Bill Gates to appear before US House panel on Jeffrey Epstein on Jun 10
The former Microsoft chief has called his relationship with Epstein a “huge mistake” and has denied wrongdoing
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[WASHINGTON] American tech billionaire Bill Gates will appear before the House panel investigating the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Jun 10, said a source familiar with the plans.
The Microsoft co-founder was among a group of prominent figures with ties to Epstein that House Oversight Committee chair James Comer requested to appear for transcribed interviews.
Gates has called his relationship with the late Epstein a “huge mistake” and has denied wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Gates said that the billionaire never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal activity but Gates is looking forward to answering the committee’s questions.
The New York Times reported in 2019 that Gates met with Epstein several times starting in 2011 and once stayed late at his New York townhouse. The former Microsoft chief has said they discussed a philanthropy project but that their meetings stopped after the likelihood of getting funding diminished.
E-mail correspondence between Epstein and Gates’ key science adviser, Boris Nikolic, includes notes on the attractiveness of women and discussion of Gates’ preferences and prospects with them, according to documents released by the Justice Department.
Others scheduled to appear before the committee next month include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Tova Noel, one of the prison guards on duty when Epstein died in July 2019. Lutnick is scheduled be interviewed by the committee on May 6 and Noel on May 18, according to the source.
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Lutnick has come under fire in recent weeks after documents released by the Justice Department revealed that the former chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald visited Epstein’s island in 2012, years after Epstein’s conviction for the procurement of minors for prostitution.
The documents also included a photo of Epstein, Lutnick and three other men standing near an oceanside cliff, and what appear to be business agreements between the two men, who lived next door to each other in Manhattan.
Another e-mail to Epstein contained a resume for Lutnick’s nanny, though the Commerce secretary has denied providing that document himself.
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The materials have not indicated any wrongdoing on Lutnick’s part, but did show that he previously incorrectly characterised the extent of his relationship with Epstein.
Noel was one of two Bureau of Prisons workers guarding Epstein the night he died. She was indicted for falsifying records to cover up her failure to conduct rounds at the prison, but avoided serving time by striking a deal with federal prosecutors.
Noel fought the government’s request to release grand jury transcripts and an exhibit from the government’s case against her in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but a federal judge ordered the documents to be released with redactions. BLOOMBERG
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