Leon Black Sues Congressional Panel Investigating Epstein

Leon Black, the billionaire investor, escalated his fight with a congressional committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein and his network of powerful associates on Thursday, when he refused to show up for a scheduled deposition.Instead, Mr.Black filed a lawsuit challenging two subpoenas that the panel served him in June.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, said that the subpoenas were “invalid” and that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had exceeded its authority in seeking information about nondisclosure agreements that Mr.

Black might have entered into with women.Mr.Black’s lawsuit said unnamed women and others “whom he has or may have agreements” with had “bargained for confidentiality.” These people, the lawsuit said, “want no association with the Epstein scandal.”The Oversight Committee issued the subpoenas after Mr.

Black refused to answer the panel’s questions during a voluntary interview in June about nondisclosure agreements he had signed with women.The committee believes some of those women may have been linked to Mr.

Epstein, the now deceased financier and notorious sex offender.The subpoenas required him to turn over the so-called NDAs and testify under oath on Thursday — both of which Mr.

Black refused to do.This is the first time anyone called to testify before the Oversight Committee in its Epstein investigation has gone to federal court to challenge its authority.Mr.

Black’s lawsuit against the subpoena raises the question of whether the committee, led by Representative James R.Comer, Republican of Kentucky, will vote to hold Mr.

Black in contempt of Congress.Mr.Comer said he supported doing so.

“I would hold him in contempt right now,” he told reporters at the Capitol.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times ...