Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has told US politicians that Jeffrey Epstein used knowledge of Gates' marital infidelities as "leverage" to keep the billionaire in Epstein's circle.
"I'm glad to be here voluntarily," Mr Gates told reporters before entering a Capitol Hill hearing in Washington DC on Wednesday, US time. "I hope my testimony is helpful to the important work of the committee to find justice for the victims."
In a prepared opening statement, Mr Gates told committee members that he "never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct."
"I never went to his island, his ranch, or his Florida home. I have never victimised anyone. While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated," he said.
Gates Details Epstein's Leverage Tactics
The philanthropist disclosed that the late pedophile learned of Mr Gates having "been unfaithful in my marriage" and sought "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," Mr Gates added.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican, said he wanted to learn more about Mr Gates' relationship with Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
"What did he see? Did he know what was going on? Was he involved in any of this?" Mr Comer asked rhetorically. "I'm sure as we ask questions, more questions will arise. I will say this: No one's accusing Bill Gates of any wrongdoing, and I certainly appreciate him coming in voluntarily."
Emails and Photos Complicate Gates' Image
Emails and photos released by the US Justice Department (DOJ), along with remarks by Mr Gates' ex-wife Melinda about Epstein contributing to the dissolution of their 27-year marriage, have complicated the image the billionaire sought to cultivate as a philanthropist.
Democrat politician Robert Garcia told reporters that "we're certainly going to ask him about ... some of the emails that were in the files that relate to Mr Gates' possible activities with Mr Epstein."
In one DOJ-released photo, Mr Gates appears with Epstein, banker Jes Staley, and former Harvard University President Larry Summers during a January 2011 dinner at Epstein's Manhattan penthouse. Another image shows Mr Gates standing with his arm around a woman whose face is redacted.
Mr Gates told the committee on Wednesday that he first met Epstein in 2011 and was promised "billions of dollars for global health" from the financier's "tax and estate services" clients. However, after five in-person meetings, the talks reached "a dead-end," with no "meaningful philanthropic support" provided, causing him to cut off contact in December 2014.
Epstein's Alleged Threats and Gates' Affairs
Epstein and Mr Gates traded more than a dozen emails between 2013 and 2015. Other communications show Epstein salaciously claiming that Mr Gates had asked for the financier's help "in order to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls." A spokesman for Mr Gates said in a statement that the implications were "absolutely absurd and completely false."
But the disclosures prompted Mr Gates to come clean to staff about at least two affairs with Russian women referenced in DOJ files on Epstein. Mr Gates also acknowledged that he had been accused of more than 20 extramarital liaisons during divorce proceedings from Melinda.
Epstein had reportedly threatened to expose Mr Gates' alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova in 2017 due to his refusal to join a prospective philanthropic fund conceived by Epstein and JP Morgan Chase bank executives, as previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Now, US politicians and staff on the Oversight Committee are expected to press further into the unlikely friendship as part of their 15th interview in the bipartisan inquiry into the notorious case.
"In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him," the 70-year-old tech titan told the Journal in January about his association with Epstein, which occurred after the financier pleaded guilty to Florida prostitution and child sex trafficking charges.
"I recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed," Mr Gates said of Epstein's 2008 guilty plea in Wednesday's interview.
Mr Comer told reporters he would next seek to interview Epstein's former criminal defence lawyer, law professor Alan Dershowitz, with the Oversight panel. That request followed an interview with Epstein's longtime assistant Lesley Groff, as well as other victims or survivors of Epstein's abuse.
A lawyer for Mr Gates did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
