Leon Black Files $100 Million Defamation Suit Against Oversight Chief
The billionaire investor accuses Rep. Robert Garcia of lying about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein in a lawsuit filed in New York.
By Yasmin Nasser ·
Leon Black filed a defamation lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, suing Rep. Robert Garcia for $100 million. Black, a former Wall Street private equity investor, accuses Garcia of knowingly lying about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The suit claims Garcia defamed Black by stating he was at the center of and directly involved in Epstein's crimes.
Garcia serves as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, which has led the congressional investigation into Epstein. The Republican-led committee unanimously voted in September to hold Black in contempt after he refused to comply with subpoenas. Black sat for a voluntary closed-door interview with lawmakers over the summer but left before the session ended. He later missed a deposition and sued the committee to block the subpoenas, a case that is still being litigated.
In a September statement responding to an earlier suit by Black, Garcia said the investor funded Epstein's abuse and trafficking of women. Garcia also noted that multiple women have accused Black of sexual assault and called his connections to Epstein and his refusal to cooperate unacceptable. A spokesperson for Garcia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new lawsuit filed Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Black issued a statement regarding the new suit, saying Black has never abused a woman or been with an underage woman. The statement added that Black was never involved with sex trafficking and never paid Epstein for women. Black stepped down from Apollo Global Management, the hedge fund he co-founded, in 2021 after an independent review found he was not involved in Epstein's criminal activities, though Black has denied wrongdoing tied to the late financier.
The Justice Department indicated on September 16 that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia would review the contempt referral carefully and would not hesitate to pursue additional cases where evidence supports them. No charges have been filed against Black. With Democrats set to take control of the House in January, Garcia is poised to become the new chair of the Oversight Committee.
