Billionaire Leon Black sues U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia for defamation over Epstein comments

NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire Leon Black on Wednesday filed a federal defamation lawsuit against California Rep. Robert Garcia for public comments the Democratic congressman made tying him to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.The court filing comes less than two months after the House approved a resolution holding Black in contempt of Congress for defying the Oversight Committee’s subpoenas in its investigation into Epstein.In June, Black appeared for a voluntary interview at the committee during which he denied any knowledge of Epstein's sex trafficking network.Weeks later, Garcia said during a TV interview that “Leon Black is at the center of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes” and that Black “was one of the last people to actually interact" with Epstein before he committed suicide in prison.In addition, Garcia said that he had “talked to survivors that have credibly named Leon Black as someone that was involved in direct abuse of women and was directly involved" with Epstein.Those statements