Representative James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, has threatened to hold private equity investor Leon Black in contempt if he fails to provide documents or appear for a deposition scheduled for September 3, 2026, according to a letter released from the lawmaker’s office on Tuesday.
Black, co-founder of Apollo Asset Management and a former client of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, voluntarily agreed to participate in the committee’s investigation in June. However, his initial testimony lasted only one hour before he declined to answer questions regarding non-disclosure agreements, prompting Comer to issue two subpoenas. The subpoenas demanded that Black produce all NDAs to which he is a party and appear for a deposition.
The dispute centers on the scope of the committee’s investigative authority and which documents must be provided. Black’s legal team has indicated willingness to provide two NDAs and has proposed modifications to the oversight arrangement, including converting the deposition into a voluntary transcribed interview, limiting questioning to only the two agreements he is willing to share, and postponing the proceeding to early October. Comer contends that Black’s attorneys are seeking assurances against contempt charges in exchange for this limited cooperation.
Comer argues that Black lacks authority to determine which documents are responsive to a subpoena and states that confidentiality agreements signed after Epstein’s death in 2019 could still involve his alleged victims. Susan Estrich, Black’s attorney, characterized the letter as misrepresenting facts and described the matter as a “political witch hunt,” asserting that Black provided the only pre-death NDA of which Epstein was aware.
According to a Senate Finance Committee investigation, Black became Epstein’s largest client after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea to Florida prostitution charges involving a minor, paying approximately $170 million in fees between 2012 and 2017. Black has characterized his services as tax and estate planning and stated he was unaware of trafficking allegations until July 2019.
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