Cam here 👋 bringing you your daily dose of what people are doing – good, bad, and otherwise – in the world of politics. We’re diving into the stories you won’t see anywhere else. And remember, you can also keep up with me over on TikTok and Bluesky.
Since day one of Trump’s political career, people have desperately attempted to normalize his absurd abuses of power and blatant corruption – and 10 years later, much of corporate media remains a victim of their own attempts to return to a sense of normalcy.
It’s time to stop sane-washing the insanity.
What Happened
A Wall Street billionaire known for bankrolling Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking operation in the US Virgin Islands is expected to be held in contempt of Congress over his refusal to appear Thursday for a congressional deposition and his failure to turn over subpoenaed documents.
Leaders from both parties on the House Oversight Committee said they plan to hold Leon Black in contempt after he ignored a subpoena to appear before the committee and refused to provide copies of nondisclosure agreements between himself and women he had sexual encounters with. Epstein is believed to have negotiated a number of these contracts, which could provide crucial insight into how the sex trafficker silenced victims and offered protection to his co-conspirators.
“When we brought him in to testify [in June] and when he walked out — we made it clear that he needed to come back,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), ranking member of the committee. “The process of contempt has to begin. He, along with Les Wexner, are the two key financial figures in this whole investigation. It’s not acceptable that he’s not coming in. His lawsuit against the committee is laughable.”
The only sticking point, according to committee chairman James Comer (R-KY), is a lawsuit Black filed against the committee, naming Comer personally. In the lawsuit, Black claims the subpoenas are invalid and would violate the privacy of the NDAs’ signatories.
“I would hold him in contempt right now,” said Comer. “This is the first time, of all the people we’ve brought in, of all the powerful billionaires and political people we’ve brought in for interviews and depositions, this is the first time anyone’s filed suit. I don’t want to do anything to harm our chances in court. The most important priority for the committee — I think, but I’m going to talk with the committee as a whole — the most important priority is to get Mr. Black in to answer questions.”
Black is one of more than a dozen individuals interviewed by the committee as part of an investigation into Epstein’s crimes and the government’s handling of its case against him. While others delayed their appearances or made demonstrably false statements, Black is the first to challenge the committee in court. He first appeared before the committee voluntarily in June, but refused to answer questions almost immediately, and stormed out after Comer subpoenaed him in order to compel his cooperation.
Garcia, who would become chair should Democrats regain control of the House next year, said Black’s attempt to sue the committee amounts to little more than a futile attempt to stall the inevitable.
“Chairman Comer did the right thing when he forced him to come in under subpoena and asked for the NDAs,” Garcia said. “What Black is trying to do is slow the process down. He’s very aware that Congress is in session for a certain amount of time before the recess. He’s very aware that Comer is no longer going to be the chairperson. But what Mr. Black should understand is that we will be even more aggressive than Chairman Comer as it relates to his testimony. If Chairman Comer does not begin the contempt proceedings with Mr. Black before the end of this Congress, I certainly will.”
At the heart of the committee’s pursuit of Black is his collection of NDAs. It has been public knowledge for years that Black used NDAs to guarantee silence from women he cheated on his wife with. But documents made public as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act allege that Epstein personally negotiated an $18 million NDA between the Wall Street billionaire and Russian model Guzel Ganieva, and may have been the one to introduce the concept of using contracts to intimidate women into silence. If the NDAs in Black’s possession were Epstein’s handiwork, it could raise questions about similar agreements used by others who swam in their circles, including convicted sex abusers Harvey Weinstein, Larry Nassar, and President Donald Trump.
Congressional investigators also want more details regarding the millions of dollars Epstein received from Black and fellow billionaire Les Wexner. The committee believes Wexner gave Epstein a billion dollars over 20 years. Wexner cut Epstein off when the latter was arrested for soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2007, but the tab was picked up almost immediately by Black, who doled out over $180 million over the next decade.
During that 30-year period, Epstein used his newfound wealth to set up headquarters in New Mexico, New York, and the US Virgin Islands and created a billion-dollar international sex trafficking empire, with alleged clients ranging from European royalty to two United States presidents.
“Leon Black gave Epstein over $180 million dollars. He was Epstein’s primary client,” said Oversight member Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA). “All we’re asking from him is to sit down with our committee and offer us basic information and basic documents — that we’ve asked of most other people as well — and he’s not providing that. We are Congress. We are not one of his clients. We are not one of his friends.”
Comer said he plans to consult with the full committee and its legal team before contempt charges are filed. The timeline could be severely delayed, however, as Republican leadership has ordered the house to recess until mid-November, leaving only a four-day window in September to accomplish any legislative work.
Attempts to Sanewash
Billionaire Leon Black ignores Epstein investigation subpoena, sues congressional committee
Leon Black sues House Oversight to block subpoenas in Epstein probe
Billionaire Leon Black is suing Congress for ‘fishing’ into his alleged ties to Epstein
Far-Right Spin
Billionaire Leon Black Sues Congress Rather Than Answer for His Epstein Ties
Democrats fume as Epstein associate Leon Black skips deposition: “It’s a shame”
Poll: Epstein Cover-up front of mind for voters going into Midterms
With just two months until the midterm elections, voters across party lines are looking for candidates who are willing to take on corruption, hold powerful abusers accountable, and demand the full release of the Epstein Files.
A new nationwide poll conducted by public opinion research firm GBAO and released Wednesday by COURIER and Reckoning Action found that 88% of Americans who plan to vote in the midterms, including 83% of Republican voters, will prioritize candidates who promise to hold powerful people accountable, including through the release of the full Epstein files. Justice for Epstein’s victims ranked higher for voters than almost every other issue, including healthcare, affordability, immigration, public safety, and the Iran War.
The issue could complicate President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost his endorsed midterm candidates. Three out of four respondents who voted for Trump in 2024 said justice for Epstein’s victims and accountability for his co-conspirators would be a top factor when filling out their ballots.
“For months, Americans across the political spectrum have seen the release of the Epstein files completely mishandled, the privacy and the safety of survivors disregarded, and justice routinely denied. Now, voters across party lines are drawing a line and making it clear: this issue will be a critical determining factor in their midterm vote,” said Cheyenne Hunt, executive director for Reckoning Action. “To every candidate hoping to earn the trust of voters ahead of November, know this: if you have been in any way complicit with this cover-up, or if you are unwilling to take a stand for justice, voters will not forget.”
When asked about a candidate’s message to voters, addressing justice for Epstein’s victims had a 17-point advantage over the Iran War and ranked 15 points higher than messaging around transgender issues, two of President Trump’s primary talking points. The only issue ranked higher was corruption, a term voters are beginning to see as synonymous with Trump and his enablers in Congress.
Releasing the Epstein Files became a national priority in 2025, as the Trump administration became engrossed in an apparent cover-up of the records, what they contained, and who they might implicate. The most grievous transgressions include secret meetings in the Situation Room; moving Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell to a low-security prison; holding a fake Epstein Files release party with far-right media personalities; and closing its investigation into Epstein without additional prosecutions after a hasty review of less than 7% of the DOJ’s investigative files.
In lieu of executive accountability, the public turned to Congress. Pressure from voters grew so intense that the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) passed with virtually unanimous support. But the new polling suggests that voters may now turn to the ballot box to punish those they believe have failed to ensure the law is upheld. To date, only half of the 6 million records from the government’s case files on Epstein have been released, and the US Department of Justice has failed to provide Congress with explanations for redactions and omissions as required by law.
The full release of the Epstein Files will take a Congress willing to use its power to force the DOJ to comply with the law, as Attorney General Todd Blanche has stonewalled any attempts to do so. Senate Republicans approved Blanche’s nomination to his role in August, despite pleas from survivors of Epstein’s abuse to reject him. Blanche took lead on the Epstein investigation in 2025, members of Congress currently investigating his handling of the case say his priority has been to protect the president every step of the way.
“He is the chief architect of the cover-up that the White House is engaging in to prevent the disclosure of files,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). “To prevent the disclosure of any information that might implicate Donald Trump.”
Some candidates have taken note of the salience of this issue and are already running campaign ads attacking opponents who have failed to deliver accountability on Epstein. Democratic candidates Mary Peltola in Alaska and Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia have criticized their opponents for initially voting against releasing the Epstein Files, while Sherrod Brown in Ohio went a step further, highlighting donations Sen. Jon Husted received from billionaire Les Wexner, whose wealth financed Epstein’s criminal network for over a decade.
Others, like James Talarico in Texas, have used past records of leniency for perpetrators of sexual assault as an example of enabling abusers like Epstein. In Arizona, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs released a scathing television ad putting Republican candidate Rep. Andy Biggs’ record on Epstein front and center. While Biggs voted to pass the EFTA, he voted against the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena to obtain the full, unredacted files, and has been absent from the committee’s investigation into Epstein’s criminal network.
Hobbs also tied Biggs’ inaction on Epstein to his record on other related issues as a state legislator, including voting against funding to investigate sexual abuse crimes and supporting protections for a fundamentalist cult known to be a hotbed of domestic violence and child abuse.
Republicans, in contrast, have largely kept Epstein out of their campaigns. The few attempts to counter accusations of taking cash from the “Epstein Class” have either been disproved or backfired, and Democrats’ votes to release the Epstein Files were consistent throughout the process.
The strategy reflects another finding from the COURIER/Reckoning Action poll: the more closely an issue aligned with Epstein’s crimes and the questions surrounding the case, the more likely voters were to rank it as a concern.
Of the 15 issues tested, five were considered top concerns by over 80% of respondents: child abuse, government corruption, abuse of power, those in power avoiding accountability, and human trafficking as the top five concerns. Among the issues of least concern were several Trump sees as his strengths: immigration, transgender athletes, and public safety.
With control of Congress in the balance this fall, the president, administration, and candidates across the political spectrum will all have to contend with the simple fact that the Epstein cover-up isn’t going away.
COURIER’s newly-launched Epstein investigation project
For too long, the Epstein Class has dealt in wealth, power, and politics to avoid accountability and deny victims & survivors their due justice. The public deserves the truth, but the Trump Administration is failing its legal obligation to deliver it.
That’s why we’re expanding our coverage to follow the money and investigate the power players in and outside the government. With a new database by Thorian AI, we have unprecedented access and ability to navigate more than 1.2M files and we’re sharing access—and what we’re finding—with you.
Subscribe to The Cover-Up and get one concise, easy-to-read email a week that cuts through the noise with the headlines you need and the breakdowns you want.
By staying plugged in and leveraging our reporting to make your own calls-to-action louder, together, we can turn information into justice.
Support our journalism at COURIER
Democracy dies behind a paywall, which is why our journalism is — and always will be — free.
But to keep our commitment to the free access to information, we need support from those who have the means, believe in our mission, and support our unique model.
