(José Niño, Headline USA) Billionaire investor Leon Black skipped a sworn deposition before House investigators on Thursday and asked a federal judge instead to void the two subpoenas the Oversight Committee served on him in June.
His complaint landed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia the same morning lawmakers expected him in the Rayburn House Office Building.
The New York Times reported that Black escalated his standoff with the panel investigating Jeffrey Epstein and the financier’s powerful circle by refusing to appear. The filing names the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform along with Chairman James Comer, and it asks the court to strike both subpoenas as invalid and to block any effort to enforce them.
One subpoena orders Black to surrender every nondisclosure agreement he signed. The other commands his testimony. His lawyers argue that Congress reached far past its charter. “There is no justification here for such a sweeping and intrusive subpoena served upon a private citizen,” the complaint states.
It also accuses lawmakers of theater, charging that “Congress is pursuing Mr. Black for purely political gain, which is not a legitimate end of Congressional investigations.”
Much of the filing defends women who never asked for scrutiny. “The subpoenas reach well beyond Mr. Black and are, on their face, overbroad,” the complaint says. The Times reported that Black described counterparties who had “bargained for confidentiality” and who “want no association with the Epstein scandal,” yet received “no notice” and “no way to be heard” from the committee.
His lawyers add that “Confidentiality agreements are vital to the lives of the parties who enter such agreements,” and they insist that “These subpoenas in no way serve the interests of the victims of Epstein’s wrongdoing.”
The complaint also alleges coercion, stating that “OGR has used the threat of contempt and enforcement not to obtain information tied to a valid legislative purpose, but to pressure Mr. Black to abandon lawful objections in pursuit of news headlines.”
Comer answered sharply. “It’s a shame Leon Black is hiding behind litigation rather than provide answers to the American people,” the Kentucky Republican said, telling the Times that “Mr. Black’s testimony is crucial to our investigation as he was one of Mr. Epstein’s fee paying clients and has several nondisclosure agreements.” He promised to proceed with “an empty chair for Mr. Black” and to weigh “next steps.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the committee’s ranking Democrat, demanded an immediate contempt vote. Susan Estrich, who represents Black, called the inquiry a “fishing expedition” and accused the panel of “trying to destroy Mr. Black” while “looking for information that does not exist.”
Congressional records and government documents show Black paid Epstein $170 million for what he calls tax and estate planning work and lent him another $30 million. Black denies knowing anything about Epstein’s crimes. No prior witness in this investigation has sued the committee, though Comer moved against Bill and Hillary Clinton in January before both complied.
Read the full complaint here.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
