Billionaire Leon Black initiated a federal lawsuit Thursday against the House Oversight Committee and Chairman James Comer after failing to appear for a sworn deposition as part of the panel’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n
Black’s appearance followed a June interview in which he refused to answer certain questions. The committee subsequently issued subpoenas demanding his deposition and the production of nondisclosure agreements that Epstein survivors have discussed with investigators.<\/p>\n
Following Black’s legal filing and absence, Comer indicated the committee may pursue contempt charges but stated he wishes to build consensus and review the legal options first.<\/p>\n
“This is unacceptable,” Comer said. “We’re very disappointed. I don’t think I need to tell anyone in here how important of a witness Mr. Black is to this investigation.”<\/p>\n
While acknowledging the gravity of the situation, Comer noted that Black is the first powerful figure to file suit in response to the committee’s process. “I would hold him in contempt right now,” he said, adding, “I don’t want to do anything to harm our chances in court.”<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues the subpoenas exceed the committee’s delegated authority and seek private information unrelated to legitimate legislative purposes. Black’s legal team also contends the subpoenas would compromise the privacy of women with no known connection to Epstein and that the committee lacks statutory authority to enforce the subpoenas in federal court.<\/p>\n
Susan Estrich, Black’s attorney, accused the committee of overreach. “The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility,” Estrich said. “This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black.”<\/p>\n
Committee leaders expressed concern that Black is attempting to delay proceedings as the 119th Congress draws to a close. Comer emphasized the need for strategic action, while Ranking Democrat Robert Garcia warned that Black’s legal team is likely aware of the impending change in chairmanship.<\/p>\n
“He’s trying to slow the process down of getting us the information,” Garcia said. “But what Mr. Black should understand is that we will be even more aggressive than Chairman Comer as it relates to his testimony.”<\/p>\n
Garcia highlighted that Black has paid Epstein more than $180 million but has not explained the purpose of those funds to the committee or the public. Black has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, though Senate Finance Committee records indicate the payments provided financial support to Epstein after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Billionaire Leon Black filed a federal lawsuit to block a House subpoena and skipped a required deposition in the Epstein probe, drawing criticism from committee leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[129,367,127,126,369,125,368,26],"class_list":["post-136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-congress","tag-house-oversight-committee","tag-james-comer","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-lawsuit","tag-leon-black","tag-robert-garcia","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yovao.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}