Leon Black refuses to show up Thursday. His crime? The House Oversight Committee wants NDAs related to Jeffrey Epstein. Black's lawyers insist the NDAs have nothing to do with Epstein. The committee disagrees. Black filed a lawsuit instead of appearing. This is how rich people RSVP.
The subpoena asks for documents. Black's legal team says no. They've decided congressional oversight works on an opt-in basis now. You can just sue your way out of a subpoena if you have enough money for lawyers who bill by the semicolon. The rest of us get contempt charges. Black gets a court filing and a long weekend.
His attorneys argue the NDAs are unrelated to the dead sex offender. What are they related to? We don't know. That's what the NDAs prevent us from knowing. This is the legal equivalent of "I can't tell you what's in the box but trust me the box is fine." The House committee would like to check the box. Black would prefer they didn't.
Technical analysis suggests none of this matters. The S&P doesn't care if a billionaire skips a hearing. Your portfolio won't move. Leon Black's legal strategy has zero correlation with your ETF. Retail traders will still check futures at 4 a.m. and panic-sell at a loss. The VIX will do whatever the f*ck it wants. Black will either show up later or pay a fine that costs him less than his car insurance.
Meanwhile your Stop Loss just triggered because you believed a YouTube thumbnail with flames on it. Black's lawyers are billing $1,800 an hour to argue about paperwork. You're arguing with a Discord moderator about whether SPY puts were a good idea. They weren't.
Congress subpoenas a billionaire. Billionaire sues Congress. Billionaire doesn't show. This is the system working exactly as the founding fathers intended if the founding fathers were also trying to avoid depositions.
Photo by Cole Miller on Unsplash
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