Billionaire investor Leon Black has initiated a lawsuit against the House Oversight Committee, aiming to prevent the committee from accessing his non-disclosure agreements and compelling his testimony regarding the investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. This legal action comes after Black declined to appear for a scheduled deposition on Thursday, defying a subpoena issued by the committee.
Black's lawsuit contends that the subpoenas issued by the House Oversight Committee are an overreach of its legislative authority, seeking private information unrelated to Epstein or any legitimate legislative purpose. He argues that disclosing these NDAs would expose women who value their privacy and have no public connection to Epstein, and who have not consented to having their confidentiality breached.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has expressed disappointment with Black's decision to sue and not appear for the deposition, describing his absence as an "empty chair." Comer indicated that he supports holding Black in contempt of Congress but stated that the committee would discuss next steps, especially considering the new lawsuit. Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, explicitly called for Black to be held in contempt immediately due to his defiance.
This marks an escalation in the ongoing back-and-forth between Black and the committee, which previously subpoenaed him in June after he refused to answer questions about non-disclosure agreements during a voluntary interview. Black, who paid Epstein more than $150 million for tax and estate planning services, has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes and maintains he was deceived.
