August 20, 2025 • 11 mins
Senator Ron Wyden has sharply criticized the IRS for failing to audit or investigate the massive payments—estimated at at least $158 million, and possibly up to $170 million—made by private equity billionaire Leon Black to Jeffrey Epstein between 2012 and 2017. Wyden questioned how Epstein, who had no formal credentials in tax or accounting, could receive such high sums—exceeding compensation paid to other top advisors—without raising any red flags, and pointed out that much of this was paid “ad hoc” without written contracts. He urged the IRS to explain why these seemingly suspicious tax‑planning transactions were never subject to scrutiny despite their scale and Epstein’s criminal history
Additionally, Wyden revealed that his office accessed a trove of financial records indicating approximately 4,725 wire transfers amounting to over $1 billion linked to Epstein, including interactions with Russian banks connected to sex trafficking. He accused the Treasury Department of withholding these critical Suspicious Activity Reports from oversight and insisted that the lack of broader prosecutions or investigations suggests a cover‑up. Wyden accused federal agencies of “sleepwalking” through evidence that might have exposed Epstein’s alleged façade of financial expertise and facilitated accountability for those who funded his operations.
to contact me:
bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
source:
Senator Seeks Investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's Work for Leon Black
Additionally, Wyden revealed that his office accessed a trove of financial records indicating approximately 4,725 wire transfers amounting to over $1 billion linked to Epstein, including interactions with Russian banks connected to sex trafficking. He accused the Treasury Department of withholding these critical Suspicious Activity Reports from oversight and insisted that the lack of broader prosecutions or investigations suggests a cover‑up. Wyden accused federal agencies of “sleepwalking” through evidence that might have exposed Epstein’s alleged façade of financial expertise and facilitated accountability for those who funded his operations.
to contact me:
bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
source:
Senator Seeks Investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's Work for Leon Black
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
Epstein Chronicles. You ever notice how the IRS is relentless
when it comes to you and me. If you accidentally
misplace a decimal point, forget to report a couple hundred
bucks from selling old furniture on line, or miscalculate your
mileage deduction, they'll come after you like you're the al
(00:20):
Capone of Craigslist. They'll slap you at penalties, interests, threats,
bleed you dry over pocket change. But when it comes
to Epstein, the convicted sex offender, the man moving millions
of dollars through a labyrinth of shady accounts, the soul
called financier with no legitimate business model, they acted like
you didn't even exist, Like their enforcement radar magically went
(00:43):
blank the moment his name appeared on a transaction. Epstein
wasn't hiding. His dealings were right there in black and white,
woven into the financial system like a Neon sign flashing fraud.
Leon Black alone paid him over one hundred and fifty
million dollars in advisory fees. Advisory fees for what. Epstein
wasn't a Wall Street titan, He was an attack savant.
(01:06):
He was a predator who had already been convicted in
Florida in two thousand and eight. His name was toxic,
his presence was radioactive, and even a half conscious regulator
should have been asking why is a billionaire CEO wiring
hundreds of million dollars to a registered sex offender for advice?
But the IRS they never asked, not once. They looked away,
(01:29):
as if their job was to protect them, not police them.
And that's the bitter irony. Epstein weaponized the very indifference
of institutions like the IRS. He turned their silence into currency,
and those transactions weren't just about money, they were about legitimacy.
Every unexplained wire transfer that passed unchallenged made him look untouchable.
(01:51):
If the IRS wasn't calling them out, if the government
wasn't investigating his income streams, then the message to everyone else,
the banks, the billionaires, the elites, was clear, it's safe
to keep doing business with them. He's been given a pass.
And we're not talking about oversight here, because oversight implies
they didn't see it. No, they saw it. Every wire,
(02:12):
every fee, every dollar had to have been visible. It
all went through the system that the IRS claims to
monitor like hawks. But when it came to Epstein, they
became pigeons, flapping around pecking at crumbs. For attending, the
loaf of bread didn't even exist. He moved money through foundations,
shell companies, offshore havens, classic red flags, and the watchdog
(02:36):
stayed asleep. Meanwhile, you better not forget to carry the
one and look, let's be honest. Epstein's dealings with Leon
Black or just the tip of the iceberg. He had
financial connections with Less Wexner, Glenn Dubin, hedge funds, private banks,
you name it. Each of those networks involved millions of
unexplained dollars flowing into the hands of a man who
(02:58):
was supposed to be radio active. Yet somehow that radioactivity
never set off alarms at the IRS. It's almost as
if there was an unspoken policy don't look too closely,
don't touch them, don't open that file. Now contrast that
with how they treat the rest of us. You file
your taxes late one year because of a family emergency
(03:18):
and your drowning in penalties and interest. They garnish wages,
seize accounts, drag you into compliance with a choke hold.
But Epstein, he lived like a king on blood money.
He bought private islands, maintained Manhattan mansions, flew private jets,
and paid hush money, all through channels that should have
triggered red alerts. The IRS didn't just fail, they enabled.
(03:40):
Because here's the thing. The IRS loves to scare the
working class. They love to terrify small business owners and
middle class families into compliance. But when it comes to
the rich, the connected, the predators like Epstein, they transformed
into meek little clerks, rubber stamping paperwork while pretending not
to see the rot in front of them. They'll audit
(04:01):
a waitress for claiming too many tips, but let Epstein
rake in millions in fees from billionaires without batting an eye.
And this isn't just a story about negligence, It's about complicity.
Every dollar the IRS let slide was another brick in
Epstein's empire of abuse. Every unexplained transaction that passed through
without scrutiny was another shield he could wield against exposure.
(04:25):
The IRS's indifference wasn't passive, it was active fuel for
his criminal machinery. They made it possible for him to
operate with impunity long after he should have been finished.
So when you hear the IRS brag about fairness, about accountability,
about nobody being above the law, remember Epstein. Remember the
hundreds of millions in dealings with men like ly on
(04:45):
Black that slipped through without a whisper. Remember that while
your sweating bullets over a mistake on a ten forty form,
Jeffrey Epstein was running a global black mail operation under
the government's nose, financed by money that should have set
off alarms in every office of the IRS. The truth
is simple and it's ugly. There are two tax systems
(05:07):
in this country. One for you, where every dime is squeezed,
every mistake punished, every corner cut, treated like a federal offense,
and one for them, for men like Jeffrey Epstein and
his billionaire soul call clients, where millions can vanish into
thin air, and the IRS is more than happy to
look the other way. Today's article is from Art News
(05:29):
and the headline US Senator Ron Wyden calls for investigation
into Jeffrey Epstein's work for collector Leon Black. This article
was authored by Alex Greenberger. Leon Black, a billionaire investor
and our collector, is once again the subject to scrutiny
for his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier convicted
(05:52):
of sex trafficking. At the end of July, Ron Wyden,
a Democratic Senator from Oregon who sits on the Senate
Finance Committe, called on the Internal Revenue Service to investigate
what Widen described as suspicious transactions involving alleged tax planning
work performed by Jeffrey Epstein for Leon Black. And I
(06:13):
told you at the time that this was nothing but fraud.
There is zero reason for a guy like Leon Black,
who was at the helm of Apollo fucking Global, to
need any kind of advice from Jeffrey Epstein about anything.
Apollo Global is one of the most massive companies in
the whole last world, and they have more money than
(06:35):
they know what to do with. You really think that
somebody like Leon Black needs Captain egg Dick to help
him with his taxes, unless, of course, you mean to
help him hide that money so he doesn't have to
pay taxes, because that's obviously what was going on here.
It's the same thing they do with the high end
art market. They buy all these paintings, they buy all
this art, and then they have no kind of accountability
(06:58):
for where their money's at. And of course that money
can't be tracked, so it can't be taxed. And it's
laughable to think that the IRS had no idea what
was going on. They most certainly did. They looked the
other way. The question is why. In a letter to
the IRS submitted on July thirty first, Widen accused the
(07:18):
organization of having failed, over the course of many years
to audit major tax transactions involving Epstein and denounce what
he described as transactions amounting to tens of millions of
dollars paid to known criminal for the purpose of helping
a megal wealthy individual dodge billions in taxes. Widen called
for the IRS to supply more information by September. First,
(07:42):
of all the investigations going on, or so called investigations
going on, this is the one that could really lead
to pay dirt. Follow the money. I know it's cliche, right,
I know, we talk about it all the time pretty
much no matter what's going on. But here, especially, if
you follow the money, you're going to hit pay dirt.
And the people that were transferring money in this kind
(08:04):
of amount to Jeffrey Epstein, well, all of those people
have some explaining to do as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately,
for me and for everybody else who's interested, I'm not
in charge. But if I was, you better believe i'd
have an army of forensic accountants diving into every bit
of paperwork, looking at every transaction that's ever been made,
(08:28):
and if there's anything that's illegal, I'd hold everybody accountable. Unfortunately,
back in reality, that's not how things work. The letter
was sent to Billy Long, who was appointed Commissioner of
the IRS by Trump on August eighth. Trump replaced Long
with Treasury Secretary Scott Bissin. Black has previously been the
subject of Epstein related investigations. In twenty twenty, Black wrote
(08:52):
in a letter to shareholders at Apollo Global Management, the
investment firm he co founded, that he and Epstein had
engaged in a state plan, tax and philanthropic endeavors. An
investigation the next year found that Black was not involved
in Epstein's criminal activities, though it did state that Black
had paid one hundred and fifty eight million between twenty
(09:13):
twelve and twenty seventeen. I'm sure that was just for
the advice, right, What kind of advice. Do you think
you're gonna get for one hundred and fifty eight million dollars?
That's more than fortune five hundred CEOs are making. Right.
Why is he sending so much money to Jeffrey Epstein,
especially considering Epstein's not offering any kind of service. And
(09:37):
as far as the investigation goes, it was an internal investigation. Oh,
they hired an outside company, of course, but come on, really,
does anyone really believe these internal investigations ever turn up
anything worthwhile? Of course they don't. The idea is a
cover story, just like with this whole congressional bullshit that
we're seeing right now, same concept. A spokesperson and for
(10:00):
Black directed Art News to the investigation and said in
a statement that the inquiry concluded that mister Black had
not engaged in any wrongdoing, had no awareness of Epstein's
criminal activity, and all of the fees were paid for
legitimate tax a, state and philanthropy planning services and were
vetted and approved by outside law firms, outside law firms
(10:22):
that they paid. They always like to leave that part
out right. They hired these law firms to come in
and quote unquote take a look. I'm sure there was
no backroom deal, right. I'm sure nobody sat down and said,
this is what I want you to find, and we'll
give you X amount of dollars. Black is widely considered
one of the world's top art collectors, appearing on Art
(10:42):
News Top two hundred collectors list each year since nineteen
ninety seven. He was formerly the chair of the board
of the Museum of Modern Art, a position that he
left as the Epstein proceeding continued on. He remains a
trustee at the museum. Does anyone out there really believe
that this man paid that cop money for advice from
Jeffrey Epstein? And if so, let's see some documentation. Let's
(11:06):
see the paperwork, and hopefully with this letter that was
sent to the irs, we get to see some of that. Now.
I don't know if we'll get to see it publicly,
and considering that we have a big problem with transparency,
I have my doubts that anything will come of this.
But this is the right path to be on one
hundred percent, because the money paper trail, it doesn't lie.
(11:28):
It's going to lead you directly to the people that
we're in business and that we're profiting from that business.
When it comes to Epstein and those people, they should
have to answer for all of it. The question is
will they. All of the information that goes with this
episode can be found in the description box
What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
Epstein Chronicles. You ever notice how the IRS is relentless
when it comes to you and me. If you accidentally
misplace a decimal point, forget to report a couple hundred
bucks from selling old furniture on line, or miscalculate your
mileage deduction, they'll come after you like you're the al
(00:20):
Capone of Craigslist. They'll slap you at penalties, interests, threats,
bleed you dry over pocket change. But when it comes
to Epstein, the convicted sex offender, the man moving millions
of dollars through a labyrinth of shady accounts, the soul
called financier with no legitimate business model, they acted like
you didn't even exist, Like their enforcement radar magically went
(00:43):
blank the moment his name appeared on a transaction. Epstein
wasn't hiding. His dealings were right there in black and white,
woven into the financial system like a Neon sign flashing fraud.
Leon Black alone paid him over one hundred and fifty
million dollars in advisory fees. Advisory fees for what. Epstein
wasn't a Wall Street titan, He was an attack savant.
(01:06):
He was a predator who had already been convicted in
Florida in two thousand and eight. His name was toxic,
his presence was radioactive, and even a half conscious regulator
should have been asking why is a billionaire CEO wiring
hundreds of million dollars to a registered sex offender for advice?
But the IRS they never asked, not once. They looked away,
(01:29):
as if their job was to protect them, not police them.
And that's the bitter irony. Epstein weaponized the very indifference
of institutions like the IRS. He turned their silence into currency,
and those transactions weren't just about money, they were about legitimacy.
Every unexplained wire transfer that passed unchallenged made him look untouchable.
(01:51):
If the IRS wasn't calling them out, if the government
wasn't investigating his income streams, then the message to everyone else,
the banks, the billionaires, the elites, was clear, it's safe
to keep doing business with them. He's been given a pass.
And we're not talking about oversight here, because oversight implies
they didn't see it. No, they saw it. Every wire,
(02:12):
every fee, every dollar had to have been visible. It
all went through the system that the IRS claims to
monitor like hawks. But when it came to Epstein, they
became pigeons, flapping around pecking at crumbs. For attending, the
loaf of bread didn't even exist. He moved money through foundations,
shell companies, offshore havens, classic red flags, and the watchdog
(02:36):
stayed asleep. Meanwhile, you better not forget to carry the
one and look, let's be honest. Epstein's dealings with Leon
Black or just the tip of the iceberg. He had
financial connections with Less Wexner, Glenn Dubin, hedge funds, private banks,
you name it. Each of those networks involved millions of
unexplained dollars flowing into the hands of a man who
(02:58):
was supposed to be radio active. Yet somehow that radioactivity
never set off alarms at the IRS. It's almost as
if there was an unspoken policy don't look too closely,
don't touch them, don't open that file. Now contrast that
with how they treat the rest of us. You file
your taxes late one year because of a family emergency
(03:18):
and your drowning in penalties and interest. They garnish wages,
seize accounts, drag you into compliance with a choke hold.
But Epstein, he lived like a king on blood money.
He bought private islands, maintained Manhattan mansions, flew private jets,
and paid hush money, all through channels that should have
triggered red alerts. The IRS didn't just fail, they enabled.
(03:40):
Because here's the thing. The IRS loves to scare the
working class. They love to terrify small business owners and
middle class families into compliance. But when it comes to
the rich, the connected, the predators like Epstein, they transformed
into meek little clerks, rubber stamping paperwork while pretending not
to see the rot in front of them. They'll audit
(04:01):
a waitress for claiming too many tips, but let Epstein
rake in millions in fees from billionaires without batting an eye.
And this isn't just a story about negligence, It's about complicity.
Every dollar the IRS let slide was another brick in
Epstein's empire of abuse. Every unexplained transaction that passed through
without scrutiny was another shield he could wield against exposure.
(04:25):
The IRS's indifference wasn't passive, it was active fuel for
his criminal machinery. They made it possible for him to
operate with impunity long after he should have been finished.
So when you hear the IRS brag about fairness, about accountability,
about nobody being above the law, remember Epstein. Remember the
hundreds of millions in dealings with men like ly on
(04:45):
Black that slipped through without a whisper. Remember that while
your sweating bullets over a mistake on a ten forty form,
Jeffrey Epstein was running a global black mail operation under
the government's nose, financed by money that should have set
off alarms in every office of the IRS. The truth
is simple and it's ugly. There are two tax systems
(05:07):
in this country. One for you, where every dime is squeezed,
every mistake punished, every corner cut, treated like a federal offense,
and one for them, for men like Jeffrey Epstein and
his billionaire soul call clients, where millions can vanish into
thin air, and the IRS is more than happy to
look the other way. Today's article is from Art News
(05:29):
and the headline US Senator Ron Wyden calls for investigation
into Jeffrey Epstein's work for collector Leon Black. This article
was authored by Alex Greenberger. Leon Black, a billionaire investor
and our collector, is once again the subject to scrutiny
for his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier convicted
(05:52):
of sex trafficking. At the end of July, Ron Wyden,
a Democratic Senator from Oregon who sits on the Senate
Finance Committe, called on the Internal Revenue Service to investigate
what Widen described as suspicious transactions involving alleged tax planning
work performed by Jeffrey Epstein for Leon Black. And I
(06:13):
told you at the time that this was nothing but fraud.
There is zero reason for a guy like Leon Black,
who was at the helm of Apollo fucking Global, to
need any kind of advice from Jeffrey Epstein about anything.
Apollo Global is one of the most massive companies in
the whole last world, and they have more money than
(06:35):
they know what to do with. You really think that
somebody like Leon Black needs Captain egg Dick to help
him with his taxes, unless, of course, you mean to
help him hide that money so he doesn't have to
pay taxes, because that's obviously what was going on here.
It's the same thing they do with the high end
art market. They buy all these paintings, they buy all
this art, and then they have no kind of accountability
(06:58):
for where their money's at. And of course that money
can't be tracked, so it can't be taxed. And it's
laughable to think that the IRS had no idea what
was going on. They most certainly did. They looked the
other way. The question is why. In a letter to
the IRS submitted on July thirty first, Widen accused the
(07:18):
organization of having failed, over the course of many years
to audit major tax transactions involving Epstein and denounce what
he described as transactions amounting to tens of millions of
dollars paid to known criminal for the purpose of helping
a megal wealthy individual dodge billions in taxes. Widen called
for the IRS to supply more information by September. First,
(07:42):
of all the investigations going on, or so called investigations
going on, this is the one that could really lead
to pay dirt. Follow the money. I know it's cliche, right,
I know, we talk about it all the time pretty
much no matter what's going on. But here, especially, if
you follow the money, you're going to hit pay dirt.
And the people that were transferring money in this kind
(08:04):
of amount to Jeffrey Epstein, well, all of those people
have some explaining to do as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately,
for me and for everybody else who's interested, I'm not
in charge. But if I was, you better believe i'd
have an army of forensic accountants diving into every bit
of paperwork, looking at every transaction that's ever been made,
(08:28):
and if there's anything that's illegal, I'd hold everybody accountable. Unfortunately,
back in reality, that's not how things work. The letter
was sent to Billy Long, who was appointed Commissioner of
the IRS by Trump on August eighth. Trump replaced Long
with Treasury Secretary Scott Bissin. Black has previously been the
subject of Epstein related investigations. In twenty twenty, Black wrote
(08:52):
in a letter to shareholders at Apollo Global Management, the
investment firm he co founded, that he and Epstein had
engaged in a state plan, tax and philanthropic endeavors. An
investigation the next year found that Black was not involved
in Epstein's criminal activities, though it did state that Black
had paid one hundred and fifty eight million between twenty
(09:13):
twelve and twenty seventeen. I'm sure that was just for
the advice, right, What kind of advice. Do you think
you're gonna get for one hundred and fifty eight million dollars?
That's more than fortune five hundred CEOs are making. Right.
Why is he sending so much money to Jeffrey Epstein,
especially considering Epstein's not offering any kind of service. And
(09:37):
as far as the investigation goes, it was an internal investigation. Oh,
they hired an outside company, of course, but come on, really,
does anyone really believe these internal investigations ever turn up
anything worthwhile? Of course they don't. The idea is a
cover story, just like with this whole congressional bullshit that
we're seeing right now, same concept. A spokesperson and for
(10:00):
Black directed Art News to the investigation and said in
a statement that the inquiry concluded that mister Black had
not engaged in any wrongdoing, had no awareness of Epstein's
criminal activity, and all of the fees were paid for
legitimate tax a, state and philanthropy planning services and were
vetted and approved by outside law firms, outside law firms
(10:22):
that they paid. They always like to leave that part
out right. They hired these law firms to come in
and quote unquote take a look. I'm sure there was
no backroom deal, right. I'm sure nobody sat down and said,
this is what I want you to find, and we'll
give you X amount of dollars. Black is widely considered
one of the world's top art collectors, appearing on Art
(10:42):
News Top two hundred collectors list each year since nineteen
ninety seven. He was formerly the chair of the board
of the Museum of Modern Art, a position that he
left as the Epstein proceeding continued on. He remains a
trustee at the museum. Does anyone out there really believe
that this man paid that cop money for advice from
Jeffrey Epstein? And if so, let's see some documentation. Let's
(11:06):
see the paperwork, and hopefully with this letter that was
sent to the irs, we get to see some of that. Now.
I don't know if we'll get to see it publicly,
and considering that we have a big problem with transparency,
I have my doubts that anything will come of this.
But this is the right path to be on one
hundred percent, because the money paper trail, it doesn't lie.
(11:28):
It's going to lead you directly to the people that
we're in business and that we're profiting from that business.
When it comes to Epstein and those people, they should
have to answer for all of it. The question is
will they. All of the information that goes with this
episode can be found in the description box
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