House committee subpoenas billionaire over nondisclosure agreements after he reportedly refused to answer questions
Billionaire financier Leon Black’s testimony before a House committee investigatingJeffrey Epsteinended abruptly on Friday morning after members from both parties said Black refused to answer questions about non-disclosure agreements.
James Comer, the Republican who chairs the committee, told reporters that the committee had already issued two subpoenas to Black on Friday – one demanding he produce any nondisclosure agreements, and another to appear again before the committee next month.
Speaking to reporters outside the room, Comer said that “the NDAs are between him and other women” and that the committee wants to know “wasJeffrey Epsteininvolved 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 NDAs? We want to know everything about the NDAs.”
“During today’s voluntary transcribed interview, Mr Black stated he wouldn’t answer questions about NDAs,” Comer said. “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.”
Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee,told reportersthat he supports Comer’s subpoenas.
“The NDAs are central to us understanding what actually happened,” Garcia said.
Black’s lawyers said in a statement the committee’s move was a political stunt. “Mr Black came her voluntarily to assist the committee. This was nothing more than a planned political stunt. Mr Epstein had no involvement with any NDAs, whether they exist or not,” said Susan Estrich, an attorney for Black.
The interview on Friday morning was conducted behind closed doors, though the committee is expected to release a transcript at a later date, as it has done with previous interviews.
“Of all the witnesses that have come thus far, this one has the potential to be the most groundbreaking deposition in my opinion,” Comertoldreporters on Friday morning before the hearing began.
Black, the former Apollo Global Management CEO,has faced questions overhis past tiesto Epstein for years, with scrutiny intensifying after the justice department released millions of records related to Epstein late last year and earlier this year. In 2021, Black stepped down as chair and chief executive of Apollo Global Management.
According to a report commissioned by Apollo several years ago, Epstein provided financial services to Black between 2012 and 2017. After Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida state prostitution charges in 2008, including procuring a minor, Black became Epstein’slargest client,paying him a total ofroughly $170min fees, according to aninvestigation by the Senate finance committee. Black has described his work for Epstein as tax and estate-planning services.
According to a copy of Black’s prepared remarks to Congress that was viewed by the Guardian, Black wrote that he was appearing “to set the record straight about my relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and, in particular, why I paid him the money I did”.
“I knew Epstein for 18 years before I paid him a dime,” the statement read, adding: “By the time I first paid Epstein in 2013, I knew him to possess an unrivaled network of relationships with individuals in finance, academia, science, politics, and more.
“With the benefit of hindsight,” Black said, “I now know, as does the world, that Epstein was engaged in horrific, sordid activities. I feel terrible for Epstein’s victims.”
