Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was scheduled to appear before US lawmakers on Wednesday to answer questions about his past relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, amid renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s network of high-profile associates.
Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals and a prominent philanthropist, was expected to testify before the House Oversight Committee in a transcribed interview focusing on his links to the disgraced financier, who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
The committee invited Gates after newly released Justice Department documents raised further questions about his past contacts with Epstein.
Several other prominent figures, including former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, have also appeared before the panel as part of its ongoing investigation.
A spokesperson for Gates said in a statement that he welcomed the opportunity to appear before the committee and maintained that he had “never witnessed or participated in Epstein’s illegal conduct.”
Among the released documents is a 2013 draft email in which Epstein appeared to suggest he had assisted Gates in managing reputational issues linked to alleged extramarital affairs, including arranging antibiotics following a reported sexually transmitted infection.
Gates has dismissed the email as fake and denied the allegations. In a February interview with Australian television, he admitted it was a mistake to associate with Epstein but insisted the relationship was unrelated to Epstein’s criminal activities.
“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.
He also stated that he only met Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor, and that their association began in 2011. Gates further noted that his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, had expressed concern about Epstein in 2013, although he continued to see him for some time afterward.
Melinda French Gates, who divorced him in 2021, has said that any remaining questions about Epstein are for her ex-husband and others to address.
The House Oversight Committee continues to examine Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell as part of a broader probe into how authorities handled the case and what has been disclosed from related files.
US President Donald Trump, who also had past ties to Epstein, initially resisted releasing the files, drawing accusations of a cover-up during his return to office.
Democratic lawmakers say they intend to question Gates on what he knew about Epstein’s crimes and the extent of their relationship.
The interview will reportedly not be videotaped, unlike several previous committee proceedings.
US media also reported that Gates had engaged former Justice Department lawyer John Moran and received briefing support from Jake Greenberg, a former senior Oversight Committee investigator, a move ethics experts described as unusual in appearance but not necessarily improper.