Congressional Panel Investigating Epstein Subpoenas Leon Black in Unusual Escalation

The House Oversight Committee issued two subpoenas on Friday to Leon Black, the private equity billionaire, after he refused to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements he had signed with women, some of whom had been linked to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. The panel’s Republican chairman, Representative James R. Comer of Kentucky, said he had been moved to issue the subpoenas after Mr. Black repeatedly declined to discuss the details of the nondisclosure agreements during his testimony at a hearing Friday morning. “We believe that information is vital to our investigation,” Mr. Comer said. The committee’s lawyers handed the documents to Mr. Black as he was testifying in a closed-door interview about his professional and personal relationship with Mr. Epstein. Less than an hour after receiving the subpoenas, Mr. Black abruptly left the meeting. One subpoena ordered Mr. Black to provide to the committee any nondisclosure agreements that he was involved in, as well as any agreements that may have been tied to Mr. Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The other subpoena requires Mr. Black to return and testify under oath in front of the committee, on July 16, for a sworn deposition. The subpoenas are an unusual escalation in the House committee’s efforts to investigate Mr. Epstein. It is the first time a witness who agreed to testify voluntarily in the committee’s Epstein investigation was then subpoenaed for a deposition. Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said Mr. Black had been defiant from the beginning. “It was clear from the moment that this interview started that Leon Black was not going to answer critical questions around our investigation,” he said. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.