Billionaire Leon Black Sues House Oversight Committee to Keep One Epstein Secret Buried

Leon Black once reportedly paid Jeffrey Epstein $158 million to keep him quiet.

Now Congress wants answers about that money, and Black is refusing to show up.

Instead of testifying, he just sued the House Oversight Committee to bury one document about his appearance in the Epstein “PDF” files.

Comer's Subpoenas Demand the Nondisclosure Agreements Black Signed With Epstein

James Comer's committee subpoenaed Leon Black twice in June.

One subpoena ordered him back for a deposition.

The other demanded he hand over nondisclosure agreements tied to his Epstein dealings.

Black had already sat for a closed-door interview in June.

He refused to answer questions about those NDAs.

So Comer subpoenaed him.

On September 3, with the deposition scheduled, Black skipped it and filed a federal lawsuit instead.

His attorney, Susan Estrich, called the committee's subpoenas "a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority."

Estrich claims the investigation has stopped being about "finding the truth about Epstein."

That is a remarkable thing to say about the man who paid Epstein $158 million and got pushed out of Apollo Global Management for it in 2021.

Black built Apollo into one of the largest private equity firms on Wall Street.

He announced he would step down as CEO the same day Apollo's internal review made the $158 million figure public in January 2021.

Black was never criminally charged.

An internal Apollo review cleared him of wrongdoing, chalking the money up to tax and estate planning advice.

No one pays a fee that size for tax advice, and Congress wants to know exactly what it bought.

Senate Finance Committee investigators have already flagged something darker in Black's financial trail with Epstein: signs the money helped fund surveillance operations targeting women.

If that holds up, the nondisclosure agreements Black is fighting to hide are not just embarrassing paperwork.

They could be the paper trail connecting a Wall Street fortune to Epstein's operation.

Democrats and Republicans Both Want Black Held in Contempt

Black is not the first Epstein-adjacent name to try this move.

Bill and Hillary Clinton did the same thing months earlier.

They skipped their own depositions and sent written statements instead.

Comer rejected those statements and moved contempt of Congress resolutions against both Clintons.

He said it plainly: "Subpoenas are not mere suggestions; they carry the force of law and require compliance."

Now a Democrat is saying the same thing about Black.

California Rep. Robert Garcia says Black is "defying two congressional subpoenas" and needs to be held "in contempt immediately."

When a Democrat and Comer agree a billionaire needs to be held in contempt, that billionaire has a real problem.

A contempt of Congress finding gets referred straight to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution.

It can also mean fines and a permanent mark on Black's name that no lawsuit erases.

Congressional subpoenas do not need a court's permission to issue, and courts generally will not block one unless it serves no legitimate legislative purpose.

Investigating how a convicted sex trafficker financed his operation is about as legitimate as legislative purposes get.

Black's lawsuit is betting a judge will decide investigating Epstein's money network somehow fails that test anyway.

That is a hard sell in front of any judge who has read the committee's findings on Epstein's finances.

The Playbook Every Epstein-Tied Billionaire Is Now Copying

Rich men do not sue Congress because they think they will win.

They sue because litigation buys time, and time is the one thing this investigation cannot get back.

Every month Black spends in court is a month those NDAs stay sealed.

Comer has already subpoenaed banks and the U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general for Epstein records, and he is not slowing down because one billionaire hired Susan Estrich.

If "fishing expedition" works as a legal defense for Leon Black, every other name in Epstein's black book just got the same excuse to stonewall Congress.

Sources:

• Staff, "Billionaire investor Leon Black sues House Oversight Committee to block subpoenas in Epstein probe," Just the News, September 3, 2026.
• Staff, "Billionaire Leon Black skips Epstein deposition and sues House committee over subpoenas," Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 3, 2026.
• Staff, "Billionaire investor Leon Black fights subpoenas tied to Jeffrey Epstein testimony," The Hill, September 3, 2026.
• Staff, "Chairman Comer: Clintons Must be Held Accountable for Refusing to Comply with Duly Issued Bipartisan Subpoenas," House Oversight Committee, 2026.
• Staff, "Apollo's Leon Black offers mea culpa for paying Jeffrey Epstein millions," PitchBook, 2021.