The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted 41 to 0 on 15 September 2026 to report a resolution recommending that the House find Leon Black in contempt of Congress. Black did not appear for a deposition on 3 September and has not produced the documents a second subpoena demands. No member of either party voted against.

Two subpoenas issued on 26 June 2026 sit behind the vote. One compelled Black to give sworn testimony about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. The other demanded production of every non-disclosure agreement to which Black is a party. Black's lawyers offered to hand over two, said Congress has no business with the rest and went to court to stop the demand.

James Comer, the committee's chairman, said Black is "hiding behind litigation to delay having to provide answers to the American people" and said: "No one is above the law. We have no choice but to hold him in contempt." Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat, said: "Holding Leon Black in contempt of Congress is a critical step in the fight for justice for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein."

Susan Estrich and Aaron Cutler, counsel to Black, said the committee's action is "a complete abomination" and that the panel has "lost sight of its legislative purpose" and is "abusing its power". Black "never abused a woman" and "had no knowledge of any of Epstein's heinous conduct", the two lawyers said. They have filed a complaint against Comer with the Office of Congressional Conduct alleging unethical tactics, and accused Garcia of "spouting hate-filled lies".

The $158 million

Dechert LLP, retained by the conflicts committee of Apollo Global Management's board, reported on 25 January 2021 that every fee Black and his family office paid Epstein "were for bona fide tax, estate planning and other related services" and that it "found no evidence that Mr. Black was involved in any way with Mr. Epstein's criminal activities at any time". Dechert reviewed more than 60,000 communications and interviewed more than 20 people. Black announced the same day that he would retire as chief executive of Apollo.

Grantor retained annuity trusts that Black established in 2006, funded with roughly 30 per cent interests in several Apollo management partnerships, carried a defect that exposed him to a tax bill the review put at $500 million and possibly $1 billion or more. Epstein produced what Dechert called a unique solution. In 2015 he structured a step-up basis transaction over nine months, built on loans between Black and a series of trusts, which Epstein put at $600 million in savings. Dechert concluded that Epstein's work saved Black at least $1 billion in tax and potentially more than $2 billion.

Payments ran $50 million in 2013, $70 million in 2014 and $30 million in 2015, with a further $10 million going to an Epstein charitable entity in October 2015, reaching $158 million between 2012 and 2017. Epstein also advised on tax audits, on Black's art collection, yacht and aircraft, ran "fire drill" models of how the estate would be taxed and sat down with Black's family to explain the structure.

Paul Weiss, the law firm Black used for estate work, was paid about $2 million across 2013 and 2014 for comparable services. Ron Wyden, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, put Epstein's rate at 30 times what elite tax advisers received. Wyden opened an investigation in July 2023 into whether the trusts kept more than $1 billion outside Black's taxable estate and whether the payments to Epstein were income or gifts. Wyden wrote then that Black's "failure to substantiate Epstein's compensation scheme has heightened concerns about whether such payments were properly characterized as income or gifts for tax purposes". Black declined to answer most of the committee's questions.

What the files say about the women

Wyden wrote to Black on 20 March 2026 setting out what the released Epstein files show about payments that went to women, and it is that letter, rather than the tax work, that put the non-disclosure agreements in front of the House committee.

Guzel Ganieva signed an agreement in October 2015 under which Black would pay her $100,000 a month for 15 years, forgive a $1 million loan and provide £2 million towards securing her legal status in the United Kingdom. Ganieva had threatened to accuse Black publicly of sexual abuse unless she was paid, according to the material Wyden cites. The agreement recorded that her allegations were not true. Epstein helped structure the payments through a trust.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars went directly from Black's accounts at Bank of America to one woman between 2009 and 2012, Wyden wrote, and the route changed after that. One woman wrote to Epstein about her monthly $100,000: "He said that now he does it through you." Records show $650,000 in 2013 payments to one woman booked as gifts, $2.5 million to another between 2011 and 2015 and $8 million between 2015 and 2018 to women of eastern European origin. Wyden's letter asks whether payments characterised as gifts complied with federal gift and estate tax law.

Richard Kahn, Epstein's lawyer, coordinated payments and advised on routing money to Epstein's charitable foundation in a way that would "maximize deductions" while avoiding public disclosure. Kahn wrote of the entity: "we have 501c3 letter however they are correct it does not show online in federal register."

Wyden wrote to Black: "You were among Jeffrey Epstein's primary sources of income, flooding him with cash at a time when he was already a registered sex offender." Black's explanations, Wyden wrote, "have been inadequate".

The surveillance

Brad Karp, then chairman of Paul Weiss, answered an Epstein request for a report on where a woman went after lunch with a description of her movements: she "snuck out through the garage, in a car with tinted windows, and we have the license plate numbers." Epstein conveyed to the woman that Black had emailed her to say he was checking on her and that Karp's firm "could have her deported and arrested". A later message in the same material says: "Have Nardello use Russian contact" to establish that she was "a pro".

Epstein emailed Sergei Belyakov, a Russian deputy minister, in 2015 with the words "I need a favor", gave the location of a Russian woman he said was attempting to blackmail a group of powerful businessmen in New York and asked for suggestions. Epstein met the Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin eight times between 2015 and 2017 and met a Sberbank executive on several occasions, meetings that in Wyden's account often sat alongside meetings with Black.

Paul Weiss said the firm "was adverse to Epstein" and that "at no point did Paul Weiss or Brad Karp ever represent him", and said Karp had a small number of social interactions by email with Epstein which he regrets. Karp resigned as chairman in February 2026 after the files were released, saying: "Recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm." Wyden's letter puts questions to Black rather than findings against him, and no authority has charged Black, Karp or the firm with any offence.

Black in the committee room

Wyden referred his findings to the House Oversight Committee on 4 June 2026, after a four-year investigation, and asked it to examine why Black's payments to Epstein so far exceeded what he paid other advisers, how Epstein came to act as an intermediary for payments to women and what lay behind Black's settlement with the US Virgin Islands.

Black sat for a voluntary transcribed interview on 26 June 2026, the 16th witness the committee has summoned over Epstein's circle. "I knew Jekyll. I didn't know Hyde," Black said of Epstein. He said he had not been aware of Epstein's activity until 2019, that the $158 million was paid for legitimate purposes and that "I gave Epstein a second chance, as did many others. I wish I had not."

"I have never abused a woman. I have never been with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking. I have never paid Epstein for access to women. I was never blackmailed by Epstein," Black said. He called the suggestion that Epstein acted as a middleman for payments to women rank speculation and said he and Epstein "were never best friends".

Committee members asked Black about a poem he wrote for the book assembled for Epstein's 50th birthday, which referred to women "spread out geographically". Black said the line reflected that Epstein knew attractive women in many places.

Black acknowledged a single agreement with a woman with whom he had a six-year relationship, telling the committee he had paid her more than $21 million over 15 years after she blackmailed and extorted him, and that Epstein knew of the arrangement because Epstein handled his finances. Asked how many other agreements existed and who held them, Black said: "I'm not here to talk about confidential NDAs" and "I'm not here to talk about who has NDAs." His lawyers had advised him not to answer. Comer issued the two subpoenas the same day.

The Virgin Islands settlement

Black paid the US Virgin Islands $62.5 million in January 2023 to resolve potential claims arising from Epstein's operation on the territory's islands, where prosecutors say at least 200 girls and women were trafficked. Black admitted no wrongdoing or liability. Whit Clay, his spokesman, said Black "engaged and made payments to Jeffrey Epstein for legitimate financial advisory services", and that the settlement resolved potential claims with "no suggestion" that Black took part in Epstein's crimes. Clay said Black very much regrets engaging him.

From subpoena to contempt

Comer wrote to Black's counsel in August demanding every agreement and confirming the deposition, which had moved from 16 July to 3 September. Estrich replied that Black had provided "the only confidentiality agreement that pre-dated Epstein's death and the only one of which Epstein was aware", called the inquiry a "political witch hunt" and said Congress has no authority to demand private agreements unconnected to Epstein. Black's lawyers offered two agreements and asked that the deposition move to October. Comer refused.

Black filed suit against Comer and the committee in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on the morning of 3 September 2026 and did not appear. His complaint argues the subpoenas exceed the committee's delegated authority by seeking private information unrelated to Epstein or to any legitimate legislative purpose, calls the inquiry a public fishing expedition and asks the court to declare the subpoenas invalid. Comer said that day: "Our deposition is moving forward this morning for the record and there will be an empty chair for Mr. Black."

What contempt reaches

Contempt of Congress under 2 U.S.C. 192 is a misdemeanour carrying imprisonment of between one month and 12 months, with a maximum fine that 18 U.S.C. 3571 lifts to $100,000. The committee's vote recommends; it does not convict. The resolution goes to the House floor, where a simple majority would adopt it, and only on passage does the Speaker certify the citation to the US attorney for the District of Columbia under 2 U.S.C. 194.

The certification statute says the US attorney's duty is to bring the matter before a grand jury. Office of Legal Counsel opinions issued in 1984 and 2014 hold that the attorney general retains discretion to decline, and the Justice Department has used it. Referrals against attorneys general Eric Holder in 2012 and Merrick Garland in 2024 produced no charges. Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were prosecuted on referrals from the select committee on 6 January and each served four months.

House Republicans scrapped the last two weeks the chamber had been scheduled to sit before the midterm elections, leaving the return on 14 September as a single week of votes. The House has now broken until after the November elections, and no floor date for the resolution has been scheduled or announced.

The lawsuits

Guzel Ganieva sued Black in June 2021, alleging he sexually harassed and abused her over several years and then obtained her signature on the agreement. Justice David Cohen of the Manhattan Supreme Court dismissed the suit in May 2023, holding that the October 2015 agreement covered every claim arising from the relationship. Her law firm had withdrawn. The Appellate Division, First Department, dismissed her remaining defamation claim four to one on 16 January 2025, holding that she had ratified the agreement by taking about $9 million over five years before suing. Black denied the allegations throughout, said the relationship was consensual and said: "I have been extorted by Ms. Ganieva for many years."

Cheri Pierson sued Black in November 2022, alleging he raped her at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse in 2002. She withdrew the suit in February 2024. Black denied the allegation.

A woman identified as Jane Doe sued Black in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in July 2023, alleging he raped her at Epstein's townhouse in 2002 when she was a 16-year-old autistic girl. Her law firm withdrew and she has litigated without counsel since, before Judge Jessica Clarke, who was still ruling on pre-trial motions in July 2025. Black denied the allegation.

Judge Jed Rakoff approved Bank of America's $72.5 million settlement with about 60 Epstein accusers on 27 August 2026, a case built on suspicious activity reports the bank filed covering more than $170 million moving between Black and Epstein between 2012 and 2017, often in transfers of $10 million to $20 million. JPMorgan Chase paid $290 million and Deutsche Bank $75 million in 2023. None of the three admitted wrongdoing.