The Microsoft co-founder expressed regret that he had in any way given credence to Epstein and damaged the reputation of the Gates Foundation, the Wall Street Journal reported. “The meetings with Epstein were a serious error of judgment and put the Foundation's activities at risk,” Gates lamented to Congress.
Bill Gates: I have never hurt anyone
He added that he never witnessed Epstein's criminal activities. “I've never been to his island, his ranch or his house in Florida,” he said. “I have never hurt or taken advantage of anyone,” he said.
Bill Gates and the Epstein scandal
As “WSJ” reported in February, Bill Gates apologized to the employees of the Gates Foundation for his connections with Epstein, admitted to mistakes that cast a shadow on the activities of this philanthropic organization and assured that he was not involved in the financier's crimes. The billionaire admitted that he had two affairs with Russian women, which were reported by the financier.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 in a Florida state court of sexually abusing minors. In 2019, US federal prosecutors charged him with trafficking minors for sexual exploitation. In the same year he committed suicide in custody.
In December, the Congress adopted the so-called Epstein Records Transparency Act. It obliges the Ministry of Justice to publish all classified materials in a format that allows them to be easily searched and downloaded.
In January, the US Department of Justice released an extensive trove of documents collected during various investigations into Epstein. The materials confirmed the financier's extensive connections with global political and financial elites.
