House Chair Threatens Contempt Against Epstein Client Leon Black

The Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, Rep. James Comer, has warned billionaire investor Leon Black that he could be held in contempt of Congress if he does not cooperate with the panel's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

In a letter released Tuesday by Comer's office and addressed to Black's attorney, Comer said the committee would "use all tools at its disposal, including contempt" if Black refuses to produce documents or appear for a deposition scheduled for September 3, 2026.

Black is a co-founder of Apollo Asset Management and was one of Epstein's largest clients, paying him roughly $170 million in fees over the years, according to a Senate Finance Committee investigation led by Sen. Ron Wyden. Black has said the payments were for tax and estate-planning services and that he did not learn of Epstein's "nefarious activity" until Epstein was charged with trafficking in 2019, though he acknowledged knowing of Epstein's 2008 guilty plea on state prostitution charges involving a minor.

Black voluntarily answered questions from the committee in June, but the session ended after just one hour when lawmakers from both parties said he was refusing to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements. Comer responded by issuing two subpoenas, one for all NDAs to which Black is a party and another compelling his deposition.

According to Comer, Black has turned over one NDA and offered to provide a second, but his lawyers are seeking a promise that he won't be held in contempt, a switch from a deposition to a voluntary interview, a narrower scope limited to the two agreements he is willing to disclose, and a delay of the interview to early October.

"At no point has Mr. Black sought a reasonable accommodation from the Committee, but rather he has consistently sought to dictate to the Committee the scope of its investigation," Comer wrote.

Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, rejected Comer's characterization, calling the inquiry a "political witch hunt." She said Black provided the only confidentiality agreement that predated Epstein's death and that Epstein was aware of. "Congress has no right to invade private lives as part of a fishing expedition," she said, adding that the parties to such agreements do not want their identities revealed in a "circus-like atmosphere."

Comer countered that Black does not have "the right to decide what documents are responsive" to the subpoena and that agreements signed even after Epstein's 2019 death could still involve his victims.