By Isla Binnie and Nolan D. McCaskill
NEW YORK, Sept 15 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee voted to recommend holding Leon Black in contempt of Congress on Tuesday, after the Wall Street billionaire declined to comply with subpoenas as part of a probe into the activities of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Black, who co-founded private equity giant Apollo Global Management, is among several prominent political and business figures who have been called to testify about their ties to the late financier.
The 41-0 committee vote sets up a vote by the full House to refer the case to the Justice Department for possible prosecution under a simple majority threshold. Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor charge that carries up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Black gave up his role as Apollo chief executive in 2021 after an external law firm found he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning.
He sued the committee this month and declined to appear at a deposition. The deposition was scheduled after a voluntary appearance in June during which Black told the committee he never abused women or engaged in sex trafficking and had never had sex with underage women. He denies knowledge of Epstein’s conduct.
He walked out during the June interview, according to members of the committee, who ordered him to come back to testify under oath and then issued subpoenas for documents.
Black’s lawyers said on Tuesday the contempt resolution showed the committee had “lost sight of its legislative purpose and (was) abusing its power”, adding they had written to ask the Office of Congressional Conduct to investigate Comer.
Epstein was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019, and his death was ruled a suicide.
(Reporting by Isla Binnie and Nolan McCaskill; Editing by David Gregorio)
