Epstein offered advice to billionaire facing sex abuse accusation

Documents released by Congress shed caller airy connected Jeffrey Epstein's relation successful an effort to assistance billionaire Leon Black squelch an accusation of intersexual impropriety. 

Epstein's narration with Black has already faced extended scrutiny, but precocious released, antecedently unreported emails from the House Oversight Committee papers Epstein's engagement successful Black's idiosyncratic affairs portion the backstage equity capitalist paid him immense sums for wealthiness absorption advice.

Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, had a six-year matter with a erstwhile Russian exemplary named Guzel Ganieva, whom helium met astatine a enactment successful New York City successful 2008, according to tribunal records. It was a narration that ended successful acrimony, with Ganieva accusing Black of intersexual abuse.

As Black prepared a nondisclosure statement to unafraid Ganieva's soundlessness astir their matter and her allegations of abuse, Epstein offered him immoderate advice. Epstein suggested successful a Sept. 21, 2015, email that Black prosecute erstwhile instrumentality enforcement officers to attack Ganieva astir the agreement.

"Choose method of connection delivery, my choice. - 2 highly respected erstwhile ---- capable successful the blank, immigration, scotland yard. sfo. . who whitethorn sound connected her doorway and contiguous the terms," Epstein wrote successful his emblematic email style, forsaking modular grammar and punctuation. 

Black had learned that Ganieva was readying to question from London to New York to face him. And Epstein suggested a akin attack if she showed up stateside. "Have the aforesaid types of individuals [available] successful caller york if she decides to instrumentality arsenic stated.. one similar erstwhile fbi, oregon migration 1 antheral 1 woman."

Epstein did not notation Ganieva by name, but details successful the email marque it wide he's referring to her. A spokesperson for Black did not quality that conclusion. An lawyer for Ganieva declined to comment.

Epstein penned a follow-up email minutes later, giving Black's adjunct and lawyer further instructions. Epstein wrote that Black's adjunct "should acceptable up a abstracted email relationship for this correspondence. she presently is connected an apollo server." 

No different emails successful the trove released by Congress look to code Black's long-running quality with Ganieva. 

Ernest Badway, a erstwhile Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyer who often represents clients successful interior investigations, said an speech of this quality should person acceptable disconnected reddish flags wrong his institution erstwhile they aboriginal looked into Black's ties to Epstein.

"As an investigator, that would interest maine if I saw an email that radical sent connected the business's server saying, 'set up a backstage email truthful we tin person backstage conversations.' You know, what are those backstage conversations about?" Badway said.

Epstein spent years forging relationships that bridged his concern interests with his connections to planetary instrumentality enforcement and quality figures — including immoderate almighty players successful Russia. He engaged successful transactions with Russian banks involving hundreds of millions of dollars, a legislature investigator, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, said successful July. He often met with Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, until Churkin's decease successful 2017. And helium nurtured a narration with erstwhile Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Sergey Belyakov — a reputed FSB agent.

In the summertime of 2015, Epstein reached retired to Belyakov for accusation connected Ganieva to find whether she was moving for the Russian government, according to The Dossier Center, a website tally by erstwhile Russian oligarch and Putin professional Mikhail Kordokovsky. 

On Oct. 18, 2015, Ganieva signed a nondisclosure declaration with Black successful which the billionaire agreed to wage her $100,000 monthly for 15 years, forgive a $1 cardinal indebtedness and supply 2 cardinal British pounds for her to get ineligible presumption successful the U.K. 

Two months later, Epstein emailed Black seeking further payments for his fiscal advice. 

"As you are good aware, There is small I won't bash for you, oregon astatine slightest effort to bash arsenic a friend, and a large woody that I person already done ( some known and immoderate things that volition request (sp) to stay unknown.)" Epstein wrote. 

The nondisclosure statement broke down 4 years later, starring to a bid of lawsuits and countersuits. Court filings amusement Black discussed Ganieva's woody with 2 people, Epstein and a backstage investigator. It's unclear if Black turned to the backstage researcher — who had spent decades moving for the U.S. Department of Justice — due to the fact that Epstein had suggested hiring ex-law enforcement. 

Susan Estrich, an lawyer for Black, told CBS News that his narration with Epstein has already been the taxable of an interior probe commissioned by Apollo, and conducted by the instrumentality steadfast Dechert LLP. 

"Epstein's emails, to which Mr. Black ne'er responded, marque it wide that Epstein was a braggart who embellished and exaggerated his relation and responsibilities successful galore ways," Estrich said. "Mr. Black's consensual narration with Ms. Ganieva ended with an amicable colony successful 2015 and a voluntary non-disclosure agreement. Ms. Ganieva's unfounded suit against Mr. Black has been dismissed by the proceedings tribunal and that determination was upheld connected appeal."

The Dechert probe concluded that Black paid Epstein $158 cardinal for enactment related to his household office, "and that Black genuinely believed that Epstein was highly smart, capable, and saved him important amounts of money." The Dechert study made nary notation of immoderate effort by Epstein to counsel Black regarding Ganieva — lone that Black had "confided" successful Epstein astir definite idiosyncratic matters. 

"Mr. Black asked for an autarkic probe of his narration with Jeffery Epstein and Dechert investigated and reviewed much than 60,000 documents and concluded that Mr. Black paid Epstein for property readying and taxation advice, nary more, nary less," Estrich said. 

It's unclear if the 2 emails astir Ganieva were among those turned implicit to Dechert's investigators. The Dechert probe was led by Andrew Levander, a erstwhile national prosecutor. Levander, who besides represented erstwhile CBS CEO Les Moonves erstwhile helium was the absorption of an interior probe successful 2018, declined to comment.

Black stepped down from the institution helium founded successful March 2021, citing wellness concerns, 2 months aft the Dechert study was finalized. 

Sen. Wyden — who has spent astir 4 years investigating the fiscal narration betwixt Black and Epstein — says Black's payments to Epstein really reached $170 cardinal and helium does not judge the emerging representation matches Black's mentation for paying Epstein nine-figure "fees" for taxation advice. 

"All on Mr. Black's communicative has been that he, a multi-billionaire Wall Street titan who employed the finest taxation and property readying minds successful America, had to wage astronomical rates for peculiar taxation proposal from Jeffrey Epstein, who was neither a taxation lawyer nor an accountant," Wyden told CBS News. "I've ne'er recovered Black's relationship believable, and each caller revelation successful this lawsuit raises much troubling questions astir what truly motivated his payments to Epstein and whether erstwhile investigations of this substance covered up the truth."

• Jeffrey Epstein