A high-stakes conflict has erupted between billionaire investor Leon Black and a U.S. congressional committee probing the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after Black refused to comply with a subpoena and instead launched a legal challenge against the panel’s investigative demands.
The House Oversight Committee had ordered Black to produce confidential nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) tied to his past dealings and sit for a sworn on-camera deposition, a series of demands that Black now calls illegitimate in his federal lawsuit, filed Thursday in Washington. In his legal filing, Black argues the subpoenas are invalid and bear no legitimate connection to any legislative goal the committee is tasked with pursuing. He also claims forcing the disclosure of the sealed NDAs would harm third-party women who negotiated for strict confidentiality, have no public ties to Epstein, and have never agreed to release their privacy protections.
This confrontation is the latest escalation of a drama that first unfolded in June, when Black walked out of a voluntary testimony session mid-interview after lawmakers began asking questions about NDAs he had allegedly signed. Committee members confirmed the walkout at the time, and the subpoenas at the center of the current lawsuit were issued in the immediate aftermath of that incident.
Black has repeatedly and vehemently denied any wrongdoing connected to his professional and personal ties to Epstein. In his June appearance, he told the committee he had employed Epstein as a wealth management advisor over decades of their relationship, and paid Epstein a total of $158 million for what he says were legitimate financial services. He maintains he had no knowledge of Epstein’s well-documented sex trafficking activities until Epstein was formally charged in July 2019. Black’s name and interactions appear in the trove of Epstein investigative files released by the U.S. Department of Justice, though officials have stressed that inclusion in the files does not amount to an accusation of criminal conduct.
In a statement accompanying the lawsuit Thursday, Black’s attorney Susan Estrich blasted the committee’s actions as an overreach of congressional power. “This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr Black,” Estrich said. “We were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit in response to an abuse of Congressional power.”
Committee members have pushed back hard on Black’s challenge, framing his refusal to appear as open defiance of congressional authority. “By refusing to testify today, Leon Black is now defying two Congressional subpoenas,” Representative Robert Garcia, a member of the House Oversight Committee, said in a post-deadline statement. “His connections to Epstein and his unwillingness to cooperate are unacceptable. We must hold him in contempt immediately.”
A contempt of Congress citation would allow the committee to refer the matter to the Department of Justice for potential criminal prosecution, a step that could open Black up to new legal jeopardy. Committee Chairman James Comer echoed Garcia’s criticism, noting that Black’s testimony is a key piece of the panel’s broader Epstein investigation. “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.”
The fight over the NDAs stems in part from a years-old legal dispute between Black and Guzel Ganieva, a former Russian model with whom Black had a six-year extramarital affair. Court records show Ganieva filed a now-dismissed lawsuit against Black that included abuse allegations, claiming Black drafted an NDA in 2015 to force her to stay silent about their relationship. Released Epstein files show that Epstein advised Black on the situation, even suggesting in an email to Black’s assistant that Black hire former law enforcement officials to confront Ganieva. Black has denied Ganieva’s accusations, calling the claims an extortion attempt, and Estrich has dismissed the allegations as “demonstrably false.” A judge ultimately dismissed Ganieva’s lawsuit, citing the NDA she signed and the roughly $9 million she received in the years after entering the confidentiality agreement.
Black stepped down from his leadership role at Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm he co-founded, in 2021. At the time, he cited the unrelenting public attention and media scrutiny surrounding his ties to Epstein as having taken a significant toll on his health.