when he was
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: already a registered sex offender. Black has not yet offered
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: a compelling explanation regarding the origination and execution of Epstein's
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: extraordinary compensation scheme for alleged tax services. Senator Ron Wyden,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote in
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: a letter to the House Oversight Committee earlier this month.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: The Senate Finance Committee is leading its own investigation into
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: of Epstein's finances. Black has long been scrutinized over his
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: relationship with the disgraced financier, describing it as a horrible mistake,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: and was forced out of his firm, Apollo Global Management,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: following an external investigation that revealed payments to Epstein totaling
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: at least $ 158 million. Knowing all that I have learned
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: in the past two years about Epstein and his reprehensible
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: and despicable conduct, I deeply regret having Epstein Any involvement
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: with him, Black said during a 2020 Apollo earnings call.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: With the benefit of hindsight, working with him was a
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: horrible mistake on his part. my part. I'm not seeking
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: to excuse that decision, but I do believe it may
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: be helpful to convey some relevant facts. While the investigation
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: concluded that Black and others were aware of Epstein's 2008 conviction,
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: a report summarizing its findings said that Black was not
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: involved in any way with Epstein's criminal activities at any
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: time or aware of the scope and details of Epstein's
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: sex trafficking. Black has never been charged with a crime. Well, okay,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: pack it up. Nothing to see here. Breaking news, you
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: have to investigate somebody before you charge him. When Black
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: first retained Epstein, he believed that Epstein had served his
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: time for the originally charged defenses and believed that it
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: was not inappropriate to give Epstein a second chance. As
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: many other prominent figures in business, science, politics, and academia
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: had done, the report said. The release of the Department
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Justice Epstein files earlier this year cast more scrutiny on Black,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: whose name appears in the files more than 8,000 times.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Epstein at one point appeared to serve as a middleman
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: to pay $ 100, 000 to a woman with whom Black allegedly
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: had an affair, according to emails included in the files,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: and routinely served as a fixer for issues involving his finances.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Leon as you were well aware. There's little I won't
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: do for you, or at least try to do as
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: a friend, and a great deal that I have already done,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: both known and some things that will need to remain unknown,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Epstein wrote to Black in a 2014 email. In another
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: email in 2017, Epstein described his relationship with Black as
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: saving you from yourself. In a statement to ABC News,
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, pointed to the external investigation conducted
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: for Apollo that found Black had no awareness of the
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: criminal activity that led to Epstein's arrest in 2019, and
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: noted that Black was called for an independent investigation of
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: his relationship with Epstein. Well, independent like the FBI? How
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: about that kind of investigation? Let's have that one. No
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: internal investigation. One done by the federal government. Wyden of
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the Senate Finance Committee is called on the House Oversight
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: members to scrutinize the $ 170 million that Black paid Epstein
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: between 2012 and 2017 for purported tax and estate planning.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: According to Wyden, those payments are 60 times more than
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: what Epstein paid his other tax and estate professionals during
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: the same time frame. Like, for real? Leon Black would
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: have you believe that he's that stupid, huh? Okay, I guess.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: Black is a well-advised businessman with access to sophisticated attorneys,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: yet it appears Epstein was able to shake him down
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: for money that he wasn't legally owed. This suggests that
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Epstein may have extorted Black or performed other unseemly tasks
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: on his behalf, Wyden wrote earlier this month. Attorneys for
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Black have pushed back against Wyden's accusations, accusing him of
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: harassment and saying the billionaire has cooperated voluntarily and without compulsion. No,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: he hasn't. saying you're going to cooperate and doing it
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: are two different things. We're aware of no other private
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: citizen subjected to more written requests from you over the
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: same period, Black's attorneys wrote in an April 2026 letter
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: to Wyden. Your continued attempts to invade into matters pertaining
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: to Mr. Black's personal life without the support of any
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: legitimate legislative purpose appear targeted to unfairly harass Mr. Black
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: in a manner that completely disregards the proper scope of
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Congress's investigative powers. Oh, Black's the victim, huh? Leon Black, Mr. Victim.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: According to the 2021 external report, Epstein was paid proportionally
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: to the amount of money he saved Black and that
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Epstein provided advice that conferred more than $ 1 billion and
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: as much as $ 2 billion or more in value to Black. However,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the report also acknowledged that Epstein's advice was often not
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: useful and that he was generally a disruptive and caustic force.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: The external report said investigators found no evidence suggesting that
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Black ever compensated Epstein for any services other than Epstein's
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: legitimate advice on trust and estate planning and other issues. Okay, cool.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: If that's the case, be forthcoming. Open your books up.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Let's see it all. But instead he did the absolute opposite, right?
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: So I think that Comer and the committee did the
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: right thing by hitting him with a subpoena to compel
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: him to come back and tell the truth. And now
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: that's scheduled for the middle of July. And you already know,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: we're going to be here for all of it. And
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: when they release the transcript, we'll get that added to
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: the catalog. Until then, that's going to do it for
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: this one. All the information that goes with this episode
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: can be found in the description box.