Leon Black files defamation suit against Rep. Robert Garcia over Epstein remarks

Billionaire investor Leon Black filed a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, the panel that has led a congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

Black, a former Wall Street private equity investor who once had a business relationship with Epstein, brought the case in the Southern District of New York. In the suit, he alleges that Garcia "has knowingly and willfully lied about Leon Black and defamed him," pointing to statements in which the congressman said Black was "at the center" and "directly involved" with Epstein's crimes.

The committee, led by Republicans, has subpoenaed Black as part of its Epstein probe and voted unanimously in September to hold him in contempt after he refused to comply with those subpoenas.

A spokesperson for Garcia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new lawsuit. In a September statement responding to a separate suit Black filed against the committee, Garcia said Black had "funded Epstein's abuse and trafficking of women," adding: "Multiple women have also accused Black of sexual assault. His connections to Epstein and his unwillingness to cooperate are unacceptable."

In a statement issued Wednesday about the lawsuit against Garcia, a spokesperson for Black wrote that "he has never abused a woman; he has never been with an underage woman; he has never been involved with sex trafficking; and, he never paid Epstein for women."

The legal fight comes as Democrats prepare to take control of the House in January, a shift that would put Garcia in line to chair the Oversight Committee.

Black stepped down in 2021 from Apollo Global Management, the firm he co-founded, after it conducted an independent review of his ties to Epstein. The review found that Black, who has denied any wrongdoing connected to Epstein, was not involved in Epstein's criminal activities.

Over the summer, Black sat for a voluntary closed-door transcribed interview with the Oversight Committee but left before it ended. Lawmakers then issued subpoenas seeking answers to questions they said he had not addressed, and he failed to appear for a later deposition. Black subsequently sued the committee to block the subpoenas, which sought his appearance as well as nondisclosure agreements tied to Epstein. That case remains in litigation.

The House later voted to hold Black in contempt of Congress. Reuters reported that the Justice Department said in a Sept. 16 statement that the "US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia will review the referral of Mr. Black carefully and will not hesitate to pursue additional cases where the evidence supports." No charges have been filed against Black.