Bill Gates to appear before Congress over Epstein involvement

Bill Gates is scheduled to appear before members of Congress on Wednesday to answer questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as the House Oversight Committee continues its investigation into the late financier.

Gates, who has stated he had no knowledge of Epstein's criminal activities, will sit for a closed-door transcribed interview. The interview will not be recorded, in contrast to the videotaped appearances this year of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to the committee. The Republican-led committee will instead release a transcript in the days afterward, as it did after the appearances of former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist is one of many influential people whose names appear in the Justice Department documents about Epstein. Appearing in the files is not necessarily an indication of criminal wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Gates said in an emailed statement to NPR in April that Gates "welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee." "While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein's illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee's questions to support their important work," the statement says. The spokesperson and a lawyer for Gates did not respond to further requests for comment this month.

Gates' name appears numerous times in the Epstein files. He met with Epstein multiple times after the financier's 2008 conviction for sex crimes involving minors. An email indicates that Gates planned to travel on Epstein's private plane in 2013. Gates also appears in photos with Epstein and others whose faces are redacted. Epstein was arrested a second time in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges and later died in prison. Authorities determined his death was a suicide.

Epstein's emails also mention Gates' now ex-wife, Melinda French Gates. In one instance, Epstein claims, in an email that appears to be sent to himself, that he helped Bill Gates get medication to treat a sexually transmitted infection from "sex with russian girls." Epstein also said that Gates had wanted to try to give that medication to French Gates in secret.

French Gates told NPR in February that the documents filled her with "unbelievable sadness" and reminded her of problems she faced in her marriage. "Whatever questions remain there of what — I don't, can't even begin to know all of it — those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband," French Gates said. "They need to answer to those things, not me."

A spokesperson for Bill Gates told NPR this year: "These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein's frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame."

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 NPR on Monday that a lot of people don't realize how long and personal Epstein and Gates' relationship was and that "it's fair" for Gates to answer questions about that connection. "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 of some of the high-profile appearances before the committee. "With each person that comes, there's an opportunity to do something different, and I hope that [Gates] chooses to do that."

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi sat for an interview last month. According to a transcript released by the committee, she defended her work on the Epstein files and directed much of the blame for sloppy redactions toward current acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom President Trump officially nominated for the position this week. The Justice Department released nearly 3.5 million documents related to Epstein during Bondi's tenure, in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Bondi was ousted from the top job at the department in April, and Blanche has been serving in an acting capacity since then.

"He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files," Bondi told lawmakers of Blanche. In her interview, Bondi declined to answer questions about her conversations with Trump but defended the Justice Department's work on the files, saying it was "committed to accountability and transparency." "The bottom line is, justice and transparency in this matter have been delivered at the direction of President Trump and his administration," Bondi told the committee.

On Tuesday, the committee interviewed Epstein's longtime assistant, Lesley Groff. Groff's name appears in thousands of Epstein documents, and she was involved in scheduling meetings and planning times for girls to meet with Epstein. Groff has denied any knowledge of or participation in Epstein's crimes.

Along with Gates and Groff, this summer the committee plans to interview billionaire investor Leon Black, former Clinton aide Doug Band, former Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler and former Barclays CEO Jes Staley, according to the committee's chairman, Rep. James Comer. "The government has failed the survivors," Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, told reporters before Bondi's appearance in May. "We're taking this investigation seriously." Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the lead Democrat on the committee, said he also wants to subpoena both Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel to testify in the investigation.