Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Leon Black Is Set To Appear Before Congress Today To Explain His Relationship With Epstein (6/26/26)

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Leon Black Is Set To Appear Before Congress Today To Explain His Relationship With Epstein (6/26/26) · 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. On June twenty sixth, Leon Black is said
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to appear before the Congressional Oversight Committee to discuss his
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relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. And I wish I could tell
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you that I was confident that we're going to get
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to the bottom of something and that we're going to
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have some of our questions answered. But unfortunately it's going
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to be just another run around, another voluntary transcribed interview.
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That's exactly what Leon blackfear is. Huh, you know, an
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interview with no teeth. I'm sure that's keeping Leon Black
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up at night and he is just, you know, losing
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a ton of sleep over it said. Nobody, ever, do
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you really think a guy like Leon Black, who's as
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powerful as he is, cares about this kind of committee.
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He's going to get up there, he's going to bullshit around,
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and his lawyer is going to interject whenever he's in
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any kind of jeopardy, just like we saw with Sarah
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Kellen Vickers, just like we've seen time and time again.
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And that's the playbook, right, they all know the playbook,
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and that's why they all came in here under the
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guise of it being voluntary because they didn't want to
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have to answer questions under subpoena, because there's actually repercussions,
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or should be when you lie under oath. But when
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it comes to lying to Congress, who gives a shit?
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Just a bunch of liars being lied to. Today's article
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is from NBC News and the headline Lawmakers expected to
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press billionaire Leon Black about Epstein ties. This article was
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authored by Justin Goldman, Colleen Long, and Owen Hayes. Please
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call Leon Black. That phrase appears more than three hundred
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times in the Jeffrey Epstein investigative files released by the
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Justice Department. Some sent an emails to Epstein by his
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personal assistant. For years, a powerful billionaire Wall Street player,
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and Epstein had a business relationship stretching back decades. More
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than a business relationship. I would think that you have
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to be pretty close to somebody to call their kids
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retarded and not have any kind of knuckle sandwich coming
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your way. Then again, Leon Black just might be a pussy.
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Very possible. Imagine somebody calling your kids that and you
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still do business with them. I mean, I guess I'd
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have some business but not the kind Leon's used to. Leon,
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As you're well aware, there's little I won't do for you,
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at least try to do as a friend, Epstein wrote
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in one email to Black in twenty fourteen. And a
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great deal that I have already done, both known and
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some things that will need to remain unknown. And I'm
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sure a lot of that had to do with pressing
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the women over in Russia. Remember, Leon Black reached out
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to Epstein, and Epstein reached out to the guy in FSB. Well,
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we're going to make pretend that didn't happener. Did. Lawmakers
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are expected to press Black on Friday when he testifies
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before the House Oversight Committee investigating the federal government's handling
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of the Epstein case. They're hoping to uncover more about
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the financial web Epstein well off that funded his sex
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trafficking operation, and have said that they believe Black may
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have played a role. Oh well, what do you know?
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Welcome to the party, pal, And look, Leon Black's one
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of those people where I won't even say he didn't
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take part in the abuse, because there's allegations that he did.
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Now do I know for a fact that he did?
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I don't. I have no idea what actually occurred. But
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I will say this, he's being credibly accused, and when
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somebody's credibly accused, I think that those allegations should be investigated.
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And we know that for all these years that never happened.
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So I might have a lot to say about the
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Congressional commit But at least we're getting people like Leon
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Black on the record, right, So I'll give them credit
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for that. But besides that, the whole entire thing's been
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a dog and pony show, and there's no teeth, there
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is no enforcement arm. So why should anyone be scared
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to get up there and tell falsehoods, to tell lies?
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Oh you can't lie to Congress? Yeah, okay sure. The
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former CEO of Apollo Global Management is the latest in
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a line of America's powerful ruling class, including Bill and
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Hillary Clinton and Bill Gates, who've gone before Congress to
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discuss their ties to the men who preyed on women
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for years. Not only their ties, their protection, they're enabling
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the rebuilding of his whole entire persona. They all played
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a part in that. And when we were trying to
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expose that, places like NBC News, while they called it
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all conspiracy, theory. Well, is it a conspiracy theory now?
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NBC News. Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, said in a statement
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to NBC News that Black had called for an independent
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investigation of his relationship with Epstein. Yeah, not from the government.
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He brought in an outside law firm, and guess what,
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Whitewash City like usual, Estrich said. The former federal prosecutor
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reviewed more than sixty thousand documents and interviewed more than
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twenty people, including Black, as part of that investigation at
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the behest of Apollo, and found that Black had only
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paid Epstein for tax and real estate planning advice for
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his family office. Like, how do you prove that that's
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such bs? Oh, well that's what the paperwork said. Okay, yeah, sure,
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sixty two and a half million. Show me somebody else
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that paid that kind of money for the same kind
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of advice. You can't find somebody that paid that though.
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Nobody's paying that kind of money for that kind of advice.
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But Leon Black and his narrative were taken hook line
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and sinker for years. And I have no idea how
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anyone could look at what Leon Black paid out and
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not know that he was up to No good. The
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investigation further found that Epstein's work had been vetted and
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approved by best in class law and accounting firms, Etris
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said in the statement. It also found that he had
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no awareness of the criminal activity that led to Epstein's
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arrest in twenty nineteen. Have you guys gotten tired of
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this yet? It's the same bullshit every time we talk
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about one of these people. It's always the same excuse,
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I had no idea, I wasn't around. I forgot Bitch,
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you are around, you have an idea, and you've forgotten nothing. Okay,
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why everybody's so scared of Leon Black is beyond me.
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Leon Black is a straight up biach. Okay, nobody to
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be scared of. Just another one of these scumbags with
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a bunch of dough, big deal. So what it's about
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time people like Leon Black are held accountable for the
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bullshit they allegedly do. And when we're talking about Leon Black,
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by the way, how many financial crimes has this dude
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engaged in throughout the years? I'm guessing a whole bunch. Now,
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do I have evidence to prove it? No, But when
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you get to the level that Leon Black was at,
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and you're running a group like Apollo. Pretty sure your
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hands aren't clean. Black has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge
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of Epstein's criminal conduct, and he said he deeply regrets
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having had any involvement with him. With the benefit of hindsight,
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working with them was a horrible mistake on my part,
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he said in a statement when he stepped down from Apollo.
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Have you noticed all these rich ass dudes who run
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around telling us how smart they are, all of a
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sudden are claiming that they're ignorant. Well, I wonder why
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smart about everything else but not this. Black's reputation has
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already been tarnished by his longtime association with the wealthy
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sex offender. He was forced out of the company he
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co founded in twenty twenty one after Apollo revealed Black
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had paid Epstein hundreds of millions for financial advice from
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twenty twelve through twenty seventeen, arguing he did so despite
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knowing that Epstein had pleted guilty to soliciting prostitution from
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an underage girl in Florida in two thousand and eight.
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And this is what it all comes back to, that
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bullshit prosecution in Florida. The whole purpose was so Epstein
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can continue doing what he did. And everybody that was
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involved in that initial prosecution, I have to tell you
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they should be investigated. There should be a special counsel
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that investigates all of them, Barry Krisher, Marie Villefauna, alex Acosta,
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Matthew Minchell, Mukhesy, Felippe, all of them, every last person involved.
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Because this is the defense, folks, This is what they
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keep falling back to. And enough is enough. Yet since
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the document dump of millions of files, questions have only
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grown about Black's financial dealings with Epstein, who died by
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suicide allegedly and is sell in twenty nineteen as he
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awaited criminal trial in New York. And have you noticed
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how they're subliminally just saying he died by suicide, not
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even questioning it, which is wild considering NBC has a
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conspiracy theory about everything else Drum's doing, but not this.
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We should just accept this. Ask yourself why there's a
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conspiracy theory about everything the reflecting pool, who ate what?
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But I should just accept that this is on the
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up and up, that Epstein died by suicide because the
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government told me so, because Nicholas Tartaglione talked to The
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New York Times. Yo, I know a sigh up when
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I see one. Nice try, boys, nice try, but you're
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gonna have to find somebody body else. Not going to
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work around these parts. The release of the Epstein files
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has prompted multiple investigations overseas, as famous people and well
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connected leaders around the globe were found to have associated
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with them. In the US, only New Mexico has launched
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a probe into the dealings on his secluded Zoro ranch.
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Imagine being New York and not launching a state run
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probe or Florida. Makes you wonder, huh, all that big
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talk from all those politicians in New York and still nothing. Meanwhile,
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New York was acting as an epicenter for all this bullshit,
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but they have no desire to really go after it.
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They have no desire to open up a state run
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case or a commission like we see in New Mexico.
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I wonder why the political ramifications have been more swift.
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Republicans who have pushed for the release of the files
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have seen their careers up ended by President Donald Trump,
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who opposed the decision to make the troph public. Congress
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passed a law to force the release of the files.
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Black and Epstein were introduced by a mutual friend. In
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the nineties. Epstein served as director of Leon Black's family
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foundation and later served as his financial advisor, reapin millions
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over the years. Financial advisor. More like bundler, more like
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money launderer, more like stash spot guy. This dude was
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hiding more money than Big measch And the more I
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think about that dea investigation that included Epstein, the more
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I think that Epstein was also bundling money for drug dealers.
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Would that be so out of the realm of possibility
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when you have somebody that's good at laundering money? Word
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gets around. Black's phone number appears more than two hundred
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times in the three and a half million public files,
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and there are more than one hundred instances of the
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phrase leon Black returned her call. Many were sent by
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Epstein's former assistant Leslie Groff. In questioning by lawmakers on
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June ninth, Groff was asked about Black and Epstein's relationship.
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I thought they had a business relationship. I thought he
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was one of Epstein's clients, she said, adding that Black
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was a frequent visitor of Epstein's No shit he was.
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And remember there's also allegations that Black assaulted somebody at
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the townhouse. Black, in Epstein's financial dealings, had an alleged
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dark side. Black agreed to pay sixty two and a
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half million to the US Virgin Islands in twenty twenty
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three in order to be released from any potential action
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arising from a three year investigation into Epstein's sex trafficking operation.
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According to the settlement, now why would he pay that
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if he had nothing to hide? That does not make sense,
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and anybody that acts like it makes sense is crazy.
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Sixty two and a half million dollars. Really, you have
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no criminal liability. You're just stolen out that money. Black
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was to be deposed in a lawsuit brought against Bank
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of America by survivors of Epstein's abuse, who argued the
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financial institution turned a blind eye to suspicious transfers Black
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made to Epstein from the Bank of America account, including
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one hundred and seventy million for tax and a state
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planning advice. The money, the plaintiff's alleged, was used to
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fund Epstein's sex trafficking enterprise. Black said that wasn't true.
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Bank of America agreed to pay seventy two and a
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half million in March without admitting any wrongdoing, and Black
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never testified. While that's a shockhuh, Black walks away Scott
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free again. That seems to be the ongoing theme, doesn't it.
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Senator Ron Widen, part of the Senate Finance Committee, investigated
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Black for years and alleged Black may have funded hush
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money payments to women using Epstein as a middleman. Wyden
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said that in one email contained in the DOJ files,
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Epstein gave the location of a woman on Black's payroll
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who are Russian government operative and asked for suggestions on
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how to deal with her because she was attempting the
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Black Mellow group of powerful businessmen in New York. I'm
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sure that had to do with tax planning advice as well. Right,
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your relationship in business dealings with Jeffrey Epstein should be
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properly investigated by the federal government, Wyden wrote in a
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letter to Black earlier this year. Black two has been
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accused of sexual assault claims he denies. One woman said
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in a lawsuit that Black and raped her at Epstein's
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Manhattan townhouse in two thousand and two. She eventually dropped
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the lawsuit, and Black said he had never met her.
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Another woman, a former model, accused Black of harassing and
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abusing her and argued he introduced her to Epstein. He
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counter sued, and her lawsuit was dismissed. One case remains open.
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Black was sued in twenty twenty three by a woman
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who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was
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a teenager. A federal judge in April sanctioned the accuser,
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known as Jane, though, her former attorney and the prominent
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law firm that had represented her for falsifying and potentially
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destroying evidence in the case, but the judge said the
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case could proceed. Black's attorneys said in a statement after
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the ruling that the case never should have been filed.
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Estrich also said that the firm Whigdoor Lop had been
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warned that the claims were fraudulent, but Wigdor nevertheless continued
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the lawsuit and launched a media campaign to try and
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destroy mister Black in an attempt to shake him down
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for a financial windfall. Mister Black refused because he knew
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the claims were false. So he knew those claims were false,
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and he fought them yet down in the Virgin Islands. Well,
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he didn't do that, did he? I wonder why. Firm
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founder Doug Wigdor said in a statement that the firm
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was upset about the sanctions but pleased that its former
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client would get her day in court. Wigdor's firm filed
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a separate claim in March, accusing Black of targeting it
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for representing accusers. Black denies it. That lawsuit is ongoing. So, look,
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the Leon Black story is yet to be told, and
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we'll see what happens at the hearing later on today.
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But I doubt we're going to get anywhere. I doubt
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we're going to learn anything of substance. But we'll have
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to wait and see what Leon Black says, and more importantly,
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what kind of questions are asked by Congress. And once
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we have the transcript, obviously we'll get that added to
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the catalog. All of the information that goes with this
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episode can be found in the description box.