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House panel probing Epstein asked Leon Black about birthday book, their friendship

▶ Watch Video: Billionaire Leon Black testifies on Epstein payments, told to return under subpoena

Billionaire financier Leon Black’s voluntary interview with the House Oversight Committee on June 26 ended abruptly after the panel served him with subpoenas for copies of nondisclosure agreements and a second interview while the first interview was still underway, a transcript confirmed.

On Friday, the House Oversight Committee released the transcript of Black’s interview, which lasted less than an hour before his attorneys ended the session. 

After the interview, Susan Estrich, an attorney for Black, decried the subpoenas as “a planned political stunt.” 

The committee is seeking copies of some nondisclosure agreements Black has signed. Emails previously released by the panel show Epstein weighed in on Black’s personal affairs. According to court records, Black had a six-year affair with a Russian model named Guzel Ganieva. When Black was negotiating an NDA with her, Epstein offered him advice in an email written on Sept. 21, 2015.

Black admitted to the panel that he told Epstein about the affair and the woman’s alleged “blackmail and extortion.” After Ganieva signed the NDA, she unsuccessfully sued Black for rape and defamation, denying his claims of extortion. 

“Black has never been ‘extorted by Ms. Ganieva,’ her lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. 

Black denied Epstein was involved in negotiations and said Epstein was not aware of any other NDAs that Black had signed. Black also told the committee the terms of the NDAs prevented him from speaking on the record about them without a subpoena. 

Black denied in his opening statement that he was involved in or had any knowledge of Epstein’s alleged abuse of women, sex with underage women or sex trafficking, except for what he learned from Epstein’s 2008 plea deal for solicitation of prostitution from a minor. Black said he never paid Epstein for access to women.

Black testified that he was introduced to Epstein by a mutual friend in the 1990s and continued to associate with him because of the influential connections Epstein provided. According to Black, Epstein introduced him to numerous high-profile figures, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

A 2021 report commissioned by Apollo Global Management, the firm Black founded, concluded that he paid Epstein approximately $158 million for tax and estate planning services. The report found that the work was legitimate. In the interview, Black defended the payments but said that Epstein had misled him into believing the fees were tax-deductible, causing him to underestimate the total cost. 

He said he initially believed he would pay about $95 million but still suggested the higher amount was a bargain, estimating Epstein’s advice saved him between $1 and $2 billion. In 2023 he paid the U.S. Virgin Islands a $62.5 million settlement after he was sued over his financial support of Epstein.

A committee staff member also questioned Black about a poem he wrote for a book compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell to commemorate Epstein’s 50th birthday. The book included letters, drawings and messages from dozens of Epstein’s friends and business associates, many of which referenced his relationships with women. Black’s contribution included the lines, “Blond, red, or brunette spread out geographically, with this net of fish Jeff’s now the old man and the sea.”

Asked what he meant, Black testified, “Because he seemed to know women all over the world. He traveled. He was in Paris. He was in Santa Fe. He was in his island. And he enjoyed the company of good-looking women, and he was a bachelor.”

Although Black referred to Epstein in the book as his “best friend” and signed the note, “Love and kisses, Leon,” he denied that the two were as close as the message suggested. Black told the committee, “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.”

Epstein had been appointed by Black to the board of directors of his family’s foundation in 1997, but Black told the committee that he removed him from that role after Epstein’s arrest and conviction in 2008. Prior to that, he said that he saw Epstein roughly once every three to four weeks and regularly attended gatherings at Epstein’s townhouse. However, it wasn’t until 2018 that Black and Epstein completely broke ties, which Black attributed to Epstein’s “relentless pursuit of more and more money from me for professional services, his mistruths and misrepresentations” as well as “his failure to repay most of a $30 million loan.”    

Black is scheduled to return before the committee under subpoena in September.

What you need to breathe easier when the air is full of smoke

(CNN) — Many millions of Americans and Canadians are breathing bad air right now due to smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires and additional wildfires in northern Minnesota.If you’re in an affected area, it’s important to check air quality before you go anywhere this weekend, and keep certain items on hand to make life much more breathable when smoke is in the air.Wildfire smoke is a dangerous mix of gases and tiny particles – including the biggest danger to human health, particle pollution called PM2.5, microscopic particles smaller than a width of a human hair that can get stuck deep in your lungs or even enter the bloodstream, leading to more health problems down the road.Doctors are emphasizing the importance of minimizing your time in the smoke as much as possible.How to check the air qualityBefore you plan your day or go out, check AirNow.gov, says Dr. Rebecca Bascom, an attending physician who trains fellows in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Penn State.“They do real-time monitoring, so you’re able to know where your area is at a specific time, so you have both forecasting where you can try to predict what you’re going to be up against,” she said. “Our access to information that we can use for our own health planning is so much better than it used to be.”If AirNow.gov or your favorite weather app says the air quality is at an unhealthy red or the very unhealthy purple level, doctors recommend staying home.“We really should be mindful that even if we don’t have any underlying lung disease, we can still have problems breathing, particularly in this environment with the wildfire smoke,” said Dr. Rubabin Tooba, a pulmonologist with a secondary specialty in critical care medicine at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital.Prevention is always the best place to start with wildfire smoke, said Dr. Saema Tahir, a New York-based pulmonologist and critical care specialist.“Rule of thumb: It doesn’t matter if you’re healthy or not, young or old. Avoidance is always the best practice,” she said.A well-ventilated homeIf you’re home, close your windows and doors and run your air-conditioning. Units in windows and above doors need to be “very, very nicely sealed,” Tahir said, so they don’t allow external air in.Also make sure your home is well-ventilated, particularly in hot weather.“Heat actually creates more particles that get into the air, and then you have the smoke on top of that. It really exacerbates all the particles we’re breathing in,” Tooba said. “It is key to be in spaces where the air is ventilated since air that’s stagnant, the particles are just staying in place, and that’s not good for us, either.”To keep home air as clean as possible, use a HEPA filter. These air purification systems are designed to capture at least 99.97% of airborne particles, even the tiny ones like smoke, dust and dander, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.Dr. Kirsten Koehler, a professor in the environmental health and engineering departments who studies air quality issues at Johns Hopkins, said it’s important to keep windows closed, keep central air on and use a MERV filter on your HVAC system if possible. MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, and it measures the filter’s ability to remove airborne particles ranging from 0.3 to 10 microns.“You can tell the efficiency of those by looking at the MERV rating on those, and the higher the number, the better,” she said.With HEPA filters, it’s important to use those appropriate for the house, Koehler said. The label or the manufacturer’s website should say how big a space the filter should work in. Otherwise, you can use more than one portable air purifier, or use a smaller one in a smaller space and keep that space closed, Koehler said.If you don’t have HEPA filters, one lower-cost option is a Corsi Rosenthal box, which can be built at home using four MERV 13 filters, a box fan, duct tape and scissors. Instructions are available online.“Even building your own with just even a single filter in a box fan can provide some filtration for your space,” Koehler said. Put the filter behind the fan so it filters the air before it gets to the fan blade and doesn’t get the blade dirty.Hypoallergenic bedding can help if you have asthma or another lung condition, Tooba said. Hypoallergenic bedding like pillows, comforters and bedsheets is designed to resist common indoor allergens like pollen, pet dander and dust mites. It’s made from fabrics that are tightly woven or antimicrobial and can prevent irritants from settling into the fabric.Dos and don’ts for homeKeep trips outside the house to a minimum on heavy smoke days. Try to keep plenty of water, shelf-stable food and prescription medications on hand.If you have pets, make sure there’s extra pet food, and consider pee pads for dogs if you don’t want to take them on as many walks.“Do not try and do any heavy cleaning where there’s going to be dust in the air, because there’s already enough particulates in the air,” said Dr. Aida Capo, a pulmonologist at Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center.If you have to cook, use the microwave, or use the fan to ventilate the air.“Barbecuing and the heat with the air quality is just not a good mix right now because then you’re just inhaling what you’re cooking and inhaling the outside air, too,” Tooba said.Masks are keyDoctors suggest that your emergency kit include well-fitted N95, KN95 or P100 masks. It’s good to have one per person per day.If you have children, make sure you get a child-size mask that fits properly.Don’t bother using cloth or surgical masks, since they don’t really protect against the tiny particles found in wildfire smoke.One big reason why doctors suggest that people with asthma or other breathing problems stay home is because masks can be hard for them to wear comfortably.“An N95 mask can reduce the exposure, but that’s hard to wear. People with asthma have trouble with the pull of the mask against their face, and the N95 just works on the particles and not on the vapor phase of this wildfire smoke, and both can contribute to the difficulties in the respiratory system,” Bascom said.Be prepared for breathing issuesIf you have asthma or COPD, be sure you have your regular medicine, your rescue inhaler, a spacer and a nebulizer if you use one, and don’t hesitate to get things checked out if something doesn’t feel right.“If you experience shortness of breath or chest pain, dizziness, you should obviously see your doctor right away, or go to the emergency room,” Capo said. “Allergy medicine is also recommended because poor air quality can produce worsening allergies for everybody: itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, skin discomfort.“An asthma attack can kick in at any moment with this air quality. We’ve seen it in the emergency room, and I’ve seen it in my office these past couple of days,” Capo said.Tahir said it is also really important to keep rescue inhalers as close as possible, in a bag or pocket. “And always have one nearby at home,” she said. “Sometimes, people are running to go to their car or to bed, and the inhaler is all the way across the apartment or wherever it may be. Have them in multiple areas so you’re not exerting yourself to get that inhaler.“And if it just doesn’t feel good, take yourself to the ER. It’s better to be safe than sorry, and sometimes it’s hard to backtrack, when you end up on a breathing machine, so know the alarms and take yourself to the emergency room if you need to,” she said.If you have to driveIf you’re hitting the road and expect to be in smoky conditions for a while, bring plenty of water and shelf-stable snacks, along with power bank for your devices and extra charging cables.If you’re driving through smoky areas, don’t put the top down or use the sunroof.“A best recommendation is to keep the windows closed and then use the recirculation setting on your car. This will keep pulling the car from your cabin through your air filter again and then back into the car, so you’re not pulling the outdoor air in,” Koehler said.If you have to travelBring glasses, not just contacts, since wildfire smoke can irritate the eyes. You may also want to bring lubricating eye drops or artificial tears to avoid dryness and irritation.If you’re going away for the weekend, be sure to bring at least a week’s worth of prescription medications in case you get stuck somewhere. If you’re flying, keep those medications in your carry-on rather than your checked luggage, just in case your checked bag gets delayed.Take smoke seriouslyDays with poor air quality should be taken seriously, Capo said, and people really should stay home if they can.“I always recommend people look at the air quality before they go out, and if it’s poor or you’re getting the alerts, just stay inside. This is not the time to go out for a long walk or have a picnic,” she said. “It’s just not a good idea.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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