House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued two subpoenas to Leon Black after Comer said the private equity billionaire refused to answer some of the committee’s questions about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> during Black’s closed-door appearance before the panel Friday.<\/p>\n Black, who was appearing before the committee as part of its ongoing probe<\/a> into the government’s investigation of Epstein, walked out of his transcribed interview during questioning.<\/p>\n Comer told reporters that the two subpoenas compel Black to appear for a deposition on July 16 as well as produce purported nondisclosure agreements that he was questioned about.\u00a0<\/p>\n “During today’s voluntary transcribed interview, Mr. Black stated he wouldn’t answer questions about NDAs. Answers about the terms and substance of these NDAs are critical to our investigation,” Comer said. “We owe it to the American people to provide transparency and ensure accountability for survivors.”<\/p>\n “NDAs are between him and other women. We want to know, was Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs? Was he involved in writing? Was he involved in awarding funds to the women for the NDAs? What was the reason for the NDA? We don’t know everything about the NDAs, so that’s very important to our investigation, so the subpoenas were issued. We expect to see [him] back here in a few weeks,” Comer said.<\/p>\n “This is very important for our investigation,” Comer said. “We knew for a long time there were NDAs out there by various people. Obviously, they’re very hard to obtain, and with this subpoena, we expect to get those NDAs in hand.”<\/p>\n Asked about Black’s responses during the interview, Comer said, “His response was that he wasn’t allowed to discuss the terms of the NDAs.”<\/p>\n Leon Black, a billionaire who was close with Jeffrey Epstein, walks out of the Rayburn House Office Building at the Capitol after his interview about Epstein with the House Oversight Committee, in Washington, June 26, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n J. Scott Applewhite\/AP Photo<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ranking committee member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said he agreed with Comer’s decision to issue the subpoenas.<\/p>\n “The NDAs are central to us understanding what actually happened. There are real accusations, and there are survivors who have accused Mr. Black of horrific things,” Garcia told reporters.<\/p>\n Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, claimed to reporters that the decision to serve Black with the subpoenas during the interview was “a premeditated political decision” and claimed that Epstein “had no involvement” with the purported nondisclosure agreements.\u00a0<\/p>\n “They made a premeditated political decision to serve him with subpoenas after less than an hour of questioning, and before they even asked a single question about his legitimate payments to Epstein,” she said. “This was nothing more than a planned political stunt. Mr. Epstein had no involvement with any NDAs, whether they exist or not.”\u00a0<\/p>\n The latest in a series of rich and powerful people questioned about their relationship with Epstein as part of the Oversight panel’s probe, Black 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Former CEO of Apollo Global Management Leon Black arrives to testify at a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill, June 26, 2026 in Washington.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n J. Scott Applewhite\/AP Photo<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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<\/a> for soliciting a minor for prostitution.<\/p>\n Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., told reporters after Black’s appearance, “This is the first time” a witness during this probe has walked out in the middle of an interview.<\/p>\n “It’s because we had very important questions about Leon Black’s past with Jeffrey Epstein,” he said. “This is also the first time I heard someone gush poetically about how smart and how great Jeffrey Epstein was.”<\/p>\n “He was smug,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Az., said of Black’s appearance. “He refused to answer the questions but at the same time was emphasizing how he was being transparent because this was voluntary. But when pressed on critical questions about his own sexual abuse and the allegations against him and nondisclosure agreements, he absolutely refused to answer these questions,” she said.<\/p>\n Ansari said Black was “speaking fondly of Epstein while also claiming they were not close.”<\/p>\n In his appearance before the committee Friday, Black said he was unaware of Epstein’s “demonic life” and that the money he paid Epstein was for legitimate services and “bona fide advice,” according to a copy of his opening remarks reviewed by ABC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n Black’s prepared remarks during his closed-door interview cast him as the victim of “ugly and vicious” narratives around Epstein, saying he has been the subject of baseless allegations and conspiracy theories about Epstein and that “extraordinary damage has been done to me and my family.”\u00a0<\/p>\n “I wish I had never met Epstein. I regret ever doing business with him. My association with him, the frivolous but destructive litigation, the endless rumor mill, have created a toxic environment for my wife and family, which I deeply regret,” the prepared remarks said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Addressing the massive amount of money he paid Epstein, Black, in his remarks, said those were legitimate payments and that he was never blackmailed by Epstein.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Let me state unequivocally that I have never abused a woman. I have never been with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking. I have never paid Epstein for access to women. I was never blackmailed by Epstein. I was not involved with, and had no knowledge of, any of Epstein’s heinous conduct,” his prepared remarks said.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Black, Epstein lived a “Jekyll and Hyde” existence and that he, at first, only saw the positive side, including his “unrivaled network of relationships with individuals in finance, academia, science, politics.” Black, in his remarks, said his relationship with Epstein began as personal but grew over time to helping manage his family investment office.\u00a0<\/p>\n “With hindsight, I now see that Epstein exaggerated, embellished, manipulated, and outright lied — prolifically and without concern for me or my family. And I now see that his deceit was not limited to me but also extended to numerous highly sophisticated individuals,” Black’s prepared remarks said.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Black said that Epstein “took credit for other people’s ideas” and made false claims about investments, Black also argued Epstein was able to resolve “a massive estate problem” for him that “would have destroyed enormous value.” According to Black’s remarks, he originally thought he was paying Epstein $95 million in net fees, though that was actually $158 million because Epstein lied about the tax deductibility of the payment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Black also said in his prepared remarks that he was aware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, but that Epstein lied about the nature of the crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Epstein told me that it was an isolated incident resulting from a fake ID. Five years after his conviction, I gave Epstein a second chance, as did many others. I wish I had not,” he said, according to his prepared remarks.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Black, he cut ties with Epstein in 2018 after Epstein failed to repay most of a $30 million loan. Black said he grew “tired of his relentless pursuit of more and more money from me for professional services.”\u00a0<\/p>\n While Black, according to his remarks, said that he was “glad” to answer the committee’s questions, he noted that he will “not speak about the personal lives of adult women” that he believes should not be connected to Epstein.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I am here to voluntarily answer questions about the work that Epstein did for me and for the services for which I paid him. I am not here to answer questions about my personal life which would be hurtful to my wife, children and family. And I will not speak about the personal lives of adult women who have not chosen, and do not deserve, to be connected, by me or anyone else, to Epstein,” Black said, per his remarks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Comer told reporters before Friday’s proceedings that Black’s appearance “could be a pretty significant” interview.<\/p>\n “So, of all the witnesses that have come thus far, this one has the potential to be the most groundbreaking deposition, in my opinion,” Comer said.<\/p>\n “There’s a lot of concerning things in the documents. There are a lot of statements from the survivors that are very concerning as well, with respect to Mr. Black,” Comer said.<\/p>\n The chairman said the committee would ask Black “hundreds and hundreds of questions about financial transactions, about bank violations, about emails, documents, pictures, and communication with survivors.”<\/p>\n Comer said the committee’s investigation is “on a timeline.”<\/p>\n “This Congress will expire the end of this year, so we want to certainly get done as quickly as possible, said Comer, who added that “we hope” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will sit for an interview.<\/p>\n “I’ll remind everyone the purpose of our investigation to get the truth to the American people and determine how the government failed the survivors by not prosecuting Epstein,” Comer said.<\/p>\n Garcia told reporters prior to Black’s appearance that Epstein “would not have been able to commit the horrific crimes without the support of Mr. Black.”<\/p>\n Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., said, “We want him to answer the tough questions about what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein and whether he was involved with some of the crimes himself.”<\/p>\n “Leon Black was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s primary sources of income, flooding him with cash at a time when he was already a registered sex offender. Black has not yet offered a compelling explanation regarding the origination and execution of Epstein’s extraordinary compensation scheme for alleged tax advice,” Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote in a letter to the House Oversight Committee earlier this month.\u00a0The Senate Finance Committee is leading its own investigation of Epstein’s finances.<\/p>\n Former CEO of Apollo Global Management Leon Black arrives to testify at a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill, June 26, 2026 in Washington.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Black has long been scrutinized over his relationship with the disgraced financier — describing it as a “horrible mistake” — and was forced out of his firm, Apollo Global Management, following an external investigation that revealed payments to Epstein totaling at least $158 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Knowing all that I have learned in the past two years about Epstein’s reprehensible and despicable conduct, I deeply regret having had any involvement with him,” Black said during a 2020 Apollo earnings call. “With the benefit of hindsight, working with him was a horrible mistake on my part. I am not seeking to excuse that decision, but I do believe it may be helpful to convey some relevant facts.”\u00a0<\/p>\n While the investigation concluded that Black and others were aware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction, a report summarizing its findings said that Black was not “involved in any way with Epstein’s criminal activities at any time” or aware of the “scope and details” of Epstein’s sex trafficking.\u00a0Black has never been charged with a crime.<\/p>\n “When Black first retained Epstein, he believed that Epstein had served his time for the originally charged offenses and believed that it was not inappropriate to give Epstein a second chance, as many other prominent figures in business, science, politics and academia had done,” the report said.<\/p>\n![\"APOLLO](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/4d077f6d-f76a-44f3-91dd-ce06b34f98e0\/leon-black-7-ap-gmh-260626_1782496222498_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"APOLLO")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>![\"CEO\"](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/eef9ce14-8da7-4186-8878-32ce526b7e49\/leon-black-2-ap-gmh-260626_1782485094464_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"CEO\\"")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>‘Bona fide advice’<\/h3>\n
‘The most groundbreaking deposition’<\/h3>\n
![\"Congress\"](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/d385fb50-fa24-43f4-bae3-fea80ba36e4d\/leon-black-1-gty-gmh-260626_1782485095401_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"Congress\\"")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>‘Saving you from yourself’<\/h3>\n