White House defends Trump's beef import plan after report on billionaire's influence

A group of Epstein abuse survivors are urging billionaire investor Leon Black to appear before the House oversight committee and comply with congressional subpoenas. In a letter released on Wednesday, the survivors demanded that Black produce all responsive nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in his possession and answer questions related to his ties to the late financier and convicted sex offender.

Black, a New York private equity investor, has faced accusations of intentionally delaying and obstructing the committee's inquiry. He has already been threatened with contempt by the Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, James Comer, should he fail to cooperate fully. Black had not yet confirmed his appearance as of Tuesday.

In a previous testimony, Black stated that he became aware of Epstein's alleged crimes in July 2019 when he was charged with trafficking. However, he admitted that he was aware of Epstein's 2008 guilty plea related to prostitution involving a minor. Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman who recently lost a primary to a Trump-backed challenger, read out the names of several Epstein associates, including Black, during a speech from the House floor.

Massie called for the Department of Justice to investigate the group of men and women who Massie referred to as "perpetrators" of Epstein's crimes. Despite the passage of nearly a year since Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, thousands of the Epstein files remain unreleased.