What did you know? What did you see? What did you do? These are just some of the questions Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will likely face Wednesday when he fronts U.S. lawmakers over his relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Gates, one of the world’s richest men and a leading philanthropist, is set to appear before the House Oversight Committee for a transcribed interview about the disgraced financier, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
He will be following other powerful figures who have already testified, like former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, billionaire Les Wexner, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, as Breitbart News reported.
The panel asked Gates to appear after documents released by the Justice Department shone fresh light on his varied contacts with Epstein.
Two people take part in the demonstration “Transparency, rule of law and protection of minors” with a mask of Jeffrey Epstein (l) and Bill Gates with a sign reading “Trust me I’m a pedophile” in Berlin. The demand is for “clarification of possible German connections in the international Epstein complex”. (Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Gates told AFP in a statement the billionaire welcomed the chance to appear before the committee and emphasized he had “never witnessed or participated in Epstein’s illegal conduct.”
The Epstein files include a 2013 draft email in which the financier appeared to suggest he had helped Gates manage the fallout from extramarital affairs, including by seeking antibiotics after a sexually transmitted infection.
Gates has called the email fake and denied the allegations. He told Australian television in February he had been “foolish” to associate with Epstein, but said the relationship had nothing to do with the financier’s crimes.
“Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize that I did that… It’s factually true that I was only at dinners. I never went to (his) island, I never met any women,” he said.
When the tech billionaire apologized to employees of his Gates Foundation for his exposed ties to Epstein in February, he claimed their relationship lasted from 2011 to 2014 and reportedly admitted he “did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities.”
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) called Gates for the interview in a March 3 letter, writing, “Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, and documents obtained by the Committee, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation.”
Simply appearing in Epstein-related documents does not indicate evidence of a crime or wrongdoing.
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