The fallout from the Epstein saga is tearing through the MAGA movement, creating political turmoil for President Donald Trump—who’s privately asked, “What’s going on with my ‘boys’—and in some cases, ‘gals’?” But one “boy” he might want to ask more seriously about is billionaire financier Leon Black.
Back in 2018, while Congress investigated foreign interference in the 2016 election, Black testified under oath that he had accompanied Trump to Russia in the scandal-soaked 1990s. According to his statement, they attended a concert, went clubbing, and—perhaps most notably—“might have been in a strip club together.”
Now, fresh scrutiny is falling on Black’s financial entanglements with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. As The Swamp has learned, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice is facing pointed questions about Black’s Epstein ties—and what, if anything, Bondi plans to do about them.
One piece of the puzzle: a photograph unearthed by the Senate Intelligence Committee showing Trump and Black together in Russia in 1996, surrounded by mahogany-paneled walls and mystery. The same committee has reportedly turned over troves of information on Black’s connections to Epstein—records that appear to be collecting dust at the DOJ.
“I don’t blame anybody who says they smell a cover-up,” said Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, in a blunt statement to The Swamp.
Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, has admitted to paying Epstein a staggering $170 million—supposedly for tax and estate planning advice. He has long denied any awareness of Epstein’s crimes.
But a 2023 settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General’s office contradicts that tidy narrative. According to the agreement, funds Black paid Epstein were used to support Epstein’s operations on Little St. James—infamously dubbed “pedo island.” The same document shows Black agreed to pay $62.5 million to resolve any liability stemming from the Virgin Islands’ three-year probe into Epstein’s sex trafficking empire.
Those eye-popping numbers—and their quiet resolution—have alarmed investigators like Wyden, who’s now pressuring Bondi’s DOJ, as well as the FBI and Treasury Department, to investigate further.
“Attorney General Bondi is out in public saying there’s nothing more to see here,” Wyden said. “But I know for a fact the Trump administration is sitting on a fat file full of actionable intelligence about Epstein’s financial network.”
The White House did not respond to questions about the case. Black, through his representatives, also declined to comment. But earlier this year, in a striking interview with Puck News, he reflected on Epstein’s social life with remarkable candor.
“I’m not in any way, shape, or form defending Jeffrey,” Black said, distancing himself. “I don’t believe any of these guys knew Jeffrey was a pedophile—I certainly didn’t. I thought he was a fascinating guy.” He noted that others frequently dined at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, including Woody Allen, Dick Cavett, and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
Trump’s connection to the Black family doesn’t end with Leon. His son, Ben Black, was nominated by the Trump administration to lead the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. That nomination is still awaiting Senate approval—casting an even longer shadow over a family name now entangled with Epstein’s legacy.
As the Epstein affair continues to divide MAGA and embarrass the White House, what once looked like ancient political history is fast becoming a 2025 nightmare for Donald Trump—and perhaps a ticking time bomb inside his own circle.