During closed-door testimony before the House Oversight Committee, billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates claimed that convicted pedophile and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein tried to use details about his personal life, specifically the several extramarital affairs he had, to blackmail him. He also stated that he had no knowledge of Epstein’s sick and twisted criminal activity and denied accusations he was complicit in them.
A trove of documents from the highly controversial Epstein files, which were released by the Justice Department, included email exchanges between the two men, along with several photographs of Gates joining events that were attended by the now-deceased financier. The emails included a message from 2013 from Epstein about Gates in which he claims the tech mogul caught a sexually transmitted disease after having “sex with Russian girls” and wanted to secretly administer antibiotics to his wife instead of coming clean about the incident.
At the time, Gates issued a response to the emails through a spokesperson who said, “These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false.” Gates further denied allegations of his knowledge about Epstein and his activities as lawmakers questioned him on how it was possible a man of his power and influence could remain in the dark about Epstein’s background, including facts that were already known publicly.
“I 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 victimized anyone. While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated,” Gates said in his prepared remarks, according to Breitbart News.
“I learned Epstein had become aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage. These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family,” Gates continued. After several hours of testimony, Gates had to force his way through a crowd of reporters and protesters.
Journalists peppered him with questions, which he ignored as he moved through the throng of people. Later, he put out a statement saying that he “appreciated the opportunity to meet with the House Oversight Committee today and to answer all of their questions.” He then added, “I support the release of all the files and hope my participation contributes to getting justice for the victims.”
Gates joins former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and several other powerful individuals who have made appearances before the bipartisan committee, according to the Breitbart report. In February 2026, Epstein’s former lover and partner-in-crime, Ghislaine Maxwell made a virtual appearance before the committee, but invoked her right to refuse to answer questions.
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Epstein was arrested back in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, however, before the start of his trial, he was found dead in his prison cell. His death has been officially ruled a suicide, but many individuals, both inside and outside the government aren’t sure that’s what really happened. Several prisoners who were on the same cell block with Epstein believe he was murdered by guards, however, at this time, that’s purely speculation.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video