Bill Gates is testifying in front of the House committee on oversight and reform on Wednesday, and told lawmakers in his opening remarks that he “never witnessed nor had any indication” that Jeffrey Epstein was “engaged in ongoing criminal conduct”.
“I am here to answer your questions about my interactions with Jeffrey Epstein and to help contribute to the committee’s important work,” Gates said in his opening statement, seen by the Guardian. “I support the release of all the Epstein files and sincerely hope that, through your efforts and those of others advocating on their behalf, the survivors of Epstein’s crimes can get the justice that they deserve.”
The Microsoft co-founder is appearing in a closed-door session as part of the committee’s investigation into the convicted sex offender, where lawmakers are expected to question him about his past relationship with Epstein. A transcript of the interview is expected to be released at a later date.
“At the outset, I want to state very clearly: I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct,” Gates said. “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 told lawmakers that he was “introduced to Epstein in 2011 through people I trusted in my professional and philanthropic work” and that Epstein had “claimed he could raise billions of dollars for global health from people for whom he provided tax and estate services”.
“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 said, referring to Epstein having pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution and of solicitation of prostitution with a minor. “I accepted the introduction without applying the scrutiny I should have.”
Gates said that his “interactions with Epstein began with a limited number of preliminary meetings – three in 2011 and two in 2012 – during which I talked about the goals of my work”.
The billionaire said that the two began “more extensive conversations in 2013 and 2014” and that the discussions “focused on identifying potential giving structures, such as donor-advised funds, and how to enroll individuals he claimed were interested in making significant contributions”.
“I made it clear to Epstein from the outset that he would never play a role in any of the work or receive any compensation,” Gates said.
Gates said that in 2014, “after Epstein brought together a group he described as potential donors, I realized that our prior discussions – which should have translated into meaningful philanthropic support – were a dead end”.
“It was clear that no one in the group was interested enough to move forward,” he said, adding: “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 said that their interactions ended in December 2014. Gates told lawmakers that it was during the same time period that an employee of his was “was in the process of transitioning out of my private office” and that the employee “engaged Epstein to negotiate and advise him on the terms of the separation”.
“His involvement resulted in email exchanges, calls and meetings with members of my team and me,” Gates said. “The agreement we ultimately reached was not any different from what was previously agreed upon months in advance of Epstein inserting himself.”
Gates told lawmakers that it was “after this that 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,” he 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, 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. Based on what I know now, I understand that even if he had delivered the new donors he promised, it would not have justified associating with him.”
Gates said: “I see now that he sought to build an image of legitimacy around himself, using connections to reputable and powerful people to deflect scrutiny and attempt to rehabilitate his reputation. I was so focused on the possibility of raising funds for global health that I allowed that goal to override my better judgment.”
The committee, chaired by James Comer, requested Gates’s appearance in March, following the justice department’s release of millions of documents related to Epstein earlier this year. The files included numerous mentions of Gates, as well as several photographs of him, and records showing that he met with Epstein on several occasions, renewing scrutiny of Gates’s past ties to the disgraced financier.
Gates has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Just before 1pm ET on Wednesday, as Gates’s interview continued, Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, stepped out briefly with other Democrats on the panel and provided an update.
“So far Mr Gates has been cooperative in answering our questions,” Garcia said. “Mr Gates has discussed and provided us information about other folks that were in Mr Epstein’s orbit”.
Representative Stephen Lynch added: “We continually press him on the point that his relationship, his multiyear relationship with Jeffrey Epstein began after Mr Epstein was already a registered sex offender and had been convicted.”
The released records also include correspondence between Epstein and some of Gates’s former advisers and staff at the Gates Foundation. In a statement after the files were released, the foundation said that it was aware of the emails and said that “on the basis of Epstein’s claims that he could mobilize significant philanthropic resources for global health and development, a small number of foundation employees interacted with Epstein to try to secure this potential funding”.
“Ultimately, the foundation did not pursue any collaboration with Epstein and no fund was ever created,” the foundation added.
In April, the Gates foundation announced that it had commissioned an “external review to assess past foundation engagement with Epstein, and our current policies for vetting and developing new philanthropic partnerships”. The foundation said the review was ongoing and that its board and management would receive an update this summer.
In recent years, Gates has publicly expressed regret over his past association with Epstein. In an interview last year, he said that he met with Epstein several times to discuss philanthropy, but said that he was “foolish” to have spent any time with the convicted sex offender.
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Gates apologized to employees of the Gates foundation during a February town-hall meeting for his past ties to Epstein.
Gates told staff that he continued meeting with Epstein through 2014, even after his then wife, Melinda French Gates, had raised concerns. Gates said that he flew on a private jet with Epstein, and spent time with him in Washington, New York, France and Germany.
He also addressed photographs in the Epstein files that show him with women whose faces are redacted, saying that Epstein had asked him to be in photographs with his assistants after their meetings.
“To be clear, I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” Gates said.
When asked about the town-hall meeting reported by the Journal, a Gates Foundation spokesperson told the Guardian “this was a town hall with employees, which Bill does twice a year” and that “in the conversation, Bill answered questions submitted by foundation staff on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files, the foundation’s work in AI, and the future of global health”.
“In the town hall, Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions,” the spokesperson said.
Ahead of this week’s deposition, the New York Times reported that Gates has been preparing with help from Jake Greenberg, the former top investigative counsel to the House oversight committee.