Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / House Panel Votes 41-0 to Hold Leon Black in Contempt (9/16/26)

Transcript

House Panel Votes 41-0 to Hold Leon Black in Contempt (9/16/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

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  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. So the House yesterday decided that they're going
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: to recommend that Leon Black be held in contempt over
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  Speaker 1: the Epstein subpoenas. And while this certainly was an expected move,
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  Speaker 1: now that it's on the books, the fight has been accelerated.
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  Speaker 1: And as expected, Leon Black's legal team, they responded right away.
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  Speaker 1: And according to that legal team, this is nothing more
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  Speaker 1: than retaliation for Leon Black exercising his constitutional rights. And
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  Speaker 1: from where I'm sitting, that seems like quite the stretch.
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  Speaker 1: And when you go back in history and you look
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  Speaker 1: at the people who have sued Congress over similar issues,
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  Speaker 1: it really hasn't worked out well for them. And I
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  Speaker 1: don't think it's going to work out so well here either.
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  Speaker 1: You have to show an extraordinary amount of bias by
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  Speaker 1: Congress to have a court side with you against Congress.
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  Speaker 1: Because remember, Congress has vast authority to investigate pretty much
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  Speaker 1: whatever they want. Now, that doesn't mean they don't have guardrails,
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  Speaker 1: and there's no rules, but the rules are certainly different
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to Congress and their investigations. So, this
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  Speaker 1: battle between Leon Black and Congress has only just begun.
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  Speaker 1: And today we have an article from The Guardian, and
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  Speaker 1: the headline, House Panel Recommends Leon Black Be Held in
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  Speaker 1: Contempt Over Epstein Inquiry Subpoenas. This article was authored by
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  Speaker 1: Anna Betts. The House Oversight Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday.
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  Speaker 1: to recommend that House of Representatives hold Leon Black, the
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  Speaker 1: billionaire financier, in contempt of Congress after he refused to
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  Speaker 1: comply with subpoenas seeking his testimony and non-disclosure agreements sought
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  Speaker 1: by the panel as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
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  Speaker 1: Black intends the subpoenas are invalid and he's suing to
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  Speaker 1: block them. And if there are NDAs that don't have
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  Speaker 1: to do with Epstein, they might end up not being
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  Speaker 1: part of this. Right? When all's said and done, Those
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  Speaker 1: might not be part of whatever we get from Leon Black.
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  Speaker 1: But anything that Epstein was involved in, I mean, even
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  Speaker 1: a whiff of Jeffrey Epstein, then those files should be
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  Speaker 1: available for Congress to take a look at. So that's
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  Speaker 1: where the fight's going to be. What has Epstein's fingerprints
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  Speaker 1: on it and what doesn't? And you know that Leon
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  Speaker 1: Black and his team, they're going to really be particular
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  Speaker 1: about what they say belongs and what doesn't belong. And
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  Speaker 1: I think that it's going to end up being A
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  Speaker 1: backyard brawl. Everything Leon Black's involved in turns into some
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  Speaker 1: kind of brawl. And that's because he has that kind
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  Speaker 1: of money. And when you have that kind of money, well,
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  Speaker 1: the world is yours. Subpoenas are not suggestions. They carry
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  Speaker 1: the full force of law and require full compliance. The representative,
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  Speaker 1: James Comer, who chairs the committee, said in the chamber
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  Speaker 1: on Tuesday afternoon before the voting began, Mr. Black's testimony
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  Speaker 1: is crucial to our investigation and Because he maintained a
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  Speaker 1: close personal relationship with Epstein for years. During the time
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  Speaker 1: when Epstein was engaged in sex trafficking. And look, we're
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  Speaker 1: not talking about, you know, a phone call here or there.
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  Speaker 1: Coming over to watch the ball game. We're talking about
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  Speaker 1: somebody that was deeply entrenched with Jeffrey Epstein. Whether financially
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  Speaker 1: or otherwise. Now if it goes further than that, we'll
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  Speaker 1: have to see. But there's been credible allegations made against
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  Speaker 1: Leon Black. And I think that it's going to be
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  Speaker 1: up to the court to figure out what's what. But
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  Speaker 1: one thing I will point out is that Leon Black's
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  Speaker 1: used to dealing with Epstein survivors and people that aren't
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  Speaker 1: on an equal footing. When it comes to Congress, that's
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  Speaker 1: a different story. Because if you think Congress is just
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  Speaker 1: going to roll over for Leon Black, especially right now,
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  Speaker 1: you're crazy. They're going to go to the mattresses. With
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  Speaker 1: all the tough talk they've done, they have no other choice, right?
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  Speaker 1: They can't back down now. He added that we made
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  Speaker 1: it clear to Mr. Black and his attorneys that if
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  Speaker 1: he did not comply, then the committee would initiate contempt proceedings.
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  Speaker 1: The bipartisan committee passed a resolution 41 to nothing. Comer
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  Speaker 1: said that the committee now moves the report to the
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  Speaker 1: full house. Well, I would love to say that we're
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  Speaker 1: going to see some action here, but when we have Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Mike Johnson running things, who knows? Remember, this is the
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  Speaker 1: second time now that he sent people home early so
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  Speaker 1: he didn't have to deal with the Epstein issue. One time,
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  Speaker 1: you can say, alright, coincidence maybe. But a second time?
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  Speaker 1: We all know what he's up to, and we all
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  Speaker 1: know where the orders are coming from. The office of
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  Speaker 1: the House of the Speaker, Mike Johnson, did not immediately
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  Speaker 1: respond to a request for comment on Tuesday about whether
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  Speaker 1: the lower chamber would consider the contempt measure. Well, why
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't they? If it's referred to them by the committee
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  Speaker 1: that's investigating this, and then the full body decides they
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  Speaker 1: don't want to follow through with contempt, they damn well
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  Speaker 1: better have a good explanation, right? Because every roadblock they
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  Speaker 1: throw up, every impediment they put in the way, is
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  Speaker 1: just another finger pointing at their cover-up. And as we
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  Speaker 1: all know, they already have an optics problem, so the
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  Speaker 1: last thing they need is more bad publicity, making it
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  Speaker 1: look like they're trying to hide things, right? The decision
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  Speaker 1: is the latest escalation in the dispute between the committee
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  Speaker 1: and Black, whose name has come up repeatedly in the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein files, and who, as reported by the New York Times,
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  Speaker 1: paid Epstein a total of $ 170 million for what he
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  Speaker 1: described as tax and estate planning services from 2013 to 2017. Ah,
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  Speaker 1: just a couple of bucks. Giving me a little bit
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  Speaker 1: of advice, no big deal. What, who hasn't paid $ 170
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  Speaker 1: million for some advice? Oh, word? You go to H
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  Speaker 1: & R Block? Got it, understood. Like most people, $ 170
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  Speaker 1: million for tax and estate planning services. What they really
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  Speaker 1: mean It's $ 170 million for Jeffrey Epstein to show him
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  Speaker 1: how to shelter his money in places where it's not
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  Speaker 1: going to be taxed. That's what they really mean. And
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  Speaker 1: the fact that nobody has been brought up on charges
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to the financials of this is just
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  Speaker 1: absolutely deplorable. There was so much financial malfeasance occurring and
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  Speaker 1: so many people involved that it's literally shooting fish in
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  Speaker 1: a barrel if you're a prosecutor. but instead we hear
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  Speaker 1: more about a hoax and moving on. Comer announced last
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  Speaker 1: week that the committee would consider the resolution to hold
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  Speaker 1: Black in contempt. It came after Black did not appear
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  Speaker 1: for his deposition scheduled for September 3rd and did not
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  Speaker 1: produce all the nondisclosure agreements sought by the committee. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: Black sued to block the subpoenas arguing that they were
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  Speaker 1: invalid to the extent they exceed the committee's delegated authority
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  Speaker 1: in seeking private information To its legislative purpose. I would
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  Speaker 1: say that anything Jeffrey Epstein's involved in, or was involved in,
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  Speaker 1: would be covered by Congress's ability to investigate here. And
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  Speaker 1: the fact that Leon Black is so willing to sue
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  Speaker 1: Congress when the optics are so bad already. Can you
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  Speaker 1: imagine what this guy is hiding? Can you imagine the
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  Speaker 1: kind of skeletons this scumbag has in his closet? Now
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  Speaker 1: what those skeletons are, I have no idea. But I'm
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  Speaker 1: guessing they're not good. And I know it's breaking news
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  Speaker 1: to people out there, but you don't get to the
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  Speaker 1: level that Leon Black's at without shitting on a whole
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  Speaker 1: lot of people on your way up that tree. Black's
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  Speaker 1: lawsuit also argued that the subpoenas would expose women who
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  Speaker 1: value their privacy, who have no known or public connection
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  Speaker 1: to Epstein, who bargain for confidentiality and have refused to
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  Speaker 1: release it, and who have no ability to protect themselves
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  Speaker 1: and their privacy before the committee. Oh, look at that.
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  Speaker 1: Leon Black, champion of women. Fucking Sir Lancelot over here.
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  Speaker 1: Who does this dude think he's kidding? Oh yeah, I'm
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  Speaker 1: so worried about the women, you know. That's why I
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  Speaker 1: don't want to give this information up. I'd love to
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  Speaker 1: see one of those women come out and say, hey,
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  Speaker 1: you know what? Here's my confidential agreement. I waive my right.
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  Speaker 1: I give it to Congress, and then they can take
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  Speaker 1: a look at how disgusting this son of a bitch is.
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  Speaker 1: The committee issued the subpoena in June, after Black appeared
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  Speaker 1: voluntarily before the panel for a transcribed interview. The interview
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  Speaker 1: ended abruptly after lawmakers from both parties said that Black
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  Speaker 1: refused to answer questions about NDAs. Comer then issued the
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  Speaker 1: two subpoenas, one demanding that Black produce all nondisclosure agreements
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  Speaker 1: to which he is a party, and another requiring him
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  Speaker 1: to appear before the committee again. In August, Comer threatened
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  Speaker 1: to hold Black in contempt if he did not fully
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  Speaker 1: cooperate with the committee subpoenas, and that's exactly what he
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  Speaker 1: should be doing. And I don't think it's any big
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  Speaker 1: surprise or shock to anybody that's been listening. I'm not
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  Speaker 1: a fan of Comer or this committee. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: a goddamn sham, and I think it's a joke. But
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  Speaker 1: holding Leon Black in contempt is the right way to go.
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  Speaker 1: Because this dude has spent years doing whatever he wants,
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  Speaker 1: whenever he wants, to whoever he wants. And at some
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  Speaker 1: point that party has to end, right? You would think,
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  Speaker 1: you would hope, on Tuesday, during his remarks in the
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  Speaker 1: chamber before the vote, Comer said that Black only produced
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  Speaker 1: one NDA to the committee and noted that Black did
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  Speaker 1: not appear for his September 3rd deposition. Yeah, rules for
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  Speaker 1: me and you, but not him. Can you imagine Congress
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  Speaker 1: calling you before them and you acting like you didn't
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  Speaker 1: have to go? Ah, you know what? I think I'm
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  Speaker 1: busy today. I'll have my lawyers deal with that. Your
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  Speaker 1: ass would be dragged right in front of Congress and
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  Speaker 1: sat in one of those chairs. But Mr. Big Shot
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  Speaker 1: Leon Black, well, there's a different set of rules for him.
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  Speaker 1: Attorneys representing Black had asked for a postponement of the
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  Speaker 1: committee's markup earlier on Tuesday and described it as a
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  Speaker 1: complete abomination. The attorney said they sent two letters to
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  Speaker 1: Comer and Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee,
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  Speaker 1: saying that they would submit a complaint to the Office
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  Speaker 1: of Congressional Conduct requesting an investigation into conduct by Chairman Comer,
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  Speaker 1: alleging that ahead of Black's scheduled deposition, Comer engaged in
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  Speaker 1: what should be viewed as a violation of the rules
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  Speaker 1: of House of Representatives relating to the deposition. So let
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  Speaker 1: me translate that for you. James Comer didn't want to
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  Speaker 1: give our client a reach around, so we're going to sue.
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  Speaker 1: And another thing I want to point out is look
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  Speaker 1: at the way that they're treating Leon Black, and then
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  Speaker 1: look at the way they treated Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton.
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  Speaker 1: Completely unacceptable. And people like Robert Garcia, they were glazing
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  Speaker 1: the Clintons. And in those depositions, the whole entire point
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  Speaker 1: from the Democrats was to try and exonerate Clinton. It
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  Speaker 1: wasn't testing out what people have said. It wasn't running
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  Speaker 1: real evidence. It was a whitewash. and it was an embarrassment.
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  Speaker 1: Black's attorney said in a statement on Tuesday the committee
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  Speaker 1: under the leadership of James Comer and ranking member Robert
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  Speaker 1: Garcia has lost sight of its legislative purpose and is
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  Speaker 1: abusing its power. The lawyer described the subpoenas as illegitimate, illegal,
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  Speaker 1: and a textbook abuse of power designed to bully and
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  Speaker 1: destroy legal protections of private citizens. Oh, well, how does
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  Speaker 1: it feel to be on the other end of that
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  Speaker 1: for once? Usually it's Leon Black, That's doing the dictating.
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  Speaker 1: Now he's being dictated to, and he doesn't like it. Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Black has repeatedly said that he feels terrible for Epstein's
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  Speaker 1: victims and that he regrets ever doing business with them.
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  Speaker 1: The statement added, he never abused a woman. He never
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  Speaker 1: was with an underage woman. He never engaged in sex trafficking.
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  Speaker 1: He never paid Epstein for access to women. He was
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  Speaker 1: never blackmailed by Epstein. Mr. Black had no knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: any of Epstein's heinous conduct. No, not at all. They
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  Speaker 1: just stayed friends after Jeffrey Epstein was already a convicted
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  Speaker 1: sex offender. But he had no idea. Come on. Stop
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  Speaker 1: being a conspiracy theorist. What are you, Candace Owens? Before
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  Speaker 1: Black's scheduled deposition earlier this month, more than a dozen
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  Speaker 1: survivors of Epstein's abuse urged him to comply with congressional subpoenas.
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  Speaker 1: They argued that his use of NDAs underscores why Congress
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  Speaker 1: must scrutinize the agreement in his possession and determine whether
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  Speaker 1: they shed light on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein or
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  Speaker 1: and others in Epstein's orbit. Earlier this year, the committee
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  Speaker 1: also moved the whole former President Bill Clinton and Hillary
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  Speaker 1: Clinton contempt for initially refusing to testify about Epstein. The
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  Speaker 1: Clintons ultimately testified before the House, if you want to
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  Speaker 1: call it that. That shit was an abomination. Absolute joke.
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  Speaker 1: They spent the whole entire time talking about Trump. Like,
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  Speaker 1: I get it, but time and place, right? Save the whataboutism.
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  Speaker 1: And instead, why don't you start producing some results? And
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  Speaker 1: as far as I'm concerned, this is the perfect place
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  Speaker 1: to start. If you're going to hold anybody accountable, then
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Leon Black should definitely be near the top of the list.
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  Speaker 1: So we'll see where this all goes. And when we
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: have some more information one way or the other, we'll
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: get that added to the catalog. All the information that
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: goes with this episode can be found in the description box.