Billionaire investor Leon Black was subpoenaed by a US congressional committee on Friday after he walked out of a closed-door hearing into Jeffrey Epstein, refusing to answer questions about non-disclosure agreements he may have signed with women connected to the disgraced financier.

The House Oversight Committee issued two subpoenas to Black during the hearing itself: one demanding he hand over any NDAs linked to himself, Epstein or Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and a second compelling him to return on 16 July to testify under oath. It marked the first time a witness who had agreed to appear voluntarily before the panel's Epstein investigation was subsequently subpoenaed for a deposition.

James Comer, the committee's Republican chairman, said he had acted after Black repeatedly declined to discuss the NDAs. "We believe that information is vital to our investigation," Comer told reporters, adding that he had issued the subpoenas because Black had refused "to answer specific questions about NDAs and the terms."

In his opening statement, Black denied all wrongdoing, saying he had never abused a woman, never engaged in sex trafficking and never paid Epstein for access to women. He described Epstein using the Jekyll and Hyde metaphor: "I knew Jekyll. I didn't know Hyde."

Black paid Epstein around $158 million between 2012 and 2017 for tax and estate planning services, a period that followed Epstein's 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution from a minor. A 2021 review by the Dechert law firm, commissioned by Apollo's board, found the payments were for legitimate advice and uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing by Black.

Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, rejected the subpoenas as politically motivated. "This was nothing more than a planned political stunt," she told reporters. "Mr Epstein had no involvement with any NDAs, whether they exist or not." Estrich said the committee had not asked her client a single question about the legitimate payments to Epstein before serving the subpoenas.

Robert Garcia, the committee's top Democrat, took a different view, telling reporters that Black had been defiant from the outset. "When we started asking questions about the women, the survivors, NDAs that Mr Black clearly has facilitated, he wouldn't answer those questions," Garcia said, warning that Black "will be held accountable if he doesn't comply with our investigation."

Black, who co-founded private equity firm Apollo Global Management, stepped down from all executive posts there in early 2021 following the revelations about his payments to Epstein. He has faced several civil lawsuits from women alleging sexual abuse, all of which he denies; two have been dismissed and a third remains ongoing. He has not been criminally charged.

Black is the 16th person to appear before the panel as part of its long-running investigation into Epstein's network of influence. Former president Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have all previously given testimony to the committee.

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