Billionaire investor Leon Black filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop House Oversight Committee subpoenas demanding his testimony and nondisclosure agreements as part of the panel’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation, arguing lawmakers are exceeding their authority and intruding into private matters.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Billionaire investor Leon Black is asking a federal court to intervene in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, filing a lawsuit Thursday rather than appearing for a scheduled congressional deposition.
Black, the former chief executive of Apollo Global Management, is seeking to block two subpoenas issued by House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., in June as part of the panel’s continuing investigation into Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
The lawsuit challenges Congress’ authority to demand the information and testimony sought from Black, according to the Associated Press.
One of Comer’s subpoenas ordered Black to appear before the committee for a deposition.
The second required him to provide nondisclosure agreements to congressional investigators.
Black was scheduled to appear Thursday but declined to do so, choosing instead to challenge the subpoenas in federal court.
His lawsuit argues that the committee has gone beyond its legitimate investigative authority by seeking private information that Black contends is outside Congress’ proper scope.
“The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility,” Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, said in a statement.
The court fight introduces a new legal obstacle into the Oversight Committee’s Epstein investigation, which has sought documents and testimony as lawmakers examine the late financier’s relationships, activities and network of prominent associates.
Black’s challenge does not merely dispute a particular question or document request. It seeks judicial intervention against the committee’s subpoenas themselves, potentially requiring a federal court to determine whether Congress has a valid legislative and investigative basis for compelling his testimony and obtaining the requested agreements.
Comer issued the subpoenas as chairman of the Republican-led Oversight Committee, which possesses broad investigative powers but can face court challenges when witnesses argue congressional demands exceed constitutional or statutory limits.
Black’s decision to sue rather than appear Thursday sets up a direct confrontation between the billionaire investor and the House panel.
The committee had sought both oral testimony and documentary material from Black, including nondisclosure agreements that investigators apparently consider relevant to their Epstein inquiry.
Black maintains that those demands reach improperly into private affairs.
The lawsuit could now delay the committee’s efforts to question him while the court considers whether the subpoenas are enforceable.
The dispute also places additional focus on the extent of Congress’ authority to compel private individuals to provide sensitive records during an investigation, particularly when the witness contends lawmakers are conducting an overly broad inquiry rather than pursuing information tied to a valid legislative purpose.
Black formerly led Apollo Global Management, one of the world’s largest alternative asset-management firms.
His name has become part of congressional scrutiny surrounding Epstein as lawmakers continue examining the convicted sex offender’s financial and personal connections.
Thursday’s filing means Black will fight that scrutiny through the courts rather than voluntarily comply with the committee’s current demands.
For now, the central question shifts from what Black would have told lawmakers during his deposition to whether the House Oversight Committee had the authority to require him to appear and turn over the requested nondisclosure agreements in the first place.
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