Comer introduces survivor protection bill one day after contempt vote
The contempt resolution now goes to the full House for consideration, if Speaker Mike Johnson permits a vote. The recommendation marks the latest escalation in a months-long standoff between the committee and Black, the chairman and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management LLC, whose name came up repeatedly in the Epstein files.
In a joint statement, survivors thanked Chairman James Comer, a Republican representative, for “showing real resolve in pursuing accountability in the Epstein investigation.” They said the vote affirmed that “survivors have fought for years to bring the truth about Epstein’s network into the open and have helped create this moment of accountability,” and urged Congress to follow the investigative leads contained in the Epstein files wherever they go and to demand answers from the powerful people connected to them.
Black voluntarily appeared before the committee for a transcribed interview in June, but lawmakers from both parties said the session ended abruptly after Black refused to answer questions about NDAs. The committee then issued two subpoenas: one demanding that Black produce all NDAs “to which he is a party,” and another requiring him to appear for a deposition.
Black did not appear for his scheduled 3 September deposition and did not produce all of the NDAs sought by the committee. He instead sued Comer and the committee, arguing the subpoenas were “invalid” and exceeded the committee’s “delegated authority in seeking private information that bears no legitimate connection” to its legislative purpose. He also argued that the subpoenas would “expose women who value their privacy, who have no known or public connection to Epstein.”
Attorneys for Black asked for a postponement of the committee’s markup earlier on Tuesday and described it as a “complete abomination.” Black’s attorneys said the committee under Comer and Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, “has lost sight of its legislative purpose and is abusing its power.” The lawyers described the subpoenas as “illegitimate, illegal and a textbook abuse of power designed to bully and destroy legal protections of private citizens” and reiterated that Black “never abused a woman,” “was never blackmailed by Epstein” and “had no knowledge of any of Epstein’s heinous conduct.”
On Wednesday, a day after the contempt vote, Comer announced the introduction of the Survivor’s Voice Protection Act, which his office said would ensure “survivors can speak freely about sexual abuse, even if they signed a nondisclosure agreement.” The bill would also create “accountability for trusted individuals to protect minors by establishing an obligation to report suspected grooming behavior to law enforcement,” according to Comer’s office. The legislation is a “result of the Oversight Committee’s review of the federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes,” his office added.
Republican Representatives Nancy Mace, Virginia Foxx, Lauren Boebert and Anna Paulina Luna joined the bill as original cosponsors.
In his Wednesday statement, Comer said “the federal government for decades failed the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes. We sadly cannot undue the harm and abuse inflicted upon these women. However, we have an obligation to take action to reform our laws to ensure survivors are protected and abusers can be held accountable.” He continued that “during our investigation, we’ve learned how powerful men weaponized nondisclosure agreements to silence survivors of sexual abuse.”
The committee said it has conducted 19 depositions and transcribed interviews as part of its review of the federal government’s investigation of Epstein and Maxwell, and has released around 65,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate, the US Department of Justice, and interview transcripts. It has also obtained Epstein’s bank records.
In June, Comer referred two men to the Department of Justice for further investigation after Sarah Kellen, a former assistant of Epstein’s, alleged that she was sexually assaulted by them in the years that she worked for Epstein. Neither man has been charged with any crime related to Epstein, and both have denied any wrongdoing and the allegations.
When the Guardian asked the DoJ for an update over the summer, a spokesperson said the department had forwarded Comer’s letter about the two individuals to the FBI. “If, during the course of their review, FBI encounters of evidence of a federal crime, they will investigate that matter,” the spokesperson told the Guardian in July. When asked for an update in late August, the DoJ spokesperson said the July statement “still stands.” The FBI did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Guardian this month about the matter.