Leon Black Sues House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer Over Epstein Probe Subpoenas

Billionaire Leon Black sues House Oversight Committee over subpoena in Epstein probe The suit was filed before he failed to appear before the panel for a deposition. Private equity billionaire Leon Black filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court against the House Oversight Committee and Chairman James Comer before failing to appear under subpoena for a deposition under oath before the panel as part of its probe into the government's investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After Black filed the suit and failed to appear for the deposition, Comer signaled that the committee may move to hold Black in contempt of Congress -- but said he wants to gain consensus and examine the legal path ahead before proceeding. "This is unacceptable," Comer, R-Ky., said. "We're very disappointed. I don't think I need to tell anyone in here how important of a witness Mr. Black is to this investigation. So we're going to huddle up as a committee and talk about next steps with respect to Mr. Black, and we'll go from there." "I would hold him in contempt right now," Comer added. "Of all the powerful billionaires and political people we brought in for interviews and depositions, this is the first time anyone's filed suit. I don't want to do anything to harm our chances in court." In June, the panel issued subpoenas to Black after he appeared for a transcribed interview and refused to answer questions. The subpoenas called for his appearance for a deposition, as well as the production of purported nondisclosure agreements that Epstein survivors have discussed with committee investigators. Black's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asserts the subpoenas are "invalid to the extent they exceed OGR's delegated authority in seeking private information that bears no legitimate connection to OGR's legislative purpose." Black's attorneys also contend that the subpoenas would also "expose women who value their privacy," who have no known or public connection to Epstein -- while contending that the committee lacks statutory authority to enforce its subpoenas in federal court. Black is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief preventing the committee from compelling compliance with the subpoenas. "The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility," said Black's attorney, Susan Estrich. "This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black. We were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit in response to an abuse of Congressional power." Black, who maintained a social relationship with Epstein since the mid-1990s and eventually paid him more than $170 million for "tax and estate planning advice," according to the Senate Finance Committee, appeared in June before the Oversight panel as part of its ongoing Epstein probe. Black has denied wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein's crimes, though his financial payments to Epstein served as a lifeline to the convicted sex offender in the years after Epstein's 2008 prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution. With time running short on the 119th Congress, Comer and Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, both believe Black is trying to run out the clock -- complicating the committee's effort to conclude its investigation before the end of the 119th Congress. "Obviously, we're running up against the clock at the end of this Congress, I'm sure his legal team knows that. So we've got to be smart from here on in," Comer said. "What he's trying to do is to slow the process down of getting us the information," Garcia, D-Calif., said. "He's very aware that Comer no longer is going to be the chairperson. But what Mr. Black should understand is that we will be even more aggressive than Chairman Comer as it relates to his testimony." "Leon Black provided over $180 million to Jeffrey Epstein. $180 million, and he has yet to tell the committee or the public as to exactly what that funded and why he did it," Garcia said.

, a billionaire investor and , defied a subpoena to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday, and instead filed a lawsuit challenging the demand for testimony and documents in the panel's Epstein probe. Black was after he abruptly left a voluntary appearance before the committee. The co-founder of Apollo Global Management, who employed Epstein and was a confidant, refused to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements during the transcribed interview. Soon after he left, the committee's chair, Kentucky Rep. James Comer, announced a pair of subpoenas demanding Black return for a sworn, videotaped deposition and turn over information related to the nondisclosure agreements.Black employed Epstein as a wealth management adviser, but also allegedly confided in him about personal matters, including extramarital affairs that ended in nondisclosure agreements. In his lawsuit filed in D.C. federal court, Black argued the subpoenas are invalid because they bear "no legitimate connection" to the committee's legislative purpose, and that turning over nondisclosure agreements would "expose women who value their privacy, who have no known or public connection to Epstein, who bargained for confidentiality and have refused to release it." Comer said after Black's June appearance that he wanted to know if Epstein was involved in any of Black's nondisclosure agreement negotiations. Susan Estrich, an attorney for Black, said in a press release Thursday that the committee "is on a fishing expedition." "This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black. We were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit in response to an abuse of Congressional power," Estrich said. The Committee's ranking member, California Rep. Robert Garcia, called for Black to be held in contempt. He said in a statement Thursday that "by refusing to testify today, Leon Black is now defying two Congressional subpoenas." Garcia accused Black of having "funded Epstein's abuse and trafficking of women." Comer told reporters Thursday morning he also supports holding Black in contempt, saying, "we need to see those nondisclosure agreements." "We're very disappointed. I don't think I need to tell anyone in here how important of a witness Mr. Black is to this investigation," Comer said. Emails last year show that Epstein was aware of at least one such negotiation. Epstein offered Black advice in 2015 as Black tangled with a former Russian model with whom he had a six-year affair that ended contentiously. Epstein's suggestions included writing in an email that Black should consider hiring former law enforcement officers to approach her."Choose method of message delivery, my choice. - two highly respected former ---- fill in the blank, immigration, scotland yard. sfo. who may knock on her door and present the terms," wrote Epstein, who had an aversion to basic grammar and punctuation. Court filings show Black discussed the agreement with just two people: Epstein and a private investigator. Black said during his June appearance before Congress that he first met Epstein in the 1990s, and began paying him for wealth management advice in 2013. Black said he feels "terrible for Epstein's victims," but acknowledged paying him $158 million for his work. Black said he employed Epstein in part because of his relationships with a lengthy list of powerful people. Black named self-help guru ; U.S. Ambassador to Turkey ; billionaire ; LinkedIn co-founder ; former Goldman Sachs executive and Obama White House lawyer ; the world's richest person ; Google co-founder Sergey Brin, ; former President ; billionaire ; Trump confidant ; and banker , among others.He said he regrets employing Epstein, calling him a liar. "With hindsight, I now see that Epstein exaggerated, embellished, manipulated, and outright lied — prolifically and without concern for me or my family," Black said. "And I now see that his deceit was not limited to me but also extended to numerous highly sophisticated individuals. Epstein took credit for other people's ideas. He falsely claimed to have been involved in decisions about investments." Black is among several billionaires to testify before the House Oversight Committee, which also interviewed , Commerce Secretary and businessmen .

Former Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black sued the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday, seeking to block subpoenas for multiple nondisclosure agreements he was a party to and for further testimony from him as part of a probe of his and others' ties to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Black was due to appear before the oversight committee on Thursday morning pursuant to a subpoena but refused to do so. The committee instead held a closed-door session with an empty chair set aside for the missing billionaire. Democrats on the panel called on it to formally hold Black in contempt "immediately." One of the Democrats, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, said that "Black made women sign strict nondisclosure agreements ... to keep them quiet." Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said if it were up to him, "I would hold him in contempt right now." But Comer added that he wanted to discuss the issue with the panel's lawyers to avoid harming its chances of obtaining the NDAs. "I'm very disappointed," Comer said. "This is unacceptable." "We need those nondisclosure agreements." Black's attorneys say the NDAs sought by the committee have nothing to do with his dealings with Epstein, and that Black had no knowledge of crimes that led to the financial advisor's arrest on federal child sex trafficking charges in 2019. The panel issued the subpoenas on June 26, right after Black refused to answer questions about the NDAs and walked out of an interview when he appeared for a closed-door session. "The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority," one of the lawyers, Susan Estrich, said in a statement. "This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black." Estrich noted that Black had previously voluntarily appeared before the committee and said he also gave the panel "the only confidentiality agreement that Jeffrey Epstein knew about as part of Mr. Black's cooperation with the Committee's efforts to ferret out the truth about Epstein." "Mr. Black never abused a woman," Estrich said. "He never was with an underage woman. He never engaged in sex trafficking. He never paid Epstein for access to women. He was never blackmailed by Epstein." Black's lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington claims the two subpoenas issued to Black are "invalid to the extent they exceed" the committee's "delegated authority in seeking private information that bears no legitimate connection to OGR's legislative purpose." "Additionally, the subpoenas would also expose women who value their privacy, who have no known or public connection to Epstein, who bargained for confidentiality and have refused to release it, and who have no ability to protect themselves and their privacy before the Committee," the suit says. Black stepped down as Apollo CEO in March 2021, months earlier than originally planned, two months after the firm revealed he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning advice from 2012 through 2017 despite knowing that the financial advisor had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in Florida. Black testified to the House committee in June that, "The tax work was responsible for billions of dollars in savings." Black also said then that Epstein duped him out of more than $60 million in financial advisory fees by falsely claiming that they were tax deductible. Epstein, 66, killed himself in a federal jail in New York in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on federal charges. Comer, in a statement Thursday, said, "It's a shame Leon Black is hiding behind litigation rather than provide answers to the American people." "Our investigation is examining how the federal government for decades failed survivors of Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes and how Mr. Epstein sought to curry favor with influential individuals to avoid scrutiny," Comer said. "Mr. Black's testimony is crucial to our investigation as he was one of Mr. Epstein's fee paying clients and has several nondisclosure agreements." Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the panel, said in a statement, "By refusing to testify today, Leon Black is now defying two Congressional subpoenas." Garcia said Black had paid millions of dollars to women he had sexual relationships with, "some of whom were also connected to Epstein." "He also paid $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to avoid Epstein-related claims against him. Black's name is mentioned hundreds of times in the Epstein files." "He funded Epstein's abuse and trafficking of women. Multiple women have also accused Black of sexual assault," Garcia said. "His connections to Epstein and his unwillingness to cooperate are unacceptable. We must hold him in contempt immediately."

Leon Black, a former Wall Street private equity investor, on Thursday sued the House Oversight Committee, seeking to stop the panel from enforcing its subpoenas against him in an ongoing probe of the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. “The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility. This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black. We were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit in response to an abuse of Congressional power,” Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, said in a statement. Black had been set to appear before the committee Thursday morning. The lawsuit comes after Black voluntarily sat for a closed-door transcribed interview with the Oversight Committee in late June but left the hearing early. Lawmakers have for months sought more information on the financial web that allowed Epstein to fund his sex trafficking operation and whether Black was at all involved or aware of any illegal activity. They specifically have sought information about any nondisclosure agreements Black signed with women. Black has denied any wrongdoing, involvement in or awareness of Epstein’s illegal activity. In Thursday’s statement, she said that Black was “misled” about the intentions of the committee’s chair, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. “Mr. Black has cooperated with the Committee by voluntarily appearing to answer questions in a transcribed interview. Despite being misled about the intent of that interview, he then fully complied with the Committee’s subpoena related to Epstein,” Estrich said. She added, “To imply misconduct because of the existence of a confidentiality agreement is entirely unjustified. Confidentiality agreements are routinely used in business.” Estrich went on to wholly deny any allegations against Black, saying, “We want to reiterate that Mr. Black had no awareness of the criminal activities that led to Epstein’s arrest in 2019. Mr. Black never abused a woman. He never was with an underage woman. He never engaged in sex trafficking. He never paid Epstein for access to women. He was never blackmailed by Epstein.” Black’s name appears more than 300 times in files released by the Justice Department late last year and early this year related to Epstein. His name appears often in emails from Epstein’s assistant, directing the financier to call Black. More than 100 of the mentions of Black are in emails from Epstein’s assistant, who wrote, “Leon Black returned your call.” In a statement, Comer reacted to Black’s failure to appear before the committee Thursday, saying, “It’s a shame Leon Black is hiding behind litigation rather than provide answers to the American people.” He added, “Mr. Black’s testimony is crucial to our investigation as he was one of Mr. Epstein’s fee paying clients and has several non-disclosure agreements. Our deposition is moving forward this morning for the record and there will be an empty chair for Mr. Black. I will speak with our members about next steps.” Black’s career and his reputation have been marred for years due to his relationship with Epstein, a convicted child sex offender who died in 2019. In 2022, Black was sued over allegations that he raped a woman in Epstein’s New York City mansion in 2002. That case was later dropped with prejudice after both parties reached an agreement to do so and Black denied the allegations against him. A separate but ongoing lawsuit, filed in 2023, accused Black of raping a 16-year-old girl at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2002. A lawyer for Black denied the allegations, calling them “frivolous and sanctionable.” In April, a judge overseeing the case wrote that the plaintiff and her attorney “engaged in serious, sanctionable misconduct in this case,” but allowed the case to proceed. Black in 2021 stepped down from the hedge fund he co-founded, Apollo Global Management, after the firm conducted an independent review looking into his ties to Epstein. The review found that Black was not involved in Epstein’s criminal activities. Earlier this year, he was set to be deposed in a lawsuit filed by survivors of Epstein and his associates alleging that Bank of America facilitated and profited from Epstein’s illegal sex trafficking activity. Bank of America later settled that lawsuit for more than $70 million and did not admit any liability in that case. “While we stand by our prior statements made in the filings in this case, including that Bank of America did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes, this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs,” a Bank of America spokesperson told NBC News at the time. In a statement reacting to news of the lawsuit Thursday, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said, “By refusing to testify today, Leon Black is now defying two Congressional subpoenas. Black gave Jeffrey Epstein over $180 million over six years. He funded Epstein’s abuse and trafficking of women. Multiple women have also accused Black of sexual assault. His connections to Epstein and his unwillingness to cooperate are unacceptable.” Garcia also called to hold Black in contempt of Congress.

Leon Black, the 75-year-old former CEO of Apollo Global Management, called a subpoena for his testimony “invalid” and said the inquiry “bears no legitimate connection to [a] legislative purpose.” Black stepped down from Apollo in 2021 after an independent review commissioned by the firm found he steered $158 million to Epstein in exchange for financial advice and purported charitable work. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) accused Black of “hiding behind litigation” to avoid providing answers about his relationship with Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019. “Mr. Black’s testimony is crucial to our investigation as he was one of Mr. Epstein’s fee-paying clients and has several nondisclosure agreements,” said Comer, adding that he believes Black is trying to run out the clock on the current congressional session, which ends Jan. 3, 2027, with his suit. After that date, the subpoena would have to be reissued if Black does not agree to appear. Black is America’s 78th-richest man, according to Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $13.8 billion. Black’s attorney Susan Estrich claimed Thursday that the oversight committee “is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority” and that its members are “trying to destroy Mr. Black.” The outcome of the Nov. 3 election is unlikely to change the panel’s attempt to force Black’s testimony and even could heighten the stakes for the businessman. “By refusing to testify today, Leon Black is now defying two Congressional subpoenas,” said Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.). “We must hold him in contempt immediately.” Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida state charges of soliciting prostitution, including from a minor, but managed to maintain an impressive roster of powerful friends until his 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Epstein’s former Upper East Side neighbor, claimed to The Post last year that he believed the sex offender was “the greatest blackmailer ever… that’s how he had money.” Last July, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo refusing to release federal files on the Epstein case, writing that no “client list” exists and that “[w]e did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” despite assessing there were “over one thousand victims” of the pedophile. “No further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,” wrote Bondi, drawing bipartisan backlash. Leon Black, chairman and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management LLC, attends the Bloomberg Invest Summit in New York on Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Black stepped down as Apollo Global Management chief executive officer after reports revealed he paid $158 million for Jeffrey Epstein's advice. Bloomberg via Getty Images Jeffrey Epstein and Leon Black appear in an image released by the Department of Justice. DOJ House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer accused Leon Black on Thursday of "hiding behind litigation" to avoid answering questions about his relationship with Epstein. Getty Images Former CEO of Apollo Global Management Leon Black arriving to testify at a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill on June 26, 2026. Getty Images

NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street billionaire Leon Black on Thursday sued a congressional committee that had ordered him to provide lawmakers with copies of non-disclosure agreements as part of a probe into the activities of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In June, Black refused to answer questions from lawmakers about victims of Epstein's abuse and the agreements. He declined to appear at a deposition the committee had scheduled for Thursday. He accused lawmakers of exceeding their constitutional authority when they subpoenaed him to provide the agreements. Sign up here. In a complaint filed in Washington federal court, Black alleged that the House Oversight Committee and its chairman James Comer weaponized a voluntary June interview to launch an unlawful "fishing expedition." Black, the co-founder of private equity giant Apollo Global Management (APO.N), said the committee's subpoenas have no legitimate legislative purpose and threaten to violate the privacy of women who have no connection to the Epstein scandal. "This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black. We were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit in response to an abuse of Congressional power," Susan Estrich, attorney for Black, said in a statement. The committee is proceeding with Thursday's deposition to formally document the Apollo co-founder's absence before discussing next steps, House Oversight Chairman James Comer said in a statement. He defended the probe's scope, saying it aims to uncover how federal authorities mishandled the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases for decades, and how Epstein leveraged powerful connections to evade justice. Epstein was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019, and his death was ruled a suicide. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after a 2021 conviction for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors. "It's a shame Leon Black is hiding behind litigation rather than provide answers to the American people,” Comer said. “Mr. Black’s testimony is crucial to our investigation as he was one of Mr. Epstein’s fee-paying clients and has several nondisclosure agreements." EPSTEIN TIES, APOLLO FALLOUT Black is one of several prominent political and business figures who have been called to testify about their ties to the late financier. Black relinquished the chief executive role at Apollo in 2021 after an external law firm found he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning. Thursday's scheduled deposition followed a voluntary private appearance Black made in June. On that occasion, Black told the committee he never abused women or engaged in sex trafficking and had never had sex with underage women. He walked out during the interview, according to members of the committee, who ordered him to come back to testify under oath and subsequently subpoenaed him for documents. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges and served 13 months in jail. He was arrested again in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors. Apollo declined to comment on Black's appearance this week. Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru and Isla Binnie in New York; Editing by David Gregorio Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Billionaire investor Leon Black has taken legal action against the House Oversight Committee after refusing to show up for a scheduled congressional deposition on Thursday. Instead, he filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block subpoenas issued as part of the panel's probe into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Lawmakers originally served Black with two subpoenas during a private voluntary interview in June after he reportedly declined to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements. One subpoena demanded that he produce NDAs and related files, while the second ordered him to return for a deposition. In his lawsuit, Black argues that the subpoenas exceed the committee’s authority by seeking personal information unrelated to Epstein or any legitimate legislative purpose. The filing asks a federal judge to strike down the subpoenas as invalid and prevent the committee from enforcing them. "The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility," Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, said in a statement. "This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black." Lawmaker calls for Leon Black to be held in contempt Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, argued that Congress "must hold him in contempt immediately." “By refusing to testify today, Leon Black is now defying two Congressional subpoenas,” Garcia said. “Black gave Jeffrey Epstein over $180 million over six years. He funded Epstein’s abuse and trafficking of women. Multiple women have also accused Black of sexual assault. His connections to Epstein and his unwillingness to cooperate are unacceptable. We must hold him in contempt immediately.” The committee's chair, Kentucky Rep. James Comer, accused Black of “hiding behind litigation rather than provide answers to the American people.” Comer’s statement continued, “Our investigation is examining how the federal government for decades failed survivors of Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes and how Mr. Epstein sought to curry favor with influential individuals to avoid scrutiny. Mr. Black’s testimony is crucial to our investigation as he was one of Mr. Epstein’s fee paying clients and has several nondisclosure agreements. Our deposition is moving forward this morning for the record and there will be an empty chair for Mr. Black. I will speak with our members about next steps.” Leon Black’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein Black co-founded and served as chief executive of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management before stepping down in 2021 amid public fallout over his ties to Epstein. He is one of several high-profile individuals to feature in the probe into Epstein and the network of wealth and influence surrounding him. Others involved in the investigation include former Democratic President Bill Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Files released by the Department of Justice regarding the Epstein case mention Black repeatedly. He was also featured in a collection of birthday greetings made public by the committee last year, which included a poem attributed to Black referencing "Blond, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically." Prior to his June 26 interview, Black maintained that he was unaware of Epstein’s "nefarious activity" until 2019, asserting that his payments to Epstein were for legitimate advice based on his "unrivaled network of relationships" with prominent figures.