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The Epstein Chronicles
Congress Subpoenas Leon Black After Epstein Testimony Standoff (7/1/26)
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Leon Black appeared before the House Oversight Committee for a closed-door interview about his decades-long relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, but the session escalated when Black refused to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements involving...
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What's up, everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Last Friday, which was June 26, Leon Black got up and walked out of his interview with Congress. That came after he was subpoenaed in the middle of that interview by Congress. And why did they hit him with a subpoena? Well, he was refusing to answer questions about NDAs and if they had any relation to Jeffrey Epstein. And since it was a voluntary interview, he could get up and walk out at any time. And that's exactly what he did. But now he's gonna have to come back and be compelled under oath to answer these questions. And if he doesn't, well, he's gonna be held in contempt. So things have gotten a bit serious for Leon Black now. Not serious on the end of Epstein justice. But as far as the COVID up, as far as what's going on now, oh yeah, he's exposed. And this is what I've been telling you for about a year now. Focus on the COVID up. Focus on the things that we can prove that we have tangible evidence of. And if we open those doors and we walk through them, we're going to find pay dirt. People like Leon Black. Breaking news. Not exactly a squeaky clean guy. And the fact that he wouldn't answer those questions about NDAs and Jeffrey Epstein, well, that tells me everything I need to know. So today we have an article from ABC News and the headline, comer subpoenas Leon Black after his refusal to answer some Epstein questions from the panel. This article was authored by Lauren Peller, James Hill, Peter Charlemboux and John Parkinson. House Oversight Committee James Comer 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 during Black's closed door appearance before the panel on Friday. Oh, what, you thought he was going to tell the truth? Did we really think that Leon Black was going to come clean? This guy has paid out more money than you could possibly imagine when it comes to Epstein related nonsense. But sure, he had nothing to do with it. He had no exposure. Guys like Leon Black, they just hand out money. You should go to his house tomorrow and ask him for some money. Very generous guy, very altruistic. Black, who was appearing before the committee as part of its ongoing probe into the government's investigation of Epstein, walked out of his transcribed interview. During questioning, Comer told reporters that the two subpoenas compelled Black to appear for a deposition on July 16 as well as produce purported non disclosure Agreements that he was questioned about. Look, if he had nothing to hide, he'd have pony that up. But you know that Leon Black is not going to go down without a fight. He's going to have his legal team going crazy, and they're going to be looking for whatever loopholes they think they can find. And my guess is they'll find some. And when you're paying the kind of money that Leon Black's paying for his legal team, you have to expect that. But I would hope that the committee is prepared to dig as deep as they can. And not only that, but go further. If it comes out that Leon Black has lied or anybody has lied, they need to be referred to the Justice Department for a prosecution. And then if the Justice Department doesn't act, well, just another bit of evidence of the COVID up. And I'm telling you right now, if anyone goes down for anything, it's going to be this cover up. 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. Well, believe me when I tell you, Mr. Comer, we're not counting on that from you. Now, this is a good move and you should be doing this, but why weren't you showing the same kind of interest in Les Wexner? Why didn't any of you guys show up? Because I'm telling you right now, Les Wexner involved just as deeply, if not more deeply, than Leon Black. So it's not like Les Wexner is just some guy that's been targeted. Why did the GOP treat him differently? Why didn't anybody show up to ask him questions? The optics are terrible. NDAs are between him and other women. We want to know, was Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs? Was he involved in the writing? Was he involved in awarding funds to the women for the NDAs? What was the reason for the NDAs? We don't know everything about the NDAs. So that's very important to our investigation, to the subpoenas that were issued. We expect to see him back here in a few weeks, Comer said. And I wonder if his tune's going to change. Probably not. I bet you he's going to be even more obtuse, even more difficult, because now he knows he has something on the line. Previously, it was just a friendly conversation, quote, unquote. Not now. Now you're under oath. You couldn't handle things the right way. You couldn't do it on your own. Now you have to be compelled to tell the truth. Imagine being that big of a scumbag that you have to be compelled to tell the truth about Jeffrey Epstein and what Epstein was up to and what you were up to with him. And then imagine that this dude's father is part of the administration. You know, there was a point in time in this country where we had enough respect for ourselves and the nation where a guy like that would never have a job in the administration. But those days are long over. This is very important for our investigation, Comer said. We knew for a long time that there were NDAs out there by various people. Obviously they're very hard to obtain. And with the subpoena, we expect to get those NDAs in hand, look great. And as I've told you before, I'm willing to ride any one of these politicians and end this committee until the wheels fall off. When I criticize them. It's not saying that they don't do anything that's worthwhile, but the overall tenor and the way that the committee handles itself, it's obviously not going as far as they need to go, but when they do something good, we'll ride that. And I think going deeper with Leon Black is certainly a good idea. I just wish it was this kind of colonoscopy for everybody, especially the people that were deeply involved. You know, the Wexners, the Jeff Staley's, the Glenn Dubins, the Leon Blacks. Asked about Black's response during the interview, Comer said his response was that he wasn't allowed to discuss the terms of the NDAs. Well, that's weird. Why not? Ranking committee member Representative Robert Garcia of California State said he agreed with Comer's decision to issue the subpoenas. 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. Well, that's really the gist of it. Now, of course, Black will say he had nothing to do with the abuse. Not one single thing to do with any kind of abuse. But that doesn't change the allegations. The allegations are what they are, and they've never been investigated fully. And that's the big problem, isn't it? You can't run around and say that this is a big hoax when there's never been a real investigation. And when there were investigations, they all pulled up short. Ask yourself why this is literally the only case that I can point out where that's happened. When the federal government gets a beat on you, they're coming in hard. They're giving you the ditty business. But for some reason, when it comes to Epstein and his friends, it's a hands off approach. Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, claimed to reporters that the decision to serve Black with the subpoena during the interview was a premeditated political decision and claimed that Epstein had no involvement with a purported non. Disclosure agreements. Why not just answer? Why not just come clean? Everybody knows that Leon Black is a scumbag. Everybody knows he was cheating on his wife while she was sick. Everybody knows. So what else is he hiding? It can't be reputational. That's already in the gutter. So what is this boob hiding? And furthermore, why does he look like Rex Heuermann? Him and the Long island serial killer look like they could be related. 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. Well, if that's the case, why are you being so evasive? Why not just answer the question under oath? Nope. Had nothing to do with Epstein. Sorry, keep moving. Unless, of course, they had something to do with Epstein. And my guess is they did. The latest in a series of rich and powerful people questioned about their relationship with Epstein as part of the oversight's panel probe. Black maintained a social relationship with Epstein since the mid-90s and eventually paid him more than $170 million for tax and estate planning advice, according to the Senate Finance Committee. Like, I'm not going to beat that dead horse, but come on, that kind of money ponied up and you're getting advice? That's fucking Pablo Escobar kind of money, bro. 170 million. Black is denied wrongdoing of knowledge of Epstein's crimes, though his financial payments to Epstein served as a lifeline to the convicted sex offender in the years after. After Epstein's 2008 prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Representative Suhas Submaranium 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. 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. Leon Black was a lot closer to Epstein than he wants you to know. And they were a lot better friends than he wants you to know. Same story with Jess Staley. And it's been obvious for a very long time, but now the emails confirm it and there's no denying it anymore. There's no backtracking or trying to cover up the facts. They are what they are and they don't look good. For Leon Black, he was smug. Representative Yasemin Ansari said of Black's appearance. He refused to answer 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 non disclosure agreements, he absolutely refused to answer these questions, she said. Well, to play devil's advocate, maybe he just didn't want to screw with his case. That might have something to do with it. Right. And I hate giving him any kind of defense, but we have to be real. Maybe he didn't want to expose any kind of legal strategy as far as his other cases, but he should have said that, no, this will give me exposure and I'm not going to talk about it because I have other cases going. That's not what he did, though. In his appearance before the committee, 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. Black, in his prepared remarks during his closed door interview, cast him as the victim of ugly and vicious narratives around Epstein, saying he's been the subject of baseless allegations and and conspiracy theories about Epstein. That extraordinary damage has been done to me and my family. Oh, please. Extraordinary damage, huh? Has nothing to do with your own behavior. Has nothing to do with the fact that you were cheating on your wife. Everybody else's fault. Don't talk about Jeffrey Epstein. You might embarrass me. I wish I had never met Jeffrey 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 remark said. 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. Let me state unequivocally that I have never abused women. 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 Hannah's conduct. His prepared remark said, no, I had no idea. One of the smartest men in the world, but I had no clue. Okay, let me give you a couple hundred million to invest for me. According to Black, Epstein lived a Jekyll and Hyde existence, and. And that he at first only saw the positive side, including his unrivaled network of relationships with individuals in finance, academia, science, and politics. Black, in his remarks, said his relationship with Epstein began as personal, but grew over time to helping manage his family investment office. Yeah, he called your kids retarded and you kept doing business with them. With hindsight, I now see that Epstein exaggerated, embellished, manipulated, and and outright lied prolifically and without concern for me or my family. And I now see that that his deceit was not limited to me, but also extended to numerous highly sophisticated individuals. Black's prepared remark said, oh, well, he got fooled, so it's no big deal that I did. You can't call yourself the smartest man in the room if you're a dumb. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. While Black said that Epstein took credit for other people's ideas and made false claims about investments, Black also argued that 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. Well, that's convenient. Epstein lied. Believe me, you have no other choice. Epstein's dead. That's Black strategy. That's the whole strategy, folks. 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. Oh, well, I'm just gonna go on the trust you system. Imagine somebody tells you they've been convicted of that kind of crime, and you don't look any deeper into it. You don't have Google. Google doesn't work over at Apollo Global. 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. 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 or professional services. Oh please. What he means is the heat was getting too hot and he had to back off. 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 believed should not be connected to this is where he's running into trouble and this is where he's going to get in trouble. I'm here to voluntarily answer questions about the work that Epstein did for me and for the services for which I paid him. I'm 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. He had no problem sending those private investigators to that girl's house though, huh? The girl with Mosaic down syndrome. No big deal there, Comer told reporters Friday's proceedings at Black's appearance could be a pretty significant interview. 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. Does Comer not know the story? Have you not been following along the biggest groundbreaking interview? God, I dislike James Comer. There's a lot of concerning things in the documents. There's a lot of statements from the survivors that are very concerning as well with respect to Mr. Black, Comer said. The chairman said the committee would ask Black hundreds and hundreds of questions about financial transactions, about bank violations, about email documents, pictures and communication with survivors. Comer said the committee's investigation is on a timeline. This Congress will expire the end of the year, so we want to certainly get done as quickly as possible, said Comer, who added that we hope Acting Attorney General Blanche will sit for an interview. Nope Subpoena. Why are you giving him the benefit of the doubt? James Comer oh, that's right. You're not part of the team that's looking for justice. You're part of the COVID up. I remind everyone the purpose of our investigation to get to the truth to the American people and determine how the government failed the survivors by not prosecuting Epstein, comer said. Garcia told reporters prior to Black's appearance at Epstein would not have been able to commit the horrific crimes without the support of Mr. Black, Representative Suhas Submarine said. We want him to answer the tough questions about about what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein and whether he was involved with some of the crimes himself. Leon Black was one of Jeffrey Epstein's primary sources of income, flooding him with cash at the 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 services, senator Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Foundation Finance Committee, wrote in a letter to the House Oversight Committee earlier this month. The Senate Finance Committee is leading its own investigation of Epstein's finances. Black has long been scrutinized over his relationship with a 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. Knowing all that I have learned in the past two years about Epstein and his reprehensible and despicable conduct, I deeply regret having 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'm not seeking to excuse that decision, but I do believe it may be helpful to convey some relevant facts. 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 sex trafficking. Black has never been charged with a crime. Well, okay, pack it up. Nothing to see here. Breaking news. You have to investigate somebody before you charge them. 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. The release of the Department of Justice Epstein files earlier this year cast more scrutiny on Black, whose name appears in the files more than 8,000 times. Epstein one point appeared to serve as a middleman to pay 100,000 to a woman with whom Black allegedly had an affair, according to emails included in the files, and routinely served as a fixer for issues involving his finances. Leon, as you are well aware, there's little I won't do for you or at least try to do as a friend and a great deal that I have already done, both known and some things that will need to remain unknown, epstein wrote to black in a 2014 email. In another email in 2017, Epstein described his relationship with Black as saving you from yourself. In a statement, ABC News Black's attorney, Susan Estrich pointed to the external investigation conducted for Apollo that found Black had no awareness of the criminal activity that led to Epstein's arrest in 2019, and noted that Black was called for an independent investigation of of his relationship with Epstein. Well, independent, like the FBI. How about that kind of investigation? Let's have that one. No internal investigation. One done by the federal government. Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee has called on the House oversight members to scrutinize the 170 million that Black paid Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for purported tax and estate planning. According to Wyden, Those payments are 60 times more than what Epstein paid his other tax and estate professionals during the same time frame. Like, for real. Leon Black would have you believe that he's that stupid, huh? Okay, I guess. Black is a well advised businessman with access to sophisticated attorneys. Yet it appears Epstein was able to shake him down for money that he wasn't legally owed. This suggests that Epstein may have extorted Black or performed other unseemly tasks on his behalf. Wyden wrote earlier this month. Attorneys for Black have pushed back against Wyden's accusations, accusing him of harassment and saying the billionaire has cooperated voluntarily and without compulsion. No, he hasn't. Saying you're going to cooperate and doing it are two different things we are aware of. No other private citizen subjected to more written requests from you over the same period. Black's attorneys wrote in an April 2026 letter to Wyden. Your continued attempts to invade into matters pertaining to Mr. Black's personal life without the support of any legitimate legislative purpose appear targeted to unfairly harass Mr. Black in a manner that completely disregards the proper scope of Congress's investigative powers. Oh, Black's the victim, huh? Leon Black, Mr. Victim. According to the 2021 External Report, Epstein was paid proportionally to the amount of money he saved Black and that Epstein provided advice that conferred more than 1 billion and as much as 2 billion or more in value to Black. However, the report also acknowledged that Epstein's advice was often not useful and that he was generally a disruptive and caustic force. The external report said investigators found no evidence suggesting that Black ever compensated Epstein for any services other than Epstein's legitimate advice on trust and estate planning and other issues. Okay, cool. If that's the case, be forthcoming, open your books up, let's see it all. But instead, he did the absolute opposite. Right? So I think that Comer and the committee did the right thing by hitting him with a subpoena to compel him to come back and tell the truth. And now that's scheduled for the middle of July. And you already know we're going to be here for all of it. And when they release the transcript, we'll get that added to the catalog. Until then, that's going to do it for this one. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.