Bill Gates says Epstein sought to blackmail him over extramarital affairs | Bill Gates

According to the transcript, Microsoft founder Bill Gates told members of the US Congress that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was trying to “blackmail” him over his extramarital affairs.

The tech pioneer testified behind closed doors before the House oversight committee on June 10 about his friendship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex crimes.

According to the minutes released by the committee on Tuesday, Gates spoke of “veiled” threats and said that even as Gates distanced himself from Epstein, Epstein considered using his own knowledge of Gates’ extramarital affairs to force him to remain in Epstein’s orbit.

“I wasn’t blackmailed, but you know, when you look at these emails, you see that Mr. Epstein’s brainstorming was going in that direction,” Gates said, referring to documents related to the Epstein case released by the US Department of Justice in January.

Under further questioning, Gates continued, “He never sent me anything that I could call blackmail.” But according to Gates, through the draft emails, Epstein was “rehearsing that he or someone else could choose to blackmail me by coaching me, but none of those messages were sent to me.”

In his opening statement on the day of testimony, 70-year-old Gates stated that he was never aware of Epstein’s criminal behavior and that he “victimized no one.”

In late February, Gates told the Wall Street Journal that his ties to Epstein were a big mistake and admitted to having extramarital affairs with two Russian women, but denied any involvement in the financier’s activities.

Gates alleges that her relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution charges involving minors.

He also acknowledged knowing about Epstein’s legal troubles, but also acknowledged being told that Epstein was someone who could raise billions of dollars for global health; This is a subject that Gates also pays close attention to.

“I knew that [the Epstein conviction] it was of a sexual nature, but no, I don’t think I knew; I went into detail, though I probably should have known.”

The mere mention of a person’s name in the Epstein dossier does not, by itself, indicate any wrongdoing. But the documents at least reveal connections between the sex offender or his associates and some public figures who often downplay or even deny the existence of such ties.