Bill Gates admitted cheating on his ex-wife, Melinda, and claimed Jeffrey Epstein tried to weaponize the affairs against him during a bombshell congressional grilling on Wednesday.
The Microsoft founder, 70, denied any wrongdoing but claimed the pedophile wielded the ‘painful’ secrets in a bid to strong-arm him back into the friendship after he cut it off.
‘I learned Epstein had become aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage. These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family,’ Gates said, according to his prepared statement to the House Oversight Committee.
Gates struck up a relationship with Epstein in 2011 after the financier promised he could help raise billions of dollars for global public health initiatives. Epstein was already a registered sex offender, having pleaded guilty in Florida three years earlier to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
‘I recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed. I accepted the introduction without applying the scrutiny I should have,’ Gates told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
He claimed his interactions with the pedophile were ‘limited’ and testified that he cut off all contact in 2014.
Gates alleged Epstein deployed what he knew of the infidelities, ‘in addition to many lies that he layered on top,’ to try to drag him back into the fold.
‘He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda. I should never have met with Epstein in the first place,’ Gates said.
Bill Gates arrives for a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill on Wednesday
Jeffrey Epstein, the Microsoft co-founder and investor Boris Nikolic in the Epstein files
Gates admitted to cheating on his ex-wife, Melinda, in his congressional grilling
Gates was hauled before Congress after featuring in photos and emails in the Epstein files
The businessman has called associating with Epstein a ‘huge mistake,’ but claims that he ‘did nothing wrong’ and ‘saw nothing illegal’
Gates was hauled before Congress after photos and emails in the Epstein files exposed startling new depths to his former friendship with the financier.
In one jaw-dropping email, Epstein alleged Gates planned to secretly slip Melinda an antibiotic to treat a sexually transmitted disease he caught from ‘Russian girls.’
The files also contained never-before-seen photos of Gates posing with young women.
Gates’s 27-year marriage to Melinda imploded in 2021, with his cozy ties to Epstein helping to wreck it.
Melinda said of Epstein after their divorce: ‘He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. My heart breaks for these women.’
Gates has called associating with Epstein a ‘huge mistake’, but claims that he ‘did nothing wrong’ and ‘saw nothing illegal.’
The pair met in person, traded emails and Gates flew on Epstein’s private jet, though he has repeatedly denied ever setting foot on the pedophile’s Caribbean island.
Epstein was federally indicted in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking of minors and related conspiracy.
The House Oversight Committee has been investigating how the government handled the Epstein case and what it has released from its files
The interview will not be videotaped, unlike several others released by the committee, but a transcript is expected
The Justice Department alleged that Epstein formed a vast network of underage girls, some as young as 14, for him to sexually abuse between 2002 and 2005. He died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.
Gates has called the ‘Russian girls’ email fake and denied the allegations. He told Australian television in February that he had been ‘foolish’ to associate with Epstein, but said the relationship had nothing to do with the financier’s crimes. Appearing in the Epstein files does not indicate evidence of a crime.
‘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.
Gates told his foundation staff that he had affairs with two Russian women, the Wall Street Journal reported, but denied spending time with Epstein’s victims.
Gates reportedly acknowledged that his then-wife, Melinda, raised concerns about Epstein in 2013, but that he continued the relationship for at least another year.
Melinda has said that the remaining questions about the relationship are for her ex-husband and others to answer.
The House Oversight Committee has been investigating Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, as part of a broad examination of how the government handled the case and what it has released from its files.
Donald Trump, who also had a years-long relationship with Epstein, initially opposed releasing the files, prompting accusations of a coverup that dogged his first year back in office.
Democrats say they intend to ask what Gates knew about Epstein’s crimes and the full nature of their relationship.
The interview will not be videotaped, unlike several others released by the committee, but a transcript is expected.
Gates reportedly hired former DOJ lawyer John Moran and was prepped by Jake Greenberg, a former top Oversight Committee investigator. Ethics experts said the move raised eyebrows over optics but did not necessarily break any rules.
