Leon Black subpoenaed by House panel over Epstein ties

Jimmy Jenkins, Bloomberg News on Jun 26, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Billionaire investor Leon Black was issued two subpoenas by a congressional committee and walked out early from voluntary testimony regarding his relationship to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Members of the House panel investigating Epstein clashed with Black behind closed doors on Friday about non-disclosure agreements the Apollo Global Management Inc. co-founder allegedly concluded with women.

The House Oversight Committee issued one subpoena requiring Black to appear for a deposition on July 16, according to a statement from the panel. The second subpoena requires him to produce NDAs to the committee.

Black said in his opening statement to the committee that he never abused women and wasn’t blackmailed by Epstein, his longtime friend and client. After questions about NDAs, Black left the meeting early, something the chairman of the panel said he had never seen before.

“Mr. Black stated he wouldn’t answer questions about NDAs,” James Comer, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement. “Answers about the terms and substance of these NDAs are critical to our investigation. For this reason, today I issued subpoenas to Mr. Black for NDAs and to appear for a deposition in the near future.”

Black, 74, said earlier that he had decided to appear before the panel to set the record straight on his relationship with Epstein and why he paid him millions of dollars over the course of their relationship.

“I was not involved with, and had no knowledge of, any of Epstein’s heinous conduct,” he said.

Moments after Black left the hearing room, his lawyer Susan Estrich alleged that the issuing of subpoenas while Black was before the committee was “nothing more than a planned political stunt.”

“Mr. Black came here voluntarily to assist the committee,” Estrich told reporters. “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. This was nothing more than a planned political stunt.”

The top Democrat on the committee, Robert Garcia, of California, praised the issuance of subpoenas.

“It was clear from the moment that this interview started that Leon Black was not going to answer critical questions around our investigation,” Garcia said. “It is our job to get justice for the survivors and those that have been abused, trafficked, and raped by Epstein and other co-conspirators.”

—With assistance from Max Abelson.