Leon Black Testifies He Paid Epstein $158 Million, Refuses to Answer NDA Questions, Gets Subpoenaed Mid-Interview — Judge Finds Trump's Acting AG "Conceded" He's Violating Epstein Files Law, Orders Unredaction of Trump Sexual Assault Allegation and "Torture Video" Emails

The Epstein crisis converged on Washington from three directions in the final week of June 2026: a billionaire who paid Epstein $158 million testified and got subpoenaed, a federal judge found Trump's acting attorney general in violation of the transparency law, and a book revealed the Vice President held Situation Room meetings to manage the cover-up.

Leon Black's testimony

Leon Black, co-founder of Apollo Global Management and one of the wealthiest men in America, arrived at the Rayburn House Office Building on Friday, June 26, to testify voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee. He was the 16th witness in the panel's investigation into the web of wealth and power around Jeffrey Epstein.

In his opening statement, Black said he came "to set the record straight" and stated "unequivocally" that he had "never abused a woman," "never been with an underage woman," "never engaged in sex trafficking," "never paid Epstein for access to women," and "was never blackmailed by Epstein."

He said he first met Epstein in the 1990s, began paying him for wealth management advice in 2013, and claimed he did not know about Epstein's criminal activity until the federal trafficking charges in July 2019.

There was a problem with this claim. Black acknowledged in the same statement that he knew Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges involving prostitution with a minor. Black said Epstein told him "it was an isolated incident resulting from a fake ID." He said he gave Epstein "a second chance, as did many others."

He described Epstein as "Jekyll and Hyde": "I knew Jekyll. I didn't know Hyde."

The $158 million

An independent review commissioned by Apollo found that Black paid Epstein approximately $158 million between 2012 and 2017 for tax planning, estate planning, philanthropy, and other financial services. Sen. Ron Wyden's investigation put the figure at $170 million.

For context:

• Epstein was neither a licensed tax attorney nor a certified public accountant
• The rates Black paid Epstein were 30 to 60 times higher than what he paid the elite tax and estate advisors he already employed for the same work
• The payments were "far higher than the median compensation of Fortune 500 CEOs" during the same period
• Black claimed Epstein told him the fees were "60-cent dollars" — meaning they would effectively be tax-deductible. He said he later learned this was false, and what he believed were roughly $95 million in net fees were actually the full $158 million
• $10 million of Black's payments were routed through a sham 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity. Epstein's lawyer wrote in an email that the arrangement would "avoid public disclosure" and "maximize deductions"

Wyden wrote: "I do not believe Black has provided a credible explanation as to why he paid Epstein amounts that vastly exceeded those paid to other professional advisors."

The NDAs — refused, subpoenaed

The interview collapsed when questions turned to nondisclosure agreements. Black refused to answer questions about NDAs he had signed with women, prompting Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to issue two subpoenas on the spot, mid-interview:

1. A subpoena for all NDAs that Black is party to
2. A subpoena for a videotaped deposition under oath on July 16

Comer explained: "Was Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs? Was he involved in writing? Was he involved in awarding funds to the women for the NDAs? What was the reason for the NDA? We want to know everything about the NDAs."

Ranking Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia said Black "stormed out" when pressed on NDAs and his relationship with Epstein survivors.

One NDA in particular drew scrutiny: Black had a six-year affair with a former Russian model, and when preparing a 2015 nondisclosure agreement to secure her silence, Epstein offered advice via email — suggesting Black hire former law enforcement to approach her. Epstein wrote: "Choose method of message delivery, my choice. — two highly respected former —— fill in the blank." Court filings show Black discussed the agreement with only two people: Epstein and a private investigator.

Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, called the subpoenas "a planned political stunt" and said "Mr. Epstein had no involvement with any NDA's, whether they exist or not."

What the files show

The phrase "Please call Leon Black" appears more than 300 times in the investigative files released by the Justice Department. Black's name appears over 8,000 times. His phone number appears more than 200 times. There are over 100 instances of "Leon Black returned your call."

Emails indicate Black paid millions of dollars to women using Epstein as a middleman. The payments were described as "gifts" in documents Epstein possessed, raising questions about whether Black complied with federal gift and estate tax laws.

Epstein provided the Russian government with the location of women who were on Black's payroll for unknown reasons. Epstein and the head of the law firm Paul Weiss partnered to surveil women on Black's behalf.

Three rape accusations

Three women have accused Black of rape in lawsuits:

• A "Jane Doe" lawsuit (2023): A woman accused Black of raping her at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse when she was 16 years old. Her lawyers said she has autism and a rare form of Down syndrome that has left her "developmentally… about 12 years old"
• Cheri Pierson (2022): Accused Black of raping her in 2002 at Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse. She later withdrew the suit under unclear circumstances
• A third lawsuit filed by the Wigdor law firm, later dismissed by a judge

Separately, a woman told the FBI in 2020 that Black raped her about six years earlier. She described going with Black to Epstein's home in Florida, where she said she was told to have sex with Epstein.

Rep. Dave Min (D-CA) on CNN: Black claiming he knew nothing about Epstein's operation "is just not credible." Min added: "He was accused by three different women of raping them on Epstein properties. He paid 170 million dollars to Jeffrey Epstein."

The Virgin Islands settlement

In 2023, Black paid $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to be released from any current and future legal claims related to Epstein's sex trafficking operation. In that settlement, Black explicitly acknowledged that his money — the $170 million he had given to Epstein — was used to fund Epstein's sex trafficking operation.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA): "Jeffrey Epstein would not have been able to commit his horrific crimes without the support of Mr. Black."

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) called Black "a central figure in Jeffrey Epstein's empire."

The names Black dropped

In his opening statement, Black listed other people who associated with Epstein: Deepak Chopra, Thomas Barrack, Thomas Pritzker, Reid Hoffman, Kathy Ruemmler, Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Peter Thiel, Steve Bannon, and Ariane de Rothschild.

The purpose was clear: I'm not the only one. Everybody did it.

Judge Sullivan: acting AG "conceded" he's violating the law

The same day as Black's testimony, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche "has conceded that he is in violation" of the Epstein Files Transparency Act — the law Trump himself signed in November 2025 under pressure from his base.

Sullivan gave the DOJ until July 2 to comply with the act or "show cause" as to why it cannot. He ordered the DOJ to:

• Remove redactions from an FBI interview summary with a woman who alleged President Trump sexually assaulted her as a teenager after Epstein introduced them. The FBI found her credible and interviewed her four times
• Unredact the names of people on email chains with Epstein discussing a "torture video" and "sexual activity with young women, including minors." In one email, Epstein wrote that he "loved" the torture video
• Produce files in foreign languages that had been withheld
• Unredact names of possible co-conspirators in at least eight email exchanges

A DOJ spokesperson called the ruling a "perverse interpretation" focused on "driving misleading headlines" and said the DOJ "will appeal this decision with confidence."

The DOJ has released approximately 3.5 million pages — but the Integrity Project found 200,000 pages were redacted, and the department said only about half of its 6 million pages would ever be released.

The Situation Room cover-up

New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan revealed in their book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump that Vice President JD Vance presided over meetings in the White House Situation Room to coordinate the administration's response to the Epstein files.

What happened in those meetings:

• Vance appeared "panicked" to others about how the files were dividing the MAGA base
• He was privately pressing for the administration to release all the files — while Trump himself "snapped at anyone who mentioned it"
• Vance floated asking Tucker Carlson to interview Ghislaine Maxwell in prison, hoping she would say Trump had not been involved
• Then-Deputy AG Todd Blanche proposed petitioning courts to unseal grand jury testimony, knowing the requests would almost certainly be denied — so the administration could blame the judges and appear to want transparency while achieving none
• Attendees included Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, then-AG Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Communications Director Steven Cheung, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

The Situation Room — a secure bunker in the West Wing designed for national security emergencies — became inseparable from the Epstein crisis. Trump wanted the scandal buried, so his aides repeatedly convened in the Situation Room without him.

On The View, Vance appeared to acknowledge the meetings, saying: "That was one thing that we confronted… we were like, we want to release these files, but you need the court approval."

Rep. Robert Garcia demanded Chairman Comer arrange testimony from Vance, Blanche, Patel, and Wiles: "For the first time in this whole Epstein investigation, we have the Vice President of the United States that is now part of this massive cover-up."

Vance later said he was "legitimately worried" about Situation Room recordings being leaked to The New York Times.

Bondi fired, Blanche in charge

Trump fired AG Pam Bondi in April 2026 — in significant part over the Epstein files. Bondi had told Fox News in February 2025 that an Epstein client list was "sitting on my desk right now to review," only for the DOJ to later assert no such list existed. In closed-door testimony, Bondi sought to distance herself, telling lawmakers that Todd Blanche "was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files."

Blanche, now acting AG, is the same official Judge Sullivan found in violation of the transparency law Trump signed. He has been nominated for the permanent position, with a confirmation hearing set for July.

Michael Ovitz storms out

In a separate proceeding on June 1, Michael Ovitz, co-founder of CAA, stormed out of a deposition 45 minutes into a scheduled three-hour session after being asked about his friendship with Epstein. Ovitz was being questioned by lawyers for actress Julia Ormond, who has sued CAA over Harvey Weinstein.

Ovitz declared: "I'm not going to discuss anything about Jeffrey Epstein." When asked if he knew Epstein had been convicted of sex crimes, he announced "I'm done with this," removed his microphone, walked out, slammed the door, and left the building.

Emails in the DOJ trove show Ovitz maintained a friendly relationship with Epstein well into the 2010s — years after Epstein became a registered sex offender — including messages expressing excitement about seeing Epstein in St. Barts. Ormond's lawyers filed a contempt motion on June 12, warning that Ovitz's refusal could result in arrest and imprisonment.

The pattern

The administration's approach to the Epstein files follows a consistent pattern:

• Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act under MAGA base pressure — then his DOJ violated it
• Bondi said the client list was on her desk — then no list existed
• Bondi got fired — then blamed Blanche
• Blanche was put in charge — then a judge found he "conceded" he's violating the law
• Vance held Situation Room meetings to appear transparent — while engineering plausible deniability
• 3.5 million pages were released — with 200,000 pages redacted and half withheld entirely
• The DOJ released the files — then redacted Trump's own name from allegations the FBI found credible

Leon Black paid $158 million to a convicted sex offender, acknowledged that money funded sex trafficking, settled for $62.5 million to avoid prosecution, refused to answer questions about silencing women, and told Congress he "knew Jekyll, not Hyde." The phrase "please call Leon Black" appears 300 times in the files. His name appears 8,000 times. Three women accused him of rape on Epstein properties. And when Congress asked about the NDAs, he walked out — and got subpoenaed to come back under oath.

The next hearing is July 16. The DOJ's deadline to comply with Judge Sullivan's order is July 2. The question is no longer what the files contain. The question is why so many powerful people — from a billionaire investor to the Vice President to the acting Attorney General — keep trying so hard to make sure no one reads them.