New Delhi, Sept. 23 -- ignore the subpoenas, let the lawyers handle it, and wait it out. The House of Representatives answered that calculation on Wednesday with a contempt resolution, referring him to the Justice Department and placing the decision over whether to prosecute in the hands of the same executive branch whose own handling of the Epstein files has drawn judicial rebukes.

The vote moved without a formal recorded roll call, advancing through the chamber with bipartisan support. Black, the former chairman of Apollo Global Management, had defied two subpoenas from the House Oversight Committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein. He refused to appear. He refused to produce any potential nondisclosure agreements relating to the investig...