Tech billionaire Bill Gates testified before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday about his relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Following the hearing, which took place behind closed doors, the Microsoft co-founder posted a transcript of his opening remarks on his personal website.
“I have never seen nor seen any indication that Epstein was involved in ongoing criminal conduct,” Gates’ statement said. “I never went to his island, his farm or his Florida home. I never victimized anyone.”
Nevertheless, Gates said he “should never have met Epstein in the first place.”
“Based on what I know now, I understand that even if he had promised new donors, it would not be appropriate to engage with him,” the statement said.
The tranche of documents made public by the Justice Department – commonly known as the Epstein files – include numerous mentions of Gates, including calendar entries for meetings between Gates and Epstein, email correspondence between the two about philanthropic projects, and photos of Gates at events that Epstein also attended.
Gates scheduled multiple meetings with Epstein
Gates said that he first met Epstein in 2011. The meeting came three years after Epstein was jailed in 2008 for pimping a minor into prostitution and other charges, including that of alleged trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre.
“Epstein claimed he could raise billions of dollars for global health from people for whom he provided tax and estate services. I remember I knew Epstein had faced legal issues before, but I didn’t fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed,” Gates said.
He further said, “I accepted the introduction without following through with the investigation I should have done.”
Gates said he held three “initial meetings” in 2011 to discuss philanthropy, and two more in 2012, followed by “more extensive conversations” in 2013 and 2014. Gates said discussions on philanthropy then reached an “impasse” and the money was never raised.
“Our conversations ended in December 2014, four years before new reports in the press and unsealed court documents shed light on the extent of his crimes,” Gates said.
Epstein ‘used information’ about Gates’ infidelity
Gates also said that Epstein “involved himself” in the resignation process of an employee in his private office, resulting in “email exchanges, calls and meetings with members of my team and me.”
Gates said, “I then learned that Epstein was aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage.”
Gates said, “These matters had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family.” “As the public can now see, based on what has been released in the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelity – in addition to the numerous lies he had put forth – to pressure me to reconnect with him.”
The Epstein files also include a draft email from 2013 in which Epstein suggested he helped Gates manage the consequences of an extramarital affair and purchase antibiotics after contracting a sexually transmitted infection. Gates had earlier called the email fake and denied the claims made in it.
House Oversight Committee will call new witnesses
The House Oversight Committee has been investigating convicted child sex offender Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell since 2025.
The chairman of the committee, Republican Congressman James Comer, formally requested that Gates testify. Appearance before the Committee is voluntary and there is no wrongdoing.
“This is about the survivors,” Comer said before Wednesday’s hearing. “It’s about trying to find out how the government failed.”
Several other public figures have already appeared before the committee, including former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Comer said Wednesday that he plans to ask high-profile lawyer Alan Dershowitz to appear for questioning and has also been in contact with the Justice Department to ask Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch to appear before the committee.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico