Billionaire Leon Black expected to testify Friday before House Epstein panel

An investor who employed and was close to Jeffrey Epstein is scheduled to appear before members of Congress investigating the deceased sexual abuser. Billionaire Leon Black paid Epstein extraordinary sums that his spokespeople have said was for tax advice and estate planning. Earlier this month, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote to the House Oversight Committee — which is set to interview Black on Friday— demanding they ask Black about some $170 million in payments to Epstein between 2012 and 2017. "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," the Oregon senator wrote. Wyden also wrote to Black in March to demand answers to questions arising from revelations from the Epstein files about his "significant personal and financial entanglements with Epstein." On Thursday, asked whether Black had responded to his letter, Wyden said, "He stonewalled repeatedly. We just haven't gotten the answers that are responsive." An attorney for Black , the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, wrote in an April letter to Wyden that documents released this year under the Epstein Files Transparency Act "do not contain any credible evidence that Mr. Black was aware of, or involved with, Mr. …