Billionaire Leon Black sues House Oversight Committee over Epstein probe

Leon Black, an investor and former close associate of Jeffrey Epstein who was subpoenaed to appear before Congress on Thursday instead filed a lawsuit to contest the subpoenas compelling him to testify and provide documents to the House committee investigating the notorious sex abuser.

Black was subpoenaed in June after he abruptly left a voluntary appearance before the House Oversight 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 interview, 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 argues 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."

Emails released by the committee 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 Deepak Chopra; U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack; billionaire Thomas Pritzker; LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman; former Goldman Sachs executive and Obama White House lawyer Kathy Ruemmler; the world's richest person Elon Musk; Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Microsoft founder Bill Gates; former President Bill Clinton; billionaire Peter Thiel; Trump confidant Steve Bannon; and banker Ariane de Rothschild, 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 Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and businessmen Les Wexner.