Microsoft founder Bill Gates told the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that he considered blackmailing him over his extramarital affairs. Speaking to members of the US Congress in a closed-door hearing, Gates stated that he was not blackmailed, but Epstein’s movements were “going in that direction.”
According to a transcript of the testimony, the Microsoft founder spoke of “veiled” threats issued to him by Epstein. He further told Congress that Epstein was looking to use his knowledge of extra-marital affairs and infidelity to get Gates to “re-engage” with the disgraced financier.
“I was not blackmailed, but you know, as you look at these emails, you know, it looks like Mr Epstein’s brainstorming was going in that direction,” said Gates, referring to documents from the Epstein case released in January by the US Department of Justice.
“There was the veiled type of language, hey, we should all want to be friends,” Gates said.
“I took that on very explicitly and said, look, if you think you’re going to get more money out of this, it’s not going to happen, and if that means you go out and talk to people about things, I will just bear the pain of that and deal with it,” he added further.
Bill Gates has publicly admitted to having multiple affairs while he was married to Melinda French Gates, which contributed to their divorce after 27 years of marriage.
Addressing the Congress, Gates added that his affairs had nothing to do with Epstein.
“These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family. 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,” the transcript quoted Gates as saying.
Met Epstein 12 to 14 times
In his testimony to Congress, Gates added that he met with Epstein around 12 to 14 times and had two Skype calls with him over a period of four years.
Gates claims his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after the deceased sex offender pled guilty to prostitution charges involving minors.
The Microsoft founder made headlines after he was mentioned in the Epstein Files at least 3,000 times. Bill Gates has not been accused of any crimes and has stated that he did not witness any crimes, but “may have been in the presence of victims.”
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
