Billionaire investor tied to Epstein tells Congress he did not abuse women — nor did he know what Epstein had done

By MJ Lee, Nicky Robertson, Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — Billionaire investor Leon Black told members of Congress on Friday that he did not know the extent of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes – and that he himself never abused women or had sexual relations with minors, according to a copy of his opening remarks shared by his legal team.

“I have never abused a woman. I have never been with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking,” Black told members of the House Oversight Committee, according to his opening remarks. “I have never paid Epstein for access to women. I was never blackmailed by Epstein. I was not involved with, and had no knowledge of, any of Epstein’s heinous conduct.”

Black’s voluntary appearance before the panel marks the 16th closed-door interview that the committee has conducted in its bipartisan investigation into Epstein. He is one of numerous influential and wealthy individuals whose past relationships with Epstein have come under further scrutiny since the Justice Department’s release of millions of Epstein files.

On Friday, Black attempted to show empathy for Epstein survivors, saying in his opening remarks: “I feel terrible for Epstein’s victims.” He also said that while he was aware of Epstein’s conviction in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor, he believed Epstein’s explanation at the time.

“I want to state clearly that I did not know about this nefarious activity until Epstein was charged with trafficking in July 2019,” Black’s opening statement said. “I did know that Epstein pleaded guilty in June 2008 to state charges relating to prostitution involving a minor. Epstein told me that it was an isolated incident resulting from a fake ID. Five years after his conviction, I gave Epstein a second chance, as did many others. I wish I had not.”

House Oversight Chairman James Comer told reporters ahead of the transcribed interview that there were “a couple of things in the opening statement that concern me,” adding that he hopes to still get the committee’s questions answered.

The Kentucky Republican also said that Friday’s interview has “the potential to be the most groundbreaking deposition in my opinion.”

Comer said that the committee has heard concerning statements from survivors of Epstein abuse about Black, and that the committee is “pretty confident” Black has signed a lot of non-disclosure agreements with survivors.

Black’s statement to lawmakers on Friday echoes what he has previously said – that “with the benefit of hindsight,” he regretted having “any involvement” with Epstein. In 2021, he stepped away from running private equity firm Apollo Global Management amid scrutiny over their ties.

Black expressed regret for his dealings with the late convicted sex offender in a letter to investors in 2020 in the wake of a report from the New York Times that included allegations that the two men “often socialized and dined together” and their business relationship involved payments for consulting and other services.

Prior to his decision to step away from the firm, Apollo announced that an internal investigation into Black’s ties to Epstein found no wrongdoing. That probe, which involved more than 60,000 documents and interviewing over 20 people, found Black’s payments to Epstein totaled $158 million from 2012 to 2017.

Black is among the rare witnesses to come before the panel from the late convicted sex offender’s orbit who has been accused by women of abuse in connection with Epstein.

According to a CNN review in April of the Department of Justice’s Epstein files, one woman spoke to the FBI and alleged she’d been abused by Black, saying he started “becoming sexual” during a massage Epstein had directed her to give before she ran out of the room.

Separately, a woman told the FBI in 2020 that Black raped her about six years earlier. She did not say Epstein introduced her to Black but discussed going with Black to Epstein’s home in Florida, where she said she was told to have sex with Epstein.

An attorney for Black told CNN in a statement at the time, “Mr. Black has never abused, assaulted, or raped any girl or woman and the idea of doing so is repulsive and reprehensible to him. Such allegations against him are completely false.”

On Friday, Black told lawmakers that the release of the Epstein files “added fuel to the burning conspiracies and falsities.”

“I don’t understand why people – including members of this committee – would accept baseless speculation about me without regard to the facts and spin such ugly and vicious narratives that are demonstrably false,” he said.

Black has been accused of rape in three lawsuits — and has denied the allegations in each case. A state judge dismissed one suit and the plaintiff in another agreed to drop her suit. Another remains pending, though the law firm representing the plaintiff withdrew from the case. Black repeated his denial of the allegations in each case on Friday, according to his opening statement.

“To be clear, I categorically deny the baseless and fabricated allegations in that case and in the other two lawsuits that were filed against me and that have now been dismissed,” the statement said.

“The media raced to cover these sensational allegations, taking them at face value without conducting any investigation or undertaking even minimal diligence,” Black said in his opening remarks. “As a result of this torrent of lies and misrepresentations, I have received death threats, and my family now feels unsafe. For the first time in my life, I’ve had to deploy a bodyguard.”

To date, only Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell have been charged in the US with sex trafficking in his case, and FBI Director Kash Patel has said there’s “no credible information” that Epstein trafficked his victims to others.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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