Bill Gates says Epstein caused him stress by knowing about his extramarital affairs
Bill Gates tells Congress that Jeffrey Epstein used knowledge about his extramarital affairs to get them to get back together.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, told Congress that Jeffrey Epstein tried to get him to get back in touch by using information about his sexual affairs. Gates insisted that he did not fully understand how terrible Epstein’s crimes were when they were together.
Gates told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in private on Wednesday that he had never seen Epstein do anything illegal and that he felt terrible about having dealt with him.
On page one of his opening statement, Gates said, “These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family.”
“Epstein was trying to get me to get back together with him by telling me many lies and providing me with information about my affairs.”
Congress is still looking into how the US Justice Department handled the Epstein case and other cases involving his partner Ghislaine Maxwell. This evidence came at the same time.
Chair of the Committee James Comer asked Gates to appear in a March letter as part of the panel’s probe into possible federal mismanagement in Epstein-related investigations and prosecutions.
Epstein was charged with an illegal prostitution crime in Florida in 2008 and went to jail for 13 months. He was later charged by federal prosecutors with sex trafficking children in 2019. He said he wasn’t guilty, and later that year he died in jail before his hearing.
The Justice Department released documents this year that showed Gates and Epstein met several times after Epstein got out of jail in 2008 to discuss charitable projects related to Gates’ work.
There were also pictures of Gates with women whose names were blacked out in the records. Gates has said in the past that his only interactions with Epstein were connected to charity work, and he has admitted that meeting him was a mistake.
The Gates Foundation told Reuters that Gates “took responsibility for his actions” at a town hall meeting with foundation employees in February.
The organization has also faced criticism due to its past collaboration with Epstein. It announced in April that its work with the financier would be reviewed by an outside party. Earlier this year, the Justice Department shared emails that showed Epstein talking to foundation staff.
The House committee is looking into how investigations and plea deals were handled, as well as Epstein’s death, efforts to stop trafficking, worries about ethics, and delays in releasing government records.
The Justice Department released millions of papers that showed Epstein’s ties to important people in politics, business, finance, and academia, including President Donald Trump, who hung out with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s.
The new information has made people look more closely at how the authorities handled the Epstein case and stoked political debate over the release of government files related to the investor.
