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\n

Tech mogul Bill Gates told the House Oversight Committee he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s prior sex crime conviction but that he did not know Epstein was continuing to engage in misconduct at the time of their acquaintance, according to a transcript of his testimony.<\/p>\n

In his transcribed interview<\/u><\/a> with the panel earlier this month as part of its ongoing Epstein investigation, Gates recounted details of his dealings with Epstein over the years \u2014 which extended from 2011, when he was first introduced to Epstein, to 2014, when he realized Epstein would not make good on his promise to steer donors towards Gates\u2019 philanthropic work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was aware that he had a criminal conviction,\u201d Gates said, according to the transcript<\/u><\/a>. \u201cI knew that it was of a sexual nature, but, no, I don’t think I \u2026 dug into the specifics, although I probably should have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gates\u2019 decision to shrug off the conviction from 2008 underscored the extent to which many of those who chose to associate with the disgraced financier opted to ignore potential warning signs of impropriety. It was not until more than a decade after his first brush with law enforcement that Epstein was arrested on federal sex crimes charges; he died by suicide in jail in 2019 while his case was pending.<\/p>\n

Gates\u2019 relationship with Epstein has drawn new scrutiny since materials released by the Justice Department revealed new details about their relationship. In one draft correspondence<\/u><\/a> contained in the so-called Epstein files, Epstein appears to have written and sent to himself a letter to Gates, where he alleged that Gates asked Epstein to \u201cdelete the emails regarding [his] std\u201d and give him antibiotics to \u201csurreptitiously give to Melinda [French Gates].\u201d<\/p>\n

Gates has denied that allegation and, during his interview with the Oversight Committee, Gates questioned whether Epstein was attempting to blackmail him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow 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,\u201d Gates said. \u201cYou know, I never paid Jeffrey Epstein anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said that Epstein \u201ccertainly wasn\u2019t a friend,\u201d and insisted he never engaged in sexual conduct or received massages from individuals introduced to him by Epstein. And despite knowledge of his 2008 conviction, Gates said he was unaware at the time of their relationship that Epstein was a registered sex offender. He also said he never visited Epstein\u2019s island.<\/p>\n

The Oversight Committee also on Tuesday released a transcript<\/u><\/a> of its June interview<\/u><\/a> with Lesley Groff, one of Epstein\u2019s former assistants who was among those named as a potential co-conspirator as part of Epstein\u2019s non-prosecution agreement in 2007. She was never charged with any wrongdoing and, according to the transcript, recalled that law enforcement\u2019s decision came as a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not a conspirator, and I never would have agreed to this language,\u201d she said, according to the transcript. \u201cTheir unilateral decision to label me as a potential conspirator remains my scarlet letter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like others who have come before the panel, Groff claimed she was unaware of his crimes during the time of her employment and that Epstein, following his 2008 conviction, said that he was \u201cset up.\u201d Groff said she believed him, so she continued to work for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also saw the same VIPs continue to surround Epstein after his conviction,\u201d she explained as a rationale for maintaining her own ties.<\/p>\n

For instance, Groff told the Oversight Committee she \u201cwould connect phone calls\u201d between President Donald Trump and Epstein multiple times a year.<\/p>\n

Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing tied to Epstein, but his relationship with the financier has raised eyebrows while fueling speculation that the administration has been working to cover up its connections \u2014 including by pushing back against making the Epstein files public last year and then slow-walking their release.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department has defended its handling of the files\u2019 release, and Trump has maintained he broke off his relationship with Epstein years before his death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tech mogul Bill Gates told the House Oversight Committee he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s prior sex crime conviction but that he did not know Epstein was continuing to engage in misconduct at the time of their acquaintance, according to a transcript of his testimony. In his transcribed interview with the panel earlier this month […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}