Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Bill Gates told lawmakers in a recent interview that Jeffrey Epstein threatened him subtly over his affairs but did not overtly blackmail him, according to a transcript released on June 23.
Epstein in 2013 "made some veiled references that made me wonder whether he had become aware" of one of the affairs, Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on June 10.
Epstein later sent a reimbursement request to Gates, according to Gates. The request was for expenses that Epstein said he paid for one of the women with whom Gates had an affair.
"I viewed it as a tactic to reengage with me," Gates said. "I'd never asked him to do anything with respect to the person we're discussing, so I was rather surprised. That was the first time I knew explicitly that he'd become aware of that affair."
Gates said he directed staff members not to pay Epstein.
Still, Gates maintained that Epstein did not blackmail him.
"He never blackmailed me, but looking at these emails, it raises a serious probability that he contemplated blackmailing me," Gates said, referring to documents released by the Department of Justice in January.
Gates also said: "He never sent me anything that I would call blackmail. As I've said, he made veiled references to things like we should all want to be friends.
"Now that I see the January release of documents, it appears that in many cases he, at least in emails to himself, was sort of rehearsing how either he or he coaching someone else might choose to blackmail me, but none of those messages were ever sent to me."
Gates had said through a spokesperson in 2023 that Epstein tried to "leverage a past relationship" to threaten him, without providing details.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking of minors.
Gates has said he met with Epstein multiple times from 2011 through 2014, and that he ended the relationship in 2014 after concluding that Epstein could not deliver on claims that he could raise billions for global health efforts.
Gates said in his opening statement that he should have never met with Epstein in the first place but that he never witnessed any indication Epstein was involved in criminal conduct.
He told lawmakers that it was a mistake to engage with Epstein in part because of his prior conviction, according to the newly released transcript.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, during the June 10 interview noted that Epstein's employees were among his victims.
"Yeah, that's a very good point," Gates said.
"I never spent time with any women who I was aware were victims, and so that's why I've enumerated very carefully when I ever saw any of those admin assistants, because, tragically, as you say, it appears in the press now that some of those women were indeed victims.
"So, to that degree, for the photos, for sitting on the plane or standing there during the magic trick, I may have been in the presence of victims."