2026年6月4日 / 美国东部时间下午6:10 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
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格雷厄姆·凯茨 记者
格雷厄姆·凯茨是哥伦比亚广播公司新闻数字部负责刑事司法、隐私问题和信息安全的调查记者。可通过KatesG@cbsnews.com或grahamkates@protonmail.com联系格雷厄姆。
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俄勒冈州民主党参议员罗恩·怀登要求众议院小组委员会在亿万富翁莱昂·布莱克本月晚些时候出席众议院监督委员会听证会时，就其向杰弗里·爱泼斯坦支付的巨额税务咨询费用对其进行质询。
怀登在周四写给委员会主席、肯塔基州共和党众议员詹姆斯·科默以及民主党排名靠前的议员众议员罗伯特·加西亚的信中，概述了针对布莱克与爱泼斯坦关系展开的四年调查结果。
怀登在信中写道，2012年至2017年间，布莱克向爱泼斯坦支付了1.7亿美元，用于税务和遗产规划咨询。
“迄今为止，我认为布莱克没有就为何向爱泼斯坦支付远超其其他专业税务和遗产规划顾问报酬的金额，给出可信解释，”怀登写道。
怀登的信中提到，2013年和2014年，布莱克还向一家律师事务所支付了200万美元用于遗产规划，仅为同期支付给爱泼斯坦费用的一小部分。
“布莱克聘请的顶级律所律师的时薪超过1000美元，然而爱泼斯坦获得的报酬却远超一大群身价高昂的律所律师，”怀登写道。
怀登曾于3月致信布莱克，要求其就所谓“爱泼斯坦档案”中披露的布莱克与爱泼斯坦“存在重大个人和财务纠葛”的相关问题作出回应。
布莱克的律师亚当·弗里德曼在4月回复怀登称，“这些材料未包含任何可信证据，证明布莱克先生知晓或参与了爱泼斯坦先生当时正在进行的犯罪活动。”
弗里德曼还指责身为参议院财政委员会排名靠前议员的怀登，试图获取超出委员会管辖范围的信息。
“我们看不出3月的这封信有任何可辨识的合法立法目的，”弗里德曼写道。“国会调查并非用于公开询问个别公民个人生活的工具。”
尽管如此，怀登表示布莱克“拒绝”回答有关其向爱泼斯坦付款相关“未决违规行为”的问题。
布莱克的发言人周四拒绝置评。
布莱克的律师苏珊· Estrich去年12月告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，布莱克要求阿波罗公司对其与爱泼斯坦的关系展开内部调查。德切特律师事务所“调查并审阅了6万多份文件，得出结论称布莱克先生向爱泼斯坦支付费用仅用于遗产规划和税务咨询，不多不少，”埃斯特里奇说道。
怀登还称，最近 unsealed（注：此处按原格式保留，标准译法为“公开解密”）的司法部记录“似乎表明布莱克可能利用杰弗里·爱泼斯坦作为中间人，向女性支付封口费”，且爱泼斯坦“密切跟踪布莱克达成和解/签署保密协议的女性，并联系俄罗斯政府官员帮助布莱克解决这些所谓的问题”。
怀登的信中提及2017年10月的一封邮件往来，一名被描述为布莱克助手的女性在邮件中向爱泼斯坦写道：“L提到他要转给我10万美元，但我只收到了2.8万美元。”
“这里的‘L’显然指的是[莱昂]布莱克，”怀登写道。
怀登还指出了布莱克与美属维尔京群岛政府之间达成的6200万美元法律和解协议，“涉及与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦相关的所有问题”。
“目前尚不清楚这项刑事豁免旨在涵盖哪些潜在行为，”怀登写道。
Sen. Ron Wyden wants to know why Leon Black paid Epstein $170 million for tax planning over 5-year period
June 4, 2026 / 6:10 PM EDT / CBS News
By
Graham Kates Reporter
Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com
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Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon is demanding that a House panel question billionaire Leon Black over the extraordinary sums he paid Jeffrey Epstein for tax advice when he testifies before the House Oversight Committee later this month.
In a letter Thursday to the committee’s chairman, GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, and Democratic Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia, Wyden outlined the results of a four-year investigation into Black’s relationship with Epstein.
Wyden wrote in his letter that Black paid Epstein $170 million between 2012 and 2017 for tax and estate planning advice.
“To date, I do not believe Black has provided a credible explanation as to why he paid Epstein amounts that vastly exceeded those paid to other professional advisors involved in his tax and estate planning,” Wyden wrote.
Wyden’s letter notes that in 2013 and 2014, Black also paid a law firm $2 million for estate planning, a small fraction of what he paid Epstein during those years.
“Black’s attorneys from premier law firms demand rates exceeding $1,000 an hour, yet Epstein was paid exponentially more than a small army of high-priced lawyers from firms,” Wyden wrote.
Wyden had written to Black in March to demand answers to questions related to revelations from the so-called Epstein files about Black’s “significant personal and financial entanglements with Epstein.”
Adam Fridman, an attorney for Black, responded in April, writing to Wyden that, “those materials do not contain any credible evidence that Mr. Black was aware of, or involved with, Mr. Epstein’s then-ongoing criminal activities.”
Fridman also accused Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, of seeking information outside the committee’s jurisdiction.
“We see no discernable legitimate legislative purpose underpinning the March 20 Letter,” Fridman wrote. “Congressional investigations are not vehicles for public inquiries about an individual private citizen’s personal life.”
Still, Wyden said Black has “refused” to respond to questions about “outstanding irregularities” related to his payments to Epstein.
A spokesperson for Black declined to comment Thursday.
Susan Estrich, an attorney for Black, told CBS News in December that Black requested an internal investigation at Apollo of his relationship with Epstein. The law firm, Dechert LLP, “investigated and reviewed more than 60,000 documents and concluded that Mr. Black paid Epstein for estate planning and tax advice, no more, no less,” Estrich said.
Wyden also claimed that recently unsealed DOJ records “appear to indicate that Black may have funneled hush money payments to women using Jeffrey Epstein as a middleman,” and that Epstein “kept close tabs of women who Black had reached settlements/NDAs with and reached out to Russian government officials to help Black with these so-called problems.”
Wyden’s letter refers to an October 2017 email exchange in which a woman, described as an associate of Black’s, wrote to Epstein, “L mentioned he’s going to transfer me $100,000 but I’ve received $28,000.”
“The ‘L’ here seemingly refers to [Leon] Black,” Wyden wrote.
Wyden also flagged a $62 million legal settlement between Black and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands “for all issues related to Jeffrey Epstein.”
“It is unclear what potential conduct this criminal immunity was intended to cover,” Wyden wrote.
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