Epstein-linked billionaire accused of rape privately reached out to federal judge to defend his ‘good name’

Leon Black has denied he ever met or raped ‘Jane Doe’. In an exclusive statement, Doe tells the Guardian ‘I am still here. And I am not done’Lawyers for Leon Black, the billionaire investor who has been accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a teenage girl inside Jeffrey Epstein’s New York townhouse in 2002, reached out to a powerful federal judge in 2024 to raise doubts about the alleged victim’s claims, a Guardian investigation found.The move set off a months-long court proceeding, which was conducted outside of public view and led US district judge Jed Rakoff to reverse a $2.5m award that had been granted to the alleged victim in a separate Epstein-related class action lawsuit, according to court records. She was later given a much smaller settlement in the class action case. Continue reading…

Leon Black has denied he ever met or raped ‘Jane Doe’. In an exclusive statement, Doe tells the Guardian ‘I am still here. And I am not done’Lawyers for Leon Black, the billionaire investor who has been accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a teenage girl inside Jeffrey Epstein’s New York townhouse in 2002,…

Leon Black has denied he ever met or raped ‘Jane Doe’. In an exclusive statement, Doe tells the Guardian ‘I am still here. And I am not done’Lawyers for Leon Black, the billionaire investor who has been accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a teenage girl inside Jeffrey Epstein’s New York townhouse in 2002, reached out to a powerful federal judge in 2024 to raise doubts about the alleged victim’s claims, a Guardian investigation found.The move set off a months-long court proceeding, which was…