Billionaire financier Leon Black’s voluntary testimony before a House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein ended abruptly on Friday morning after members from both parties said Black refused to answer questions about non-disclosure agreements. James Comer, the Republican chair, told reporters the committee had already issued two subpoenas to Black - one demanding he produce any NDAs, and another to appear again next month. “The NDAs are between him and other women,” Comer said. “Was Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs? Was he involved in writing? Was he involved in awarding funds to the women for the NDAs?” Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat, supported the subpoenas, saying the NDAs are “central to us understanding what actually happened.”

Black’s lawyers called the move a political stunt. “Mr Black came here voluntarily to assist the committee. This was nothing more than a planned political stunt,” said attorney Susan Estrich. Black has faced questions over his ties to Epstein for years, especially after the Justice Department released millions of records late last year. He stepped down as Apollo Global Management CEO in 2021. According to a Senate finance committee investigation, Epstein provided financial services to Black from 2012 to 2017, earning roughly $170 million in fees - despite having pleaded guilty to Florida state prostitution charges involving a minor in 2008.

In prepared remarks viewed by the Guardian, Black wrote he appeared “to set the record straight” and that he “knew Epstein for 18 years before I paid him a dime.” He acknowledged knowing about Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea but claimed he didn’t know about Epstein’s “nefarious activity” until 2019. Among the released FBI documents was a “PROMINENT NAMES” list including Black, with allegations that Epstein directed women to give Black massages while he was naked, and that Black made one perform oral sex. Black denied all allegations. Three women have sued Black for sexual abuse; one suit was dismissed, one withdrawn, one pending. Black called the lawsuits “demonstrably baseless” and “entirely fabricated.”

No charges have been brought against Black. The US Virgin Islands conducted a civil investigation and Black paid $62.5 million in a settlement without admitting wrongdoing. The New York Times reported that, according to Justice Department records, Epstein introduced Black to women and counseled him on paying millions to several women while suggesting ways to obscure the payments. Black’s lawyers said Epstein “embellished, exaggerated and lied about Mr Black.” In 2020, Apollo’s independent review by Dechert LLP found “no evidence” Black was involved with Epstein’s criminal activities. Black says he fired Epstein in 2018. In his Friday statement, Black concluded: “I wish I had never met Epstein. I regret ever doing business with him.”