The relationship between a tech billionaire and a convicted trafficker tends to raise a fairly predictable set of questions: How many times did they meet? Who introduced them? Did anyone know about the crimes? What emerged from Bill Gates’ closed-door testimony on June 10, 2026, went well past all of that. The part that nobody had said on the record before was that Epstein knew about Gates’ affairs and used that knowledge to try to force his way back into a relationship that Gates had already ended. Decide for yourself whether that changes the picture, but it’s worth reading what actually happened.
Gates told members of Congress that Jeffrey Epstein put his philanthropic work at risk, and that meeting him represented “a grave error in judgment.” The Microsoft co-founder was the latest witness to appear before the House Oversight Committee, which is examining the government’s handling of the Epstein case and those with ties to him. Gates testified for nearly six hours. He arrived voluntarily, walked past protesters and reporters without answering questions, and then spent the rest of the day behind closed doors. What he said in that room, and what his carefully prepared opening statement laid out in advance, amounted to the most detailed public account yet of how a three-year relationship between two very different men actually worked, and how it ended. The story, it turns out, is messier than anyone had previously acknowledged.
How the Relationship Started
Gates told the committee in his opening statement that he was introduced to Epstein through trusted individuals when Epstein was working to establish a charitable fund. That introduction happened in 2011. He first met with Epstein in 2011, three years after the predator pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution, as part of an effort to raise money for his philanthropic Gates Foundation and its global health work.
Gates has not tried to hide this timeline, and he didn’t minimize it in his testimony. In his prepared remarks, he described three meetings in 2011 and two in 2012, followed by more extensive conversations in 2013 and 2014. The discussions focused on identifying potential giving structures and how to enroll individuals Epstein claimed were interested in making significant contributions.
“Epstein claimed he could raise billions of dollars for global health from people for whom he provided tax and estate services,” Gates said. “I recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed.” Gates added: “I accepted the introduction without applying the scrutiny I should have.”
The Promises That Never Materialized
Their conversations became more “extensive” over the following years, until Gates said their negotiations reached a “dead end.” He then severed contact with Epstein in December 2014. “At that point, I concluded Epstein would never deliver on his promises. I told him we would go no further and stopped communicating or meeting with him,” Gates recalled.
Cutting ties, it turned out, wasn’t as clean as a single December email made it sound. Around that time, Epstein was also involved in negotiating an exit package for an employee who was leaving Gates’ private office. Gates did not name the employee, but Epstein exchanged frequent emails with former Gates adviser Boris Nikolic, including some in which he appeared to be acting as a middleman between the two as they negotiated an exit deal. That secondary entanglement gave Epstein something he hadn’t had before: continued access to people inside Gates’ world, and eventually, information about Gates’ personal life.
The Bill Gates Epstein Blackmail Claim
Gates said in his opening statement: “It was after this that I learned Epstein had become aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage. These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family.” He said Epstein used his knowledge of Gates’ extramarital affairs to pressure him to resume work on the charitable effort.
Gates alleged in his testimony that Epstein tried to use what he knew about his infidelities, “in addition to many lies that he layered on top,” to pressure him to re-engage after their contact had ended. “He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda. I should never have met with Epstein in the first place,” Gates said.
Gates added: “In the work I do, reputation is the basis for developing partnerships that save lives. Meeting with Epstein was a grave error in judgment and put this work at risk. His behavior was antithetical to all my efforts to contribute to a world where everyone has a chance to live a healthy and productive life. If the time I spent with Epstein lent him any credibility, I am deeply sorry.”
In his opening statement, Gates addressed recent reporting about Melanie Walker, a close associate of Epstein’s who worked at the Gates Foundation and then in Gates’ private office. Walker and Gates had an intimate relationship, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Without naming her, Gates told the committee that he was unfaithful in his marriage and that 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 Emails and What Gates Says About Them
In one instance, Epstein claimed, in an email that appears to be sent to himself, that he helped Bill Gates get medication to treat an STI from “Russian girls.” Epstein also said that Gates had wanted to try to give that medication to Melinda French Gates in secret.
The allegations contained in those draft emails are unverified and uncorroborated. Gates has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein. Gates did not directly address the email in his opening statement, but said Epstein became aware of “sensitive information about my personal life,” including his affairs.
According to CBS News, two sources familiar with his testimony said Gates pushed back on the STD allegation, testifying that “he felt that Mr. Epstein would write emails to himself and just say things that were not true or didn’t happen.” That framing, Epstein drafting inflammatory, unsent emails to himself, appears to be central to how Gates characterizes the “many lies” he says Epstein layered on top of whatever real information he actually held. The real information, by Gates’ own admission, was the affairs. The embellishments and fabrications around them were, he argues, Epstein’s invention.
Lawmakers’ Response and the Broader Investigation
The committee interview was not recorded, in contrast to the videotaped appearances of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 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.
At one point during questioning, Gates’ lawyer told lawmakers that the billionaire would not answer questions about his extramarital affairs that are not related to the Epstein case. Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the panel, characterized Gates as being “a little bit combative” during the interview but ultimately “cooperative.” Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee, called the questioning “intense,” but said Gates was “well-coached” in his answers.
Lawmakers said they’ve seen Epstein try to blackmail powerful people before. “He uses that over and over again,” Rep. Robert Garcia said of Epstein during a break in the interview. “The theme of blackmail, using his power and information against others, is very common.”
Marking the committee’s 15th interview, Gates’ in-person appearance on Capitol Hill was one of the most high-profile appearances before congressional investigators to date. Gates is just the latest billionaire to be called before the committee, which has already interviewed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and billionaires Les Wexner and Leon Black. Others who have appeared include former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, human trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Melinda French Gates and the Cost to the Marriage
Melinda French Gates said that her ex-husband, Bill Gates, needs to answer for the behavior alleged in the latest trove of private communications. “For me, it’s personally hard whenever those details come up,” French Gates said in an interview on NPR’s Wild Card podcast. “Because it brings back memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.”
She met Epstein once, and said she regretted it from the moment she walked in. “Whatever questions remain there,” French Gates told NPR, “those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me.” French Gates and Gates split in 2021, a time French Gates told Fortune was “unbelievably painful in innumerable ways.” She now runs her own foundation, Pivotal Philanthropies, focused on gender equality and global health.
What Comes Next
The Gates Foundation commissioned an external investigation into its ties to Epstein in March. After nearly six hours behind closed doors, Gates departed through a crowd of reporters and protesters without answering shouted questions. In a statement released following his testimony, Gates said that he “appreciated the opportunity to meet with the House Oversight Committee today and to answer all of their questions,” adding that he supports the release of all the files and hopes his participation contributes to getting justice for victims.
The Republican leader of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said he is working to have Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appear before the panel next month to answer questions about the Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein. Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, told reporters that he is communicating with the Justice Department about potential testimony from Blanche and wants to see him appear in July. Comer said he will also ask former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz to come before House investigators.
Read More: Bill Gates Vows to Give Away $200 Billion by 2045, Blasts Elon Musk for Harming the Poor
The Shape of What Gates Admitted
The most striking thing about June 10, 2026 isn’t the blackmail claim itself. It’s that Gates put it in his own prepared opening statement, shared it online before walking into the room, and then said it again under six hours of questioning. That isn’t the behavior of someone trying to bury a story. It reads more like an attempt to get ahead of what the files already show, to name his own affairs before someone else frames them more explosively, and to preempt the most damaging interpretation of those unsent Epstein emails by calling the whole enterprise a failed attempt at leverage.
Whether that reads as candor or damage control depends considerably on where you’re standing. Gates admitted that he knew of Epstein’s reputation and that he had been convicted of heinous crimes, but ultimately, “in his words, he viewed this narrow relationship as being an acceptable means to access wealthy donors,” Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury said of Gates’ testimony during a break in the questioning. That calculation, a known predator as a networking contact, is the part of this story that Gates’ apologies have never quite resolved, and that no amount of testimony about failed blackmail attempts changes. He knew what Epstein was, at least in part. He made the introduction anyway. The donations never came. What did arrive, eventually, was a man who knew things about Gates’ personal life and was willing to use them.
The transcript, when released, will show exactly what Gates said under questioning and how far his cooperative-but-combative posture stretched across nearly six hours. That document will matter. But what’s already on the record, in Gates’ own words, posted to his own website, is that Jeffrey Epstein tried to hold his private life over him, and that Gates is now saying so publicly, in front of Congress, in a statement he wrote himself.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.