Washington– Bill Gates is scheduled to appear on Wednesday before a congressional committee investigating the case Jeffrey Epstein files, becoming the latest powerful figure linked to the disgraced financier to testify.
Members of the House Oversight Committee are scheduled to interview the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft behind closed doors, as they did with other witnesses in the investigation. Scripts are often released later.
Republican US Representative James Comer, the committee’s chairman, formally requested that Gates testify after he appeared several times in a trove of documents released by the Justice Department as part of its investigation into Epstein.
You read files like Who is one of the strong men? Across technology, finance, politics and other industries. All have denied involvement in Epstein’s crimes, but some have maintained or formed friendships with him even after his history of sexual abuse came to light.
The files include calendar entries for meetings between Gates and Epstein, email correspondence between the two about charitable projects and photos of Gates at events that Epstein also attended.
Their professional relationship began in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor, and continued until at least late 2014, according to the documents.
Epstein was federally indicted in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. The Justice Department alleged that Epstein formed a vast network of underage girls, some as young as 14 years old, to sexually abuse them between 2002 and 2005. He died by suicide In 2019 while awaiting trial.
Gates, who chairs Gates Foundationhas not been accused of wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse of girls. He said they only met to discuss charity work and called his association with Epstein a “huge mistake.”
Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, said his association with Epstein created tension in their marriage.
The foundation admitted last February that a small number of employees met with Epstein based on his “claims that he could mobilize significant charitable resources for global health.” They never set up a charitable trust together, and the foundation never made any payments to Epstein.
The foundation’s CEO, Mark Suzman, commissioned an external review in March to examine its past dealings with Epstein.
In another closed session in February, he confronted former President Bill Clinton More than six hours of interrogation From lawmakers about his association with Epstein more than two decades ago. Epstein visited the White House several times during Clinton’s presidency, and Clinton occasionally traveled on Epstein’s private plane.
The former Democratic president said he saw no signs of sexual abuse against Epstein and stopped associating with him long before Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008. Clinton has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Democrats on the House committee have pushed for testimony from President Donald TrumpHe is a Republican who had his own relationship with Epstein. Republicans said they found no evidence that Trump did anything wrong during his well-documented friendship with Epstein.
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Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.