WASHINGTON — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday that Jeffrey Epstein used Gates’ marital infidelities as “leverage” to keep the billionaire in Epstein’s circle.
In a prepared opening statement, 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 victimized anyone. While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated,” he went on.
Bill Gates arrives for a closed-door interview before the House Oversight Committee investigating late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on June 10, 2026. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post
Epstein (left) and Gates during an apparent meeting. DOJ
But the philanthropist also disclosed that the late pedophile learned of 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,” Gates added.
“I see now that he sought to build an image of legitimacy around himself, using connections to reputable and powerful people to deflect scrutiny and attempt to rehabilitate his reputation. I was so focused on the possibility of raising funds for global health that I allowed that goal to override my better judgment.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, later told reporters during a break in the interview that Gates’ comments on Epstein betrayed a “theme of using his [Epstein’s] power of information against others.”
Displaying a slight grin as he entered the House office building, Gates told reporters before his interview: “I hope my testimony is helpful to the important work of the committee to find justice for the victims.”
Gates told the House Oversight Committee that Epstein used his infidelities as “leverage” to keep him as a friend. AFP via Getty Images
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said he wanted to learn more about 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?” Comer asked rhetorically
“I’m sure as we ask questions, more questions will arise,” he added. “I will say this: No one’s accusing Bill Gates of any wrongdoing, and I certainly appreciate him coming in voluntarily.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) speaking to reporters about Gates’ interview on June 10, 2026. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer told reporters ahead of the interview that he planned on probing gates about his relationships with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post
Emails and photos released by the Justice Department — in addition to remarks by Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda, about Epstein having contributed to the dissolution of the couple’s 27-year marriage — have complicated the image the billionaire sought to cultivate as a philanthropist.
In one photo released by the DOJ, Gates can be seen 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 Gates standing with his arm around a woman whose face is redacted.
Bill Gates seen with Jes Staely, Lawrence Summers, Jeffrey Epstein and Boris Nikolic (left to right) in 2011.
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.
But after a total of five meetings in person, Gates said the talks reached “a dead-end,” with no “meaningful philanthropic support” having been provided, causing him to cut off contact in December 2014.
Epstein and Gates also traded more than a dozen emails between 2013 and 2015. Other communications show Epstein salaciously claiming that Gates had asked for the financier’s help “in order to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls.”
A Gates rep said in a statement that the implication Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted disease was “absolutely absurd and completely false.”
Gates seen with a woman in a photo from the Epstein files released by the DOJ. via REUTERS
But the disclosures prompted Gates to come clean to the staff of his foundation about at least two affairs with Russian women referenced in DOJ investigative files on Epstein. Gates also acknolwedged that he had been accused of more than 20 extramarital liaisons during divorce proceedings from Melinda.
Epstein had purportedly threatened to expose Gates’ alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova in 2017 due to Bill’s refusal in joining a prospective philanthropic fund conceived by Epstein and JP Morgan Chase executives, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
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Lawmakers and staff on the Oversight Committee pressed further into the unlikely friendship as part of their 15th interview conducted in the bipartisan inquiry of 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.
Gates pictured with another unidentified woman in the Epstein files. via REUTERS
“I recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed,” Gates also said of Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea in Wednesday’s interview.
Comer also told reporters he would next seek to ask Epstein’s former criminal defense attorney, the law professor Alan Dershowitz, to interview with the Oversight panel.
“I offered to testify as a witness, and I hope they take me up on that,” Dershowitz told The Post on Wednesday in response.
That request followed an interview with the money manager’s longtime assistant Lesley Groff, as well as other victims or survivors of Epstein’s abuse.
Comer and Garcia have also both suggested Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should return to answer questions about the DOJ’s release of around 3 million investigative files on Epstein.
Gates recommended that the committee consult some former employees at his foundation, as well as Summers, to further the inquiry.