House Oversight Committee Releases Leon Black Interview Transcript After Less-Than-One-Hour Session

The House Oversight Committee on Friday released the transcript of its June 26 interview with financier Leon Black. The session lasted less than an hour before Black's attorneys halted it after the panel issued subpoenas for nondisclosure agreements and a follow-up appearance.

Committee members questioned Black about payments totaling approximately $158 million to an associate for tax and estate planning services.

Black said he initially believed the fees would total about $95 million and that the advice saved him between $1 billion and $2 billion. He added that the associate misled him into believing the fees were tax-deductible. Black told the panel he was introduced to the associate in the 1990s and maintained the relationship because of influential connections the associate provided.

He said the associate introduced him to Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In 2023 Black paid the U.S. Virgin Islands a $62.5 million settlement after being sued over financial support of the associate.

The committee also asked Black about a poem he contributed to a book compiled for the associate's 50th birthday. " "We were never best friends. Was I friendly with him from the point of view of enjoying his Rolodex?

Yes. Did I think he was very smart as a professional adviser? Yes," Black said. He said he removed the associate from the board of his family's foundation after a 2008 conviction. Black stated the relationship ended completely in 2018 over the associate's "relentless pursuit of more and more money" and failure to repay a $30 million loan.

Black denied any involvement in or knowledge of the associate's alleged abuse of women or sex trafficking, except for what he learned from a 2008 plea deal. He said he never paid the associate for access to women. Black is scheduled to return before the committee under subpoena in September.