House panel subpoenas Leon Black in Epstein probe over NDAs

James Comer issued two subpoenas to Leon Black, one demanding every nondisclosure agreement Black is party to and another ordering the former Apollo Global Management chief back for a deposition on July 16, after Black declined to answer questions about NDAs in a closed-door interview. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s move turned a tense private session into a formal escalation, with the panel now seeking the paperwork behind Black’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein rather than relying only on testimony.

The committee had first pressed Black on March 3, 2026, when it asked him to appear for an in-person transcribed interview on May 13. Its Epstein review stretches well beyond Black, covering the federal investigation into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s death, sex-trafficking rings, influence attempts by Epstein and Maxwell, and possible ethics violations by elected officials. By the time Comer moved against Black, the committee had already assembled a large record and was no longer simply revisiting a scandal that has been examined for years.

Oversight has released about 65,000 pages of Epstein-related material so far, including roughly 33,000 pages from the Justice Department. It has also taken testimony from former Attorney General Bill Barr and former Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, signaling that the inquiry has reached deep into the ranks of former federal officials. But Black’s resistance over nondisclosure agreements suggested the panel was still looking for a different kind of evidence, one that could show how Epstein’s network operated behind formal silence and legal cover.

Pressure on Black sharpened again after Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden sent the House Oversight Committee his findings on Black’s Epstein ties on June 4 and said Black had repeatedly failed to answer key questions. In prepared remarks, Black said Epstein had deceived him and that he had no involvement or knowledge of Epstein’s criminal conduct. He also denied abusing a woman or being with an underage woman. The subpoena over NDAs marked a harder-edged phase of the investigation, aimed less at retelling the scandal than at tracing the mechanisms that concealed it.