Billionaire Bill Gates and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein: What he told US lawmakers behind closed doors
Billionaire Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, denied on Wednesday, before an investigation committee of the American Congress, that he had knowledge of the criminal behavior of Jeffrey Epstein, informs the AFP and EFE news agencies.
“I want to be very clear: I never witnessed or had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal activity,” Gates said at the opening of his hearing, according to his GatesNotes website.
“I have never harmed anyone,” assured Gates, who said that although Jeffrey Epstein had tried to “fuel a personal relationship” with him, the billionaire never showed interest.
“I've never been to his island, his farm or his house in Florida,” Bill Gates explained during the closed-door hearing.
Shortly before, upon his arrival at the Capitol in Washington, Gates had said that he “hopes his testimony will help the important work of this commission to bring justice to the victims” of Jeffrey Epstein, who died in custody in 2019 before the opening of the trial in which he was accused of sex crimes.
At the time of his death, Epstein was accused in particular of having brought minors to an island he owned in the US Virgin Islands, for the purpose of sex trafficking, notes Agerpres.
The chairman of the investigative committee, Republican James Comer, said before the hearing that members would like to know more details about Bill Gates' relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States.
Gates said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution of a minor. A draft of Jeffrey Epstein's email, released by the Department of Justice in the mass of documents from the Epstein file, evokes extramarital affairs of Bill Gates.
Mentioning a person's name in the Epstein file does not a priori imply an illegal act, but these documents at least show links between Jeffrey Epstein or his entourage and certain personalities who often minimized or even denied the existence of such relationships, AFP also wrote.
In late February, Bill Gates said his ties to Jeffrey Epstein were a “huge mistake,” admitting to members of his foundation that he had extramarital affairs with two Russian women, but denying any involvement in Epstein's actions.
“It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein and invite leaders of the Gates Foundation to meetings with him. I did nothing illegal; I saw nothing illegal,” Gates said, according to a video obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
