Leon Black told House Oversight investigators he was deceived by Jeffrey Epstein, insisting he paid the disgraced financier $158 million from 2012 to 2017 for legitimate purposes and committed no criminal wrongdoing—even as committee Democrats and long-running
Leon Black walked into the House Oversight Committee expecting a fight over numbers. Instead, he faced something harsher: the accusation that his wealth helped sustain Jeffrey Epstein’s world.
In a closed-door deposition on Friday. Black defended the $158 million he paid Epstein during a yearslong relationship. telling investigators that Epstein deceived him and that he committed no criminal wrongdoing. He also said he did not become aware of Epstein’s “nefarious activity” until 2019. even as the Justice Department released Epstein-related files that repeatedly mention him.
“I knew Jekyll. I didn’t know Hyde,” Black told lawmakers.
Black. the 16th person to appear before the committee as part of the House investigation into Epstein’s web of wealth and influence. is a familiar name to anyone tracking the case. The billionaire investor is the co-founder and former chief executive of Apollo Global Management. and he stepped down in 2021 amid fallout over his ties to Epstein.
House Oversight chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., framed Black’s testimony as potentially decisive. Before the deposition, Comer told reporters he believed it might be the most “groundbreaking” yet. “This could be a pretty significant deposition as we try to get answers,” Comer said.
Black’s defense turns on a claim of timing and intent. He maintained that he paid Epstein for legitimate purposes, in part because of Epstein’s “unrivaled network of relationships” with influential figures. He added that he gave Epstein “a second chance,” and he said: “I wish I had not.”
A 2021 review commissioned by Apollo provides one of the key figures at the center of the hearing. That review found that Black paid Epstein $158 million from 2012 to 2017. after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The review said the payments were for “bona fide tax, estate planning and other related services.”.
Black didn’t just contest the implications—he contested the premise.
In his opening statement. he broadly denied allegations tied to the relationship. calling them “rank speculation.” He said: “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.”.
The case that underpins those denials is stark. Epstein was indicted in July 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. The Justice Department alleged that Epstein created a vast network of girls. some as young as 14. for him to sexually abuse between 2002 and 2005. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.
For lawmakers, the question isn’t only whether Epstein committed crimes. It’s how money moved, who heard what, and what Black knew—or didn’t know—as those ties deepened.
Black’s appearance comes as committee members try to map the influence around Epstein through the financial records and personal contacts that appear in released materials. Black is mentioned repeatedly in Department of Justice files released related to the Epstein investigation. and he also appears in a collection of birthday messages sent to Epstein that the House committee released last year. Among those messages is a poem attributed to Black referring to “Blond, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically.”.
Democrats on the committee have pushed Republicans to seek testimony from President Donald Trump. a Republican who had his own yearslong relationship with Epstein. Republicans have refused. saying they have not come across any evidence that Trump did anything wrong during his well-documented friendship with Epstein.
In the same climate, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., this month referred findings from a nearly four-year investigation into Black to the House committee. Wyden said, in a statement: “Epstein even appears to have acted as a middleman for Black to pay women on Black’s behalf.”
Black denied that implication broadly. but the committee has also heard from people who suggest a different picture of the flow of money. Earlier this year. Comer said Epstein’s former accountant. Richard Kahn. told lawmakers in his testimony that Epstein received significant sums of money from a number of high-profile individuals. including Black.
Beyond Black, the investigation has reached far into American political and corporate life. Other figures summoned to testify include former Democratic President Bill Clinton. former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. former Attorney General Pam Bondi. and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Gates testified earlier this month and said he had made a “grave error in judgment” by meeting with Epstein.
Black, for his part, said Epstein’s network included SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir.
The committee’s work has also been shadowed by questions about how federal files were handled after Epstein’s death. Comer has said he has been in touch with the Justice Department about acting Attorney General Todd Blanche coming in for questioning soon.
Bondi, in her testimony, stressed that Blanche had overseen the chaotic release of the federal Epstein files, which included the unintentional release of victim information.
Within the House investigation. the tension has always been twofold: what lawmakers believe happened. and what they can prove through documents and testimony. Black’s deposition lands at the center of that dispute. with his $158 million figure—paired with Apollo’s 2021 characterization of “bona fide tax. estate planning and other related services”—colliding with a case built on allegations of a predator’s long-running exploitation.
The hearing doesn’t end the questions. It sharpens them. Because while Black told the committee he was deceived—“I knew Jekyll. I didn’t know Hyde”—the committee is trying to determine whether deception was the only story. or whether the money and relationships were part of a more dangerous machine all along.
Leon Black Jeffrey Epstein House Oversight Committee James Comer Apollo Global Management $158 million Todd Blanche Pam Bondi Ron Wyden Trump sex trafficking
He “paid legally” sure… okay.
If he was deceived, why does the number keep getting repeated like it’s supposed to make it better? Sounds like he’s just saying what investigators want to hear but with bigger wording.
So he didn’t know until 2019… but the article says the Justice Department files mention him earlier? That part’s confusing. Like either they knew stuff already or he’s not being straight, both can’t be true, unless “knew” means something different.
Leon Black is out here with the Jekyll/Hyde line like that explains giving Epstein $158 million. Also the House meeting thing, like they always fight over the numbers and then nothing happens. Meanwhile billionaires just talk in circles and everyone moves on.