The House Oversight Committee has released the transcript of Bill Gates' testimony over his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
According to NBC News, the Microsoft founder testified behind closed doors earlier this month, and the committee released the transcript of the interview of Tuesday, June 23.
During the voluntary interview at Capitol Hill the billionaire made shocking confessions about his extramarital affairs and “contemplated blackmailing.”
Here are some key takeaways from Bill Gates' testimony before the House Oversight Committee.
Bill Gates acknowledged an extramarital affair with Russian girls:
As per the transcript, the committee read the financer email about Gates in which he claimed that he provided the philanthropist drugs to “deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls and to facilitate his illicit trysts with married women” and asked him if he was considering a divorce from ex-wife Melinda French Gates in 2013.
He replied, “Well, certainly the fact that I told Melinda during this time frame about the two affairs was very distressing to her, but at that time there was no explicit mention of getting divorced. It may have occurred to Melinda at that point, but it was not a subject of discussion.”
Gates also acknowledged that Melinda “became aware of bad behaviour on my part", and it caused a marital crisis between them.
Did Jeffery Epstein plan to blackmail Bill Gates over his extramarital affairs?
Referring to the Department of Justice’s “unsigned memo in which they said there was no evidence of Epstein blackmailing anyone,” the committee lawmaker noted that although he never blackmailed him, these files suggested he was working towards that.
Gates said, “He never blackmailed me, but looking at these emails, it raises a serious probability that he contemplated blackmailing me.”
Bill Gates denies witnessing misconduct:
The oversight committee also questioned Gates about his statement that he never spent any time with victims or the women around the sex offender, highlighting that he was aware of the fact that many of Epstein’s assistants around him were victimised.
The 70-year-old explained, “I never spent time with any women who I was aware were victims, and so that's why I've enumerated very carefully whenever I ever saw any of those admin assistants, because, tragically, as you say, it appears in the press now that some of those women were indeed victims. So, to that degree, you know, for the photos, for sitting on the plane or standing there during the magic trick, I may have been in the presence of victims.”
Bill Gates and Jeffery Epstein's relationship:
As per The New York Times report, Gates and Epstein first met on January 21, 2011, at the sex offender’s home on the Upper East Side in New York.
The meeting occurred three years after the disgraced financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
An email dated December 2, 2010, that has been released by the Justice Department indicates that Gates was meant to meet Epstein weeks earlier, but the plan fell through.
The released documents also indicate that Gates and Epstein met and communicated from 2011 to 2014.
Gates said in his opening remarks to the House Oversight Committee that he met with Epstein three times in 2011 and two in 2012 and that the focus of those encounters was Gates’ philanthropic work. They continued having “more extensive conversations in 2013 and 2014” about philanthropy.”
Gates also expressed regret for his ties to Epstein in his opening statement to the House Oversight Committee.
