Full Transcript for Trump’s DFC Chief Ben Black and the Lingering Shadow of Jeffrey Epstein (Part 1)

who's buying that bullshit 34 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.840 these days? All you have to do is take one 35 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:11.439 look at Jeffrey Epstein's emails and you can tell he 36 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:17.449 wasn't some savant, wasn't some genius. He was useful. And boy, 37 00:02:17.770 --> 00:02:21.669 did they use him. Because believe me, when we're talking 38 00:02:21.710 --> 00:02:24.789 about a parasitic relationship, that's what all these people had 39 00:02:25.090 --> 00:02:29.849 with Jeffrey Epstein. A Guardian review of more than 5,000 40 00:02:29.849 --> 00:02:33.990 records from Epstein's private correspondence found that Ben Black, invested 41 00:02:34.030 --> 00:02:38.360 in the same company as the financier, pedophile, in 2011, 42 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.199 and the two men had a relationship for several years afterwards. 43 00:02:43.009 --> 00:02:46.229 Epstein told a friend that he attended Ben Black's 30th birthday, 44 00:02:46.770 --> 00:02:50.729 advised him on the purchase of an $ 11. 5 million townhouse, 45 00:02:51.389 --> 00:02:54.430 and helped one woman compose messages to him. She wrote 46 00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:57.349 to Epstein to say that she and Black had kissed 47 00:02:57.710 --> 00:03:00.969 the following day. Good old Epstein as the matchmaker, huh? 48 00:03:01.530 --> 00:03:04.469 What is this, Fiddler on the Roof? More like Diddler 49 00:03:04.530 --> 00:03:08.120 on the Roof. And now... Black holds the Senate-confirmed position 50 00:03:08.439 --> 00:03:13.539 overseeing the development finance corporation, the Trump administration's largest overseas 51 00:03:13.969 --> 00:03:17.629 investment arm. The agency was previously confined to work in 52 00:03:17.669 --> 00:03:21.729 low-income countries, but Congress recently cleared it to invest in 53 00:03:21.770 --> 00:03:25.849 high-income countries and tripled its lending cap to $ 205 billion, 54 00:03:26.330 --> 00:03:31.889 greatly expanding Black's influence over taxpayer funds. The Epstein administration 55 00:03:32.310 --> 00:03:35.289 in full effect. Nobody could do this job but Leon 56 00:03:35.310 --> 00:03:39.340 Black's kid. Okay, I guess. I guess he's that talented. 57 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.650 We're talking about Warren Buffett wrapped up with Michael Berry, huh? Okay. 58 00:03:44.530 --> 00:03:47.889 I guess that's what Ben Black is. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Epstein 59 00:03:47.909 --> 00:03:51.610 himself had some pretty terrible things to say about Leon 60 00:03:51.629 --> 00:03:55.590 Black's kids. Donald Trump has appointed at least three other 61 00:03:55.629 --> 00:03:59.590 men with known ties to Epstein to federal office. Howard Lutnick, 62 00:03:59.629 --> 00:04:03.379 the Secretary of Commerce, testified recently to the House Oversight 63 00:04:03.419 --> 00:04:06.780 Committee after admitting that he had traveled to Epstein's private island. 64 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:10.520 He has never been accused of any wrongdoing related to 65 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:14.689 Epstein or otherwise. Lutnick sits on DFC's Board of Directors, 66 00:04:14.969 --> 00:04:17.829 where he and Ben Black joined six other presidentially appointed 67 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:23.129 and Senate-confirmed members in reviewing and approving the agency's overseas investments. 68 00:04:23.610 --> 00:04:26.089 Nothing like one of Jeffrey Epstein's buddies being in charge 69 00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:30.430 of $ 205 billion of your tax dollars, right? That's reassuring. 70 00:04:30.990 --> 00:04:33.829 The scope of Ben Black's personal connection to Epstein has 71 00:04:33.889 --> 00:04:37.420 not previously been reported. Black has not been accused of 72 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:41.360 wrongdoing in connection to Epstein or any other matter. The 73 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:44.819 DFC did not respond to her request for comment. Lawyers 74 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:48.790 for Leon Black responded to questions on behalf of both 75 00:04:48.850 --> 00:04:52.170 Leon and his son. And the White House spokesperson sent 76 00:04:52.189 --> 00:04:57.370 The Guardian... an unsolicited defense of Black's fitness for his job. Look, 77 00:04:57.430 --> 00:04:59.269 I'm not saying that he's not fit for the gig. 78 00:04:59.769 --> 00:05:01.910 I'm sure he's intelligent, and I'm sure he knows what 79 00:05:01.930 --> 00:05:05.310 he's doing. The fact is, why do we have all 80 00:05:05.350 --> 00:05:10.519 these Epstein-adjacent people holding positions of power, especially considering everything 81 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:13.639 that's come out? You would think that that would be, 82 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:16.199 you know, the line in the sand. Heck, buddy, I 83 00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:19.279 can't have you in this administration. You're named 5,000 times 84 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:22.579 in the files. But then, how can you have that standard? 85 00:05:23.209 --> 00:05:27.529 when the president himself was named what, 38,000 times? And 86 00:05:27.550 --> 00:05:29.810 when I tell you that the fish stinks from the head, 87 00:05:30.709 --> 00:05:35.740 this is what I mean. A personal spokesperson for Ben 88 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:39.639 Black said, Ben Black had no personal or professional relationship 89 00:05:39.939 --> 00:05:43.060 with Jeffrey Epstein. I guess it was just Ron Wyden's son. 90 00:05:45.350 --> 00:05:48.189 Besant wants to go after Wyden's son. Has he said 91 00:05:48.269 --> 00:05:51.120 anything about Ben Black? And look, again, I'm not saying 92 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:53.399 that he shouldn't go after Ron Wyden's son. He should. 93 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:55.819 But he should have the same kind of vigor when 94 00:05:55.860 --> 00:05:59.519 it comes to Leon Black's kid. And that's the problem 95 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:02.810 with everything that's going on right now. Nobody wants to 96 00:06:02.850 --> 00:06:06.769 hold their own side accountable. Everybody wants to have that 97 00:06:06.810 -->

00:06:10.170 gotcha moment for the other side without cleaning their own house. 98 00:06:12.170 --> 00:06:15.050 And if you have a disgusting ass yard, don't you 99 00:06:15.149 --> 00:06:17.910 dare pop your head over the wall and tell me 100 00:06:17.930 --> 00:06:20.939 to pull my weeds. because I promise you you're not 101 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:23.420 going to get the reaction that you're hoping for. And 102 00:06:23.500 --> 00:06:26.000 I think the same holds true here. You have one 103 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:29.000 side saying, well, what about Ron Wyden's kid? Then you 104 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.720 have Leon Black over here, and the other side wants 105 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.740 to point that out. Meanwhile, the rest of us are like, 106 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.620 all of you are corrupt, and none of you are helping. 107 00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:44.779 Trump created the DFC with bipartisan support during his first term, 108 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:49.259 and appointed Jared Kushner's former college roommate, Adam Bowler, to 109 00:06:49.300 --> 00:06:52.319 transform the lending agency into a tool to counter China 110 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.209 and pursue more direct private investment. And look, the concept 111 00:06:56.269 --> 00:06:59.329 of it's great. The problem is the guy that's leading 112 00:06:59.370 --> 00:07:04.600 the department, well, one of Jeffrey Epstein's buddy's sons, and 113 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:07.899 not only that, but allegedly had his own relationship with 114 00:07:07.939 --> 00:07:10.379 Jeffrey Epstein. So it's not even like a sins of 115 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.160 the father type of deal. This dude had his own 116 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:19.250 ties to Epstein, at least according to the emails. It's 117 00:07:19.290 --> 00:07:21.709 not clear exactly what led Trump to appoint Ben Black 118 00:07:21.750 --> 00:07:25.699 to the DFC post, particularly given that public records suggest 119 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:30.139 an experience in international development and finance. A White House 120 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.540 spokesperson told The Guardian Black had a lead experience for 121 00:07:33.579 --> 00:07:37.339 the role. And again, just remember that Jeffrey Epstein called 122 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:41.639 Leon Black's kids retarded. And I know people don't like 123 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:44.120 that word, but that's what he said. So that's the 124 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.709 guy we want in charge of international finance for us? 125 00:07:48.490 --> 00:07:50.350 I'm going to need to see his whole ass resume. 126 00:07:52.370 --> 00:07:56.750 In January 2025, Ben Black called the Palantir co-founder Joe 127 00:07:56.769 --> 00:08:00.939 Lonsdale co-authored an essay calling for a pro-market approach to 128 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:04.620 foreign aid. They specifically cited the missteps of the Biden 129 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:08.579 administration and the promise of investing in Greenland, a Danish 130 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.730 outpost that Trump has said he would like to control. 131 00:08:12.069 --> 00:08:13.470 Oh yeah, we're going to get that. We're going to 132 00:08:13.509 --> 00:08:19.209 have Cuba, Venezuela, Canada, 51st state. How can anyone take 133 00:08:19.250 --> 00:08:22.819 this dude serious? Like at this point? With all the nonsense? 134 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:26.600 How could you take anything that that man says seriously? 135 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.589 Where are those Amelia Earhart files? How about all those 136 00:08:30.709 --> 00:08:35.470 alien files? How about the JFK files? Oh, what about 137 00:08:35.509 --> 00:08:37.909 the Epstein files? I don't know about you folks, but 138 00:08:37.950 --> 00:08:41.100 I can't take all this transparency. I'm gonna overdose on it. 139 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.330 Three weeks after its publication, the president appointed Black, now 41, 140 00:08:47.330 --> 00:08:52.409 to take charge of the U.S. 's largest overseas investing arm. Now, 141 00:08:52.490 --> 00:08:55.720 age doesn't really matter. If the guy's qualified, he's qualified, right? 142 00:08:55.820 --> 00:08:59.460 I don't care. But my problem is, I doubt he's qualified. 143 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:05.559 You want to talk about nepotism? Here it is. Ben 144 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:08.809 Black grew up amid the upper echelons of New York financiers, 145 00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:13.190 real estate moguls, and art aficionados. His mother, Deborah Black, 146 00:09:13.509 --> 00:09:17.120 worked as a Broadway producer, garnering 10 Tony Awards for 147 00:09:17.149 --> 00:09:20.679 her work. And keep in mind that Leon Black was 148 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:24.240 cheating on her, with Guzel Ganieva at least, and probably 149 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:27.450 other women, for years, even when his wife was sick. 150 00:09:28.350 --> 00:09:31.639 What kind of scumbag does that? Leon partnered with Debra's 151 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.559 brother to found Apollo Global Management in 1990, and as CEO, 152 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:38.200 led it to become one of the five largest private 153 00:09:38.299 --> 00:09:42.139 equity and credit managers in the world, with nearly $ 1 154 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:45.500 trillion under management. And I'm sure they got that fair 155 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:49.350 and square. I'm sure nobody got stepped on. Nobody was destroyed. 156 00:09:50.009 --> 00:09:53.850 Nobody had their life ruined. Leon Black and Trump were 157 00:09:53.889 --> 00:09:56.809 fellow travelers in the wild world of the 90s finance. 158 00:09:57.549 --> 00:10:00.360 The two vulture capitalists once vied for the same real 159 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.779 estate contracts in Boca Raton and traveled to Moscow on 160 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:07.980 business in 96, where Leon Black later told Senate investigators 161 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:10.679 that he and the president might have been in a 162 00:10:10.710 --> 00:10:14.570

strip club together. Oh, well, might have been, huh? They were. 163 00:10:15.779 --> 00:10:17.389 And look, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not going 164 00:10:17.409 --> 00:10:20.049 to sit here and play Mr. Amish. If you want 165 00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:21.809 to go to the strip club, go to the strip club. 166 00:10:22.490 --> 00:10:24.470 But don't try and present yourself as some kind of 167 00:10:24.529 --> 00:10:28.669 God-fearing great guy, because we know that's not true. And 168 00:10:28.690 --> 00:10:31.029 I'm so sick of it. The main stop on Trump's 169 00:10:31.029 --> 00:10:34.879 96 tour was Dukat Place, according to the Moscow Times, 170 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:38.080 where Trump once hoped to build Europe's first Trump Tower. 171 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:41.200 Leon Black went on to fund the development of the 172 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:45.159 luxury office complex after the trip. Now, no connections here. 173 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:48.840 Leon Black's not somebody that Donald Trump is trying to 174 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.460 cover up for. Not at all. They didn't even know 175 00:10:51.500 --> 00:10:54.440 each other. Stop it. Don't you know that this is 176 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:58.620 a hoax and that you should move on? Lawyers for 177 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:01.200 Leon Black said in a legal letter that Black had 178 00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:04.399 no current ties to Russia, never did any business with Trump, 179 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:07.980 that they have known each other socially, mostly as co-residents 180 00:11:08.019 --> 00:11:10.279 of New York City, and the fact that they were 181 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:13.330 in Moscow at the same time 30 years ago has 182 00:11:13.389 --> 00:11:16.960 no news value in the year 2026. but it does. 183 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:19.639 Especially when you look at this through the lens of 184 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:22.899 a cover-up. Is Leon Black one of the people that 185 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:26.419 Trump's trying to cover up for? In my opinion, probably. 186 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.809 Black was also Epstein's top paying client by a wide 187 00:11:29.870 --> 00:11:32.990 margin for years. He paid Epstein to advise him on 188 00:11:33.029 --> 00:11:37.669 tax-saving strategy and purchasing art, and acted as an intermediary 189 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:39.870 in his affairs with women. And how the hell does 190 00:11:39.909 --> 00:11:42.429 Leon Black expect anybody to take him serious when he 191 00:11:42.470 --> 00:11:45.509 says he has no ties to Russia? We already know 192 00:11:45.549 --> 00:11:48.009 you do. We know that Jeffrey Epstein reached out to 193 00:11:48.049 --> 00:11:52.179 somebody in GRU, or connected to GRU, to try and 194 00:11:52.220 --> 00:11:56.519 get people pressed, to try to get people intimidated. But sure, 195 00:11:56.539 --> 00:12:00.159 Leon Black has no idea what's going on over in Russia. Hell, 196 00:12:00.419 --> 00:12:02.500 he can't even find it on a

map. A Senate 197 00:12:02.539 --> 00:12:07.279 Finance Committee investigation found that Black paid the convicted sex 198 00:12:07.350 --> 00:12:11.830 offender $ 170 million, which Black said was for legitimate estate 199 00:12:12.429 --> 00:12:16.960 and tax planning services. Epstein helped him send about $ 20 200 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.000 million to women, the New York Times found. But Epstein 201 00:12:20.019 --> 00:12:22.460 had nothing to do with anything like that. Just a 202 00:12:22.500 --> 00:12:28.000 lone wolf. Just a guy that wanted to diddle some people. Right, Mr. President? 203 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:30.950 Is that what you told us? I guess all of 204 00:12:30.990 --> 00:12:37.269 this is just made up. Three women have sued Leon 205 00:12:37.309 --> 00:12:40.669 Black for alleged sexual abuse. Two of the suits have 206 00:12:40.690 --> 00:12:44.279 been dismissed, and one remains pending. Lawyers for Leon Black 207 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:47.730 said in a statement to The Guardian that misconduct allegations 208 00:12:47.809 --> 00:12:51.370 raised against Black were false, and that subsequent events have 209 00:12:51.409 --> 00:12:55.210 established with certainty that Mr. Black's account was truthful and 210 00:12:55.250 --> 00:12:59.519 his accuser's claims were not. Well, that's not true. We 211 00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:01.779 still have a case pending. So what are you even 212 00:13:01.820 --> 00:13:03.950 talking about? I think it would be a good idea 213 00:13:04.009 --> 00:13:06.789 to see what happens with that case before anybody's out 214 00:13:06.830 --> 00:13:10.200 here trying to exonerate Leon Black. Leon Black has never 215 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:13.600 been charged with any crime in relation to the allegations. 216 00:13:15.019 --> 00:13:18.960 A separate independent inquiry commissioned by Apollo Management to investigate 217 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:23.419 its founder alleged ties to Epstein's sex trafficking network in 218 00:13:23.419 --> 00:13:26.679 2021 found no evidence that Epstein ever introduced Black or 219 00:13:26.740 --> 00:13:30.950 offered to introduce Black to any underage women. Well, that 220 00:13:30.990 --> 00:13:36.289 investigation was a bunch of BS. Absolute nonsense. Nothing more 221 00:13:36.330 --> 00:13:39.139 than a whitewash. Just like the rest of these internal 222 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:42.519 investigations we always hear about. Have any of these internal 223 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:46.919 investigations ever found anything that was damning? Anything that sent 224 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:49.539 people to prison? You all know the answer to that. 225 00:13:49.559 --> 00:13:52.710 All right, folks, we're going to wrap up episode one 226 00:13:52.750 --> 00:13:54.649 right here. And in the next episode, we're going to 227 00:13:54.669 --> 00:13:57.590 pick up where we left off. All the information that 228 00:13:57.610 --> 00:14:00.879 goes with this episode can be found in the description box.