Bill Gates testifies in closed-door US House meeting over Epstein ties 

Tech entrepreneur Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has testified in a closed-door session with a panel in the United States House of Representatives about his connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

While Wednesday’s meeting was held in private, Gates shared his opening remarks online, wherein he denied any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal actions.

“I want to state very clearly: I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct,” Gates wrote.

“I never went to his island, his ranch, or his Florida home. I have never victimized anyone. While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated.”

Gates’s testimony was the latest in a string of appearances before the House Oversight Committee, as it seeks further information about Epstein’s connections — and whether powerful figures may have shielded the well-connected financier from accountability before his death in 2019.

Committee chair James Comer, a Republican, told reporters on his way to the hearing that lawmakers would probe Gates about his connection with Epstein and his co-defendant, Ghislaine Maxwell.

“We just want to know about his relationship with Mr Epstein and Ms Maxwell. What did he see? Did he know what was going on? Was he involved in any of this?” Comer said.

“I will say this: No one’s accusing Bill Gates of any wrongdoing, and I certainly appreciate him coming in voluntarily.”

But while there has been bipartisan outrage about the government’s handling of the Epstein case, critics have raised concerns the direction the committee’s Republican leadership has taken its investigation.

A string of committee interviews

Wednesday’s meeting with Gates marked the 15th interview the House Oversight Committee has conducted.

Already, political figures like former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have sat for depositions in front of the committee. So have business leaders like Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner.

Pam Bondi, who served as attorney general until her firing on April 2, also appeared for an interview last month, though she avoided a sworn deposition.

Notably absent from the committee’s lineup is President Donald Trump, who socialised with Epstein during the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, including his solicitation of minors and his alleged sex-trafficking ring.

Since Trump returned to office for a second term, his administration has faced accusations that it mishandled the Epstein file. New details about Trump’s relationship with Epstein have also emerged in media reports.

In November, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act mandating that the Department of Justice release all files pertaining to the convicted sex offender within 30 days.

But that deadline was missed. When millions of files did become available in January, critics argued that some of the published records were unlawfully redacted, while victims’ identities were released to the public.

Epstein is accused of masterminding a decades-long sex-trafficking ring whose victims are thought to number in the hundreds.

In 2008, Epstein agreed to a plea arrangement that critics have compared to a sweetheart deal.

In exchange for pleading guilty to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, he received an 18-month prison sentence. He ultimately served 13 months instead.

At the time of his death, Epstein was facing federal sex-trafficking charges. He was found dead in his jail cell in 2019, and his death was ruled a suicide.

Gates’s testimony

In his statement on Wednesday, Gates told the House committee that he met Epstein in 2011 as he was seeking to raise funds for his philanthropic work.

“Epstein claimed he could raise billions of dollars for global health from people for whom he provided tax and estate services,” Gates said. “I recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed.”

Gates explained that he held three meetings with Epstein in 2011 and two in 2012.

Their conversations became more “extensive” over the following two years, until Gates said their negotiations reached a “dead-end”. He added that he severed contact with Epstein in December 2014.

“At that point, I concluded Epstein would never deliver on his promises. I told him we would go no further and stopped communicating or meeting with him,” Gates recalled. “No vehicle for charitable giving was ever created and no funds were raised.”

Gates also addressed emails released in the Epstein files showing the wealthy financier discussing his extramarital affairs. He accused Epstein of seeking to use that information to coerce him.

“These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family,” Gates said.

“As the public can now see, based on what has been released in the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities — in addition to many lies that he layered on top — to pressure me to re-engage with him. He was unsuccessful in this effort.”

Gates concluded his statement by saying that meeting with Epstein in the first place was a “grave error in judgment”.

“If the time I spent with Epstein lent him any credibility, I am deeply sorry. I have learned a significant lesson and am now far more careful about who I engage with even in a limited capacity,” Gates said.

More interviews to come

For his part, Comer, the committee’s chair, has denied any political motivations behind its selection of testimonies.

He accused Democrats of obstructing the investigation by questioning the committee’s decisions and said he was “happy” with its work so far.

“It’s real frustrating because the Democrats have been nothing but dead weight in this investigation, but I feel like we’ve accomplished a lot,” Comer said.

“One thing that’s clear is many of these people have never been interviewed by the government. They’ve never been interviewed by the FBI. They’ve never been interviewed by the Department of Justice. So this is the first time there’s been a substantive investigation.”

In the coming weeks, the committee is also expected to interview investment banker Leon Black, Clinton aide Doug Band and Jes Staley, the former CEO of the investment bank Barclays, about their connections to Epstein.

But Comer hinted that even more interviews may be coming in July. He mentioned lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a former member of Trump’s legal team, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as possibilities.

Should Blanche testify, Comer said he would press the law enforcement official about whether the Epstein Files Transparency Act had been complied with.

“The main thing that we have for Blanche is the question of: What, if any, documents are left out there?”

Democratic Representative Robert Garcia applauded the news that Blanche would testify. He added, however, that further assurances are needed.

“It is very important to us that that is a deposition that is under oath, and it’s video-taped and released to the American public,” Garcia said. “It’s not enough to just get Blanche in. We have to have Blanche under oath.”