Bill Gates testifies on Epstein ties, says blackmail attempt failed and no funds were raised
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates testified before the US House Oversight Committee on 10 June 2026, acknowledging multiple meetings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and saying Epstein attempted to use knowledge of extramarital affairs to pressure him into re-engagement.
- Gates testified he met Epstein from 2011 to 2014 seeking philanthropic donors, but no funds were raised.
- Epstein attempted to use information about Gates' affairs as leverage; Gates says the effort failed.
- Committee chair plans to subpoena acting Attorney General and FBI director over the broader investigation.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates appeared before the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, for a closed-door transcribed interview in which he acknowledged multiple meetings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and said Epstein had attempted to use knowledge of his extramarital affairs to pressure him into re-engagement.
Gates, 70, testified voluntarily and released his prepared opening statement publicly via his personal notes website. The committee is expected to release a full transcript within days.
"I should never have met with Epstein in the first place," Gates said in his opening statement.
"Based on what I know now, I understand that even if he had delivered the new donors he promised, it would not have justified associating with him."
First meetings and philanthropic rationale
Gates said he was introduced to Epstein in 2011 through individuals he described as trusted contacts in his professional and philanthropic circles. He said Epstein claimed he could raise billions of dollars for global health initiatives from wealthy clients for whom he provided tax and estate planning services.
He said he was aware at the time that Epstein had faced prior legal issues but said he "did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed." Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida state court to charges related to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution and served 13 months in jail.
Gates said he held three meetings with Epstein in 2011 and two in 2012, and that from 2013 conversations became more extensive, focusing on potential giving structures such as donor-advised funds and identifying individuals Epstein claimed were interested in making significant contributions.
He said he made clear to Epstein from the outset that Epstein would not play any role in the work and would receive no compensation.
No funds raised, engagement ended in 2014
By 2014, Gates said he had concluded Epstein would not deliver on his promises. After Epstein assembled a group he described as potential donors, Gates said it became clear no one in the group intended to proceed.
"I told him we would go no further and stopped communicating or meeting with him," Gates said. "No vehicle for charitable giving was ever created and no funds were raised."
Gates said the decision to associate with Epstein had imperilled the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation), one of the world's largest philanthropic organisations with a reported endowment of more than US$70 billion.
"In the work I do, reputation is the basis for developing partnerships that save lives," Gates said. "Meeting with Epstein was a grave error in judgement and put this work at risk."
Blackmail attempt described
Gates disclosed in his opening statement that after ending contact with Epstein, he learned that Epstein had become aware of sensitive information about his personal life, including extramarital affairs. Gates said Epstein used that information to attempt to pressure him into re-engagement.
"As the public can now see, based on what has been released in the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities — in addition to many lies that he layered on top — to pressure me to re-engage with him," Gates said. "He was unsuccessful in this effort."
Gates did not directly address specific emails from Epstein's files, but a spokesperson for Gates had previously described claims in those documents as "absolutely absurd and completely false," adding that the documents demonstrated only Epstein's frustration at not maintaining an ongoing relationship with Gates.
Lawmakers said the pattern of alleged blackmail was consistent with what they had observed in other testimonies. Representative Robert Garcia, Democrat of California and the committee's lead Democrat, said of Epstein: "The theme of blackmail, the theme of using his power and information against others is very common."
Gates stated he had never visited Epstein's private island, ranch, or Florida home, and that he had never victimised anyone.
"I want to state very clearly: I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct," Gates said.
Reactions from committee members
Representative Melanie Stansbury, Democrat of New Mexico, said she had asked Gates directly why he continued to associate with Epstein knowing he was a registered sex offender. She said Gates responded that securing billions of dollars for global health had made the relationship appear worthwhile.
"He admitted that he knew of Epstein's reputation. He admitted that he knew that he had been convicted of sexual crimes. But ultimately, in his words, he viewed this narrow relationship as being an acceptable means to access wealthy donors," Stansbury said.
Representative Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, described the interview as intense but said Gates had been "well-coached" and he did not expect significant new disclosures. Burchett said Epstein appeared to him to be, above all, "a friend collector."
Garcia said Gates had been cooperative but was pushing back on questions.
Survivor perspectives
Annie Farmer, who testified publicly that Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell sexually abused her at Epstein's New Mexico ranch when she was 16, told reporters that many people did not appreciate how long and how personal the relationship between Epstein and Gates had been.
"What we've seen so far is that a lot of people have taken the stance of just wanting to cover for themselves and have not offered real information," Farmer said. "With each person that comes, there's an opportunity to do something different, and I hope that he chooses to do that."
Committee chair Representative James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, said he had been working with survivors and asking them to review deposition transcripts. He said the committee was working to assess whether witnesses had been untruthful.
Background: the Epstein investigation
The committee has been conducting an extensive investigation into Epstein's network following the release in late 2025 of millions of pages of documents from the Department of Justice and Congress. The documents have named numerous high-profile individuals, though inclusion in the files does not in itself indicate criminal wrongdoing.
Gates' name appears multiple times in the released documents. The files indicate he met with Epstein on multiple occasions after Epstein's 2008 conviction. One email indicates Gates planned to travel on Epstein's private aircraft in 2013, though Gates did not address that claim in his opening statement.
Epstein's emails also reference Gates' former wife, Melinda French Gates, and contain claims about Gates' personal conduct. French Gates told a broadcaster in February 2026 that the documents filled her with "unbelievable sadness" and brought to mind problems she had faced in her marriage. She said those questions were for others to answer, not her.
The committee interviewed Epstein's longtime executive assistant, Lesley Groff, on Tuesday, 9 June 2026. Groff, whose name appears in thousands of Epstein documents related to scheduling and arranging meetings, denied any knowledge of or participation in his crimes.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave videotaped testimony to the committee earlier in 2026. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have also appeared. Unlike those sessions, Gates' interview was not recorded; the committee will release a written transcript.
Committee chair Comer said Wednesday that the committee plans to interview billionaire investor Leon Black, former Clinton aide Doug Band, former Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, and former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley over the summer. Comer also said he would invite law professor Alan Dershowitz, who previously represented Epstein, to testify.
Garcia said he intends to subpoena acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel. Comer said he hoped Blanche would appear before the committee in July.
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and a longtime friend of Gates who has donated more than US$43 billion to the Gates Foundation since 2006, told a broadcaster in late March 2026 that he had not spoken with Gates since the Epstein files became public. Buffett described Epstein as a con man who exploited the personal weaknesses of others.
The Gates Foundation previously announced that it had commissioned an external review of its past ties with Epstein. The foundation said its board and management were expected to receive an update on the review during the summer of 2026.
Mossad allegations in the FBI documents
The same tranche of documents released by the Justice Department includes an FBI record in which a confidential informant told agents they had become convinced that Epstein was a co-opted Mossad agent.
The document states that Epstein's attorney, Alan Dershowitz, told then-US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Alex Acosta that Epstein "belonged to both US and allied intelligence services."
The informant, described in the document using standard FBI terminology as a confidential human source (CHS), told agents that they had shared recordings of telephone calls between Dershowitz and Epstein, during which the source took notes.
"After these calls, Mossad would then call Dershowitz to debrief," the document states. It further records the informant's account that Epstein "was close to the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, and trained as a spy under him."
The document also records the informant's claim that Dershowitz told them that if he were younger, he would be "holding a stun gun as an Israeli Intelligence (Mossad) agent," and that the informant believed Dershowitz had himself been co-opted by Mossad.
The FBI record does not constitute a finding or official conclusion. It records the account of a single confidential informant and contains an annotation referencing prior reporting, the nature of which is not specified in the released material.
The significance of the Dershowitz references within the document is heightened by the committee's stated intentions. Comer announced on Wednesday that he intends to invite Dershowitz to testify — Dershowitz having previously represented Epstein. The committee has not indicated whether the FBI document formed part of the basis for that decision.
Acosta, who as US Attorney approved Epstein's 2008 Florida plea arrangement, has faced longstanding criticism over that agreement. Critics have characterised the plea, under which Epstein served 13 months and spent significant daytime hours on work release, as a sweetheart deal that shielded Epstein and his associates from federal prosecution.
The allegation of Israeli intelligence ties has also been sustained by Epstein's close relationship with Barak. Barak maintained contact with Epstein after his 2008 conviction, which Barak has since said he regrets.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the intelligence claims on 6 February 2026, writing on social media that Epstein's relationship with Barak did not suggest Epstein worked for Israel and, in his view, demonstrated the opposite.
Separately, leaked correspondence from Barak, reported in a series of 2025 investigations by the US publication Drop Site News, suggests Epstein helped broker security cooperation agreements between Israel and Mongolia and between Israel and Côte d'Ivoire. The correspondence also suggests Epstein sought to facilitate a backchannel between Israel and Russia during the Syrian civil war.
