Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., a ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, tore into billionaire investor Leon Black, telling MS NOW’s Alex Witt that the longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate won’t be able to “weasel his way out” of answering the panel’s questions about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender. 

According to lawmakers, Black walked out of a voluntary interview on Friday after they said he refused to discuss allegations that he signed nondisclosure agreements with women connected to Epstein.

“We asked very basic questions of Mr. Black, including information about these nondisclosure agreements,” Garcia told Witt. “He was unwilling to answer our questions.”

The committee has since issued two new subpoenas, Garcia explained, “One for all of the NDAs, so we can actually see those. And the second for him to actually come back under oath in a deposition … where he can’t, essentially, weasel his way out of not answering questions, which he did [on Friday.]”

The California Democrat noted the move was done with bipartisan support.

Garcia said that in addition to questions over the alleged nondisclosure agreements, the committee intends to ask Black, on the record at the July 16 deposition, about his relationship with Epstein and to explain why he paid the disgraced financier $158 million between 2012 and 2017, years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Black stepped down from his role as chief executive of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management in 2021 amid scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein, but he has maintained that he had no knowledge of the abuse, saying the $158 million payment was for “legitimate tax and estate planning services.”

You can watch Garcia’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.

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