Overview
- Black filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday, September 3, 2026, asking a D.C. federal judge to block two subpoenas from the House Oversight Committee and did not appear for a scheduled sworn deposition.
- The committee issued the subpoenas in June after a voluntary closed‑door interview, one demanding nondisclosure agreements and related documents and the other compelling him to return for a videotaped deposition.
- Black’s complaint says the subpoenas are overbroad, exceed the committee’s authority, and would expose private women who bargained for confidentiality, an argument his lawyer called a fishing expedition.
- House Oversight Chair James Comer and top Democrat Robert Garcia condemned Black’s refusal to comply and said the panel recorded his absence and is weighing contempt or other enforcement steps.
- The dispute sends a key evidence fight into the courts, creates a likely delay in obtaining NDAs that survivors and investigators say could shed light on Epstein’s network, and raises sharp questions about congressional subpoena power and privacy protections before the 119th Congress ends.