Leon Black Sues Rep. Garcia

What happened

Updated Nov 4, 9:03pm ET

Billionaire Leon Black filed a federal defamation lawsuit Wednesday against Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia in New York, seeking $7.25 million over comments linking him to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.
Garcia said in a television interview that Black was “at the center” of Epstein’s crimes and that survivors had credibly accused Black of directly abusing women.
Black’s lawyers called Garcia’s statements false and malicious, and Black denied knowing about Epstein’s sex trafficking network during a voluntary congressional interview in June.
The lawsuit follows the House’s vote to hold Black in contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas in the Oversight Committee’s Epstein investigation.
Garcia is poised to chair the committee when Democrats take control of the House in January, and his office had not immediately responded to requests for comment.

How the left told it

Left-leaning outlets were represented only by Raw Story, which emphasized Black’s payments to Epstein and his lawsuit against an investigator. Its headline described a billionaire who “paid Epstein millions” suing a “top investigator,” while the article also reported Black’s denial and claims that Garcia’s statements harmed him.

How the right told it

Right-leaning outlets focused on the legal dispute while also noting Black’s defiance of congressional subpoenas. The New York Post, Breitbart News and Washington Times presented similar accounts, quoting Garcia’s claim that Black was “at the center” of Epstein’s crimes alongside Black’s assertion that the statements were false and malicious.

Leon Black Sues Rep. Garcia

What happened

How the left told it

How the right told it

Leon Black Defamation Fight

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