The Gates Foundation is planning to reduce its workforce by about 20 percent of its total staff while simultaneously commissioning an outside review of Bill Gates’ connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Wall Street Journal reports that an internal email sent to employees reveals that the philanthropic organization is undertaking significant organizational changes amid ongoing controversy surrounding Chairman Bill Gates’s association with Epstein. The foundation has faced sustained scrutiny since details of Gates’s relationship with the disgraced financier became public.
Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, disclosed in a Tuesday memo that he had commissioned an external examination of the foundation’s engagement with Epstein, as well as a review of policies governing how new philanthropic partnerships are vetted and developed. Suzman stated in the communication, “This is a challenging time for our organization in many ways, but it also highlights the critical importance of taking the tough actions now.” The Journal reported that an update on this review is anticipated during the summer months.
The foundation’s troubles intensified in January when the Justice Department released emails showing correspondence between Epstein and staff members at the organization. These DOJ documents additionally contained photographs showing Bill Gates alongside Epstein, as well as images of Gates with women whose faces had been redacted.
In February, the foundation issued a statement asserting that it had never made financial payments to Epstein nor employed him in any capacity. The organization also expressed regret that any of its employees had interacted with him. During a town hall meeting with foundation staff that same month, a spokesperson told Reuters that Gates “took responsibility for his actions” concerning his ties to Epstein.
Bill Gates has maintained that his relationship with Epstein was limited to philanthropic matters and has acknowledged that meeting with him was a mistake. He has further denied any contact with victims of Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Despite Gates’ claims, a recent release of the Epstein files contained shocking allegations against Gates, including the claim that he was planning on secretly drugging his wife to cure an STD before she was diagnosed:
In the 2013 email — written seemingly in the voice of one of Gates’ top advisers, Boris Nikolic, but sent only to Epstein himself — the disgraced financier and convicted sex predator wrote that the Microsoft co-founder was trying “to get drugs in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls.”
Epstein added that the billionaire had also asked to be provided with antibiotics so that he could secretly drug his then-wife, Melinda Gates.
The email appears to be notes Epstein drafted for Gates’ longtime adviser, Boris Nikolic, who seemingly sought to announce his intent to resign from both the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Gates Ventures after some type of dispute.
Epstein’s email began with a lengthy rant to Gates — in Nikolic’s voice — declaring, “I cannot believe that you have chosen to disregard our friendship” after the Microsoft co-founder asked him “to be the major actor in a cover up so that you can maintain the reputation that you have worked so hard to achieve.”
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.
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