Leon Black Sues House Oversight Committee, Skips Deposition in Epstein Probe

Billionaire and former private equity investor Leon Black, a onetime close associate of Jeffrey Epstein, sued the House Oversight Committee on Thursday, September 3, 2026, seeking a federal court order blocking the panel's subpoenas against him as part of its investigation into the late convicted sex offender. The lawsuit came after Black declined to appear for a scheduled sworn deposition before the committee that same day. The subpoenas at issue were issued in June, after Black had abruptly left an earlier voluntary appearance before the committee; among the demands were nondisclosure agreements Black may have made with women. Ahead of the Thursday deposition, more than a dozen survivors of Epstein's abuse released a letter on Wednesday, September 2, publicly urging Black to comply with the subpoenas and appear to clarify his connections to Epstein. Black did not attend the deposition and instead pursued litigation against the committee, asking the court to prevent enforcement of the subpoenas rather than contesting them directly before the panel. The lawsuit represents an escalation in a standoff that began with his June exit from a voluntary session and has continued through the committee's subsequent subpoena and deposition demands. As of the reporting, the case remains pending in federal court, and it is unresolved whether Black will ultimately be compelled to testify or produce the requested nondisclosure agreements. The committee has not publicly detailed its next steps in response to the lawsuit, and the specific legal grounds Black is asserting to challenge the subpoenas were not fully specified across the available reports. The full scope and contents of the nondisclosure agreements sought by investigators also remain unclear.