Billionaire Leon Black was scheduled to testify about his dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein under a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee on Thursday morning. But instead of appearing, Black filed a lawsuit against the committee and its Republican chairman, accusing them of overstepping their authority.
His civil lawsuit describes the House panel's inquiry — led by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. — as a "public fishing expedition," accusing its members of attempting to score political points.
In response, Comer called Black's actions "unacceptable" and said he and other panel members would discuss whether to hold Black in contempt.
"I don't think I need to tell anyone in here how important of a witness Mr. Black is to this investigation," Comer told journalists on Capitol Hill. He added that of all the powerful people interviewed by the panel, Black is the first to file a lawsuit.
Black, founder of the Apollo Global Management private equity firm, is one of several prominent figures the panel has sought to hear from as it probes the scope of Epstein's ties. His name appears in the Justice Department's Epstein files thousands of times. Appearing in the files is not necessarily an indication of criminal wrongdoing.
The federal suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia argues that the House committee's authority is limited by a requirement that its actions serve a "legitimate legislative purpose." And in this case, Black's lawsuit states, the panel has overstepped those bounds.
Black previously spoke to the House Oversight Committee in June. But he ended that voluntary appearance after Comer raised the subject of nondisclosure agreements, according to Black's lawsuit.
Now he's refusing to comply with the House committee's subpoena seeking any nondisclosure agreements to which he might be a party. Black says he has already "produced the only confidentiality agreement in which Epstein could have been 'involved' because it is the only one executed while he was alive," according to the suit.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges and later died in prison. Authorities determined his death was a suicide.
Producing NDAs sought by one of the subpoenas, Black says, would lead to "the disclosure of the unredacted identities and private circumstances of women who bargained for confidentiality."
Black has insisted he didn't know about Epstein's criminal actions. His lawsuit notes that an independent investigation commissioned by Apollo concluded, "Mr. Black paid Epstein $158 million for tax, estate-planning, and other legitimate activities."
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calf., the House committee's ranking member, called for Black to be held in contempt for disobeying congressional subpoenas. He also cited women's accusations against Black.
"He funded Epstein's abuse and trafficking of women. Multiple women have also accused Black of sexual assault," Garcia said in a statement to NPR. "His connections to Epstein and his unwillingness to cooperate are unacceptable."
Black's lawsuit cites his testimony before the committee in June, in which he "categorically stated that he has never abused a woman, never been with an underage woman, never engaged in sex trafficking, never paid Epstein for access to women, and never was blackmailed by Epstein."
The House committee already has questioned a number of high-profile political and business figures, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Bill Gates, Les Wexner, the billionaire behind Victoria's Secret, along with Bill and Hillary Clinton, Epstein's former accountant, Richard Kahn, and former attorney, Darren Indyke.
Earlier this year, Comer said Kahn, who was Epstein's accountant for more than a decade, testified that Black was among "five clients who paid money to Epstein."
