Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black defied a congressional subpoena Thursday, skipping a court-ordered deposition before the House Oversight Committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein — and suing the committee instead in an effort to block its demands entirely.

Black filed the federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., arguing the subpoenas are invalid because they exceed the committee's "delegated authority" and seek private information — including nondisclosure agreements involving women with no connection to Epstein — without a legitimate legislative purpose, according to PBS NewsHour.

The committee issued two subpoenas after Black abruptly cut short a voluntary closed-door interview in June: one demanding the NDAs and related documents, the other compelling his return for sworn deposition testimony. Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, framed the fight in personal terms, according to CBS News:

"THIS IS NO LONGER ABOUT FINDING THE TRUTH ABOUT EPSTEIN. IT IS ABOUT TRYING TO DESTROY MR. BLACK."

Bipartisan anger, and talk of contempt

Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., did not hide his frustration. "We're very disappointed," Comer said, adding that he shouldn't need to explain "how important of a witness Mr. Black is," according to NBC News. Ranking Democrat Robert Garcia of California went further, accusing Black of having "funded Epstein's abuse and trafficking of women." Both lawmakers signaled they intend to pursue contempt-of-Congress proceedings.

The lawsuit is a notably aggressive escalation in a bipartisan investigation that has, so far, drawn cooperation — however reluctant — from most witnesses. A billionaire suing Congress rather than sitting for a deposition is rare, and it raises the odds of a criminal contempt referral that would need Justice Department follow-through to have any teeth.

At the center of the dispute is Black's financial relationship with Epstein. A 2021 review commissioned by Apollo found Black paid Epstein $158 million between 2012 and 2017 for tax and estate-planning advice — payments that continued for nearly a decade after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from a minor. Black has said the review cleared him of wrongdoing tied to Epstein's sex-trafficking crimes, but the size and duration of the payments have kept him a central figure in Congress's broader Epstein-files probe.

The dispute also reopens uncomfortable questions for Wall Street more broadly. Black stepped down as Apollo's CEO in 2021 following the initial revelations about his payments to Epstein, but has remained a major figure in private equity and a significant political donor. His decision to fight Congress in court, rather than continue engaging with the committee, marks a shift from the posture he took during the firm's own internal review four years ago.

What happens next likely plays out on two tracks at once: the Oversight Committee weighing a contempt vote, and a federal judge deciding whether Black's lawsuit has any chance of shielding him from testifying at all. Neither Black's legal team nor the committee has indicated any appetite for a quick settlement.