WorldBill Gates is expected to face uncomfortable questions on Wednesday having little to do with helping found Microsoft or his global health philanthropy, as members of a U.S. congressional committee are likely to probe his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Gates previously said his interactions with Epstein were connected to his philanthropic foundationChris Iorfida · CBC News · Posted: Jun 10, 2026 9:10 AM EDT | Last Updated: 20 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 6 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, arrives on Capitol Hill for a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in Washington, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press)Bill Gates is expected to face uncomfortable questions on Wednesday having little to do with helping found Microsoft or his global health philanthropy, as members of a U.S. congressional committee will instead probe his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The Epstein Transparency Act, passed in late 2025, mandated that the U.S. Justice Department release millions of files related to investigations into the sex offender, whose death in a Manhattan jail in 2019 was ruled a suicide.The House's oversight and government reform committee, led by Republican James Comer, has interviewed at least 10 people in closed-door sessions since the release of the files, about half of them occurring over the past month. Those interviewed have included former president Bill Clinton, and Howard Lutnick, commerce secretary in Donald Trump's current presidential administration.Pam Bondi, the attorney general in Trump's administration until early April, was interviewed late last month to address the Justice Department's handling of the files.First met Epstein after his convictionGates expressed confidence to Nine News in Australia in an interview earlier this year that any Epstein probe won't implicate him in criminal or untoward behaviour. He denied ever travelling to Epstein's private island in the Caribbean, where sexual abuse of minors and young women is alleged to have taken place, or meeting women through Epstein for the purposes of sexual activity."The more that comes out, the more clear it will be — though the time [with Epstein] was a mistake — it had nothing to do with that kind of behaviour," Gates said to Nine. WATCH | Some women accuse former AG Bondi of avoiding accountability:Epstein survivors angry after former AG Pam Bondi delivers closed-door testimonyMay 29|Duration 2:45Former U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi drew angered reactions from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein after she delivered a closed-door testimony about her handling of documents related to the convicted sex offender.As with former president Clinton, who started a foundation involved in global health and said that Epstein provided his private jet for travel to foreign countries, Gates has previously framed his contacts with Epstein as being focused on philanthropic efforts through what was then known as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation."The focus was that he knew a lot of very rich people and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health," Gates told the Australian broadcaster. "In retrospect, that was a dead end and I've said many times, and I'll say again, it was foolish to spend time with him, I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him."House committee asks U.S. DOJ to examine sexual abuse allegations made by ex-Epstein assistantAnalysis6 takeaways from Bill Clinton's deposition about Epstein and MaxwellIn contrast to Clinton, Trump, Victoria's Secret founder Leslie Wexner and others — who each first crossed paths with Epstein in the 1980s and '90s — Gates only came to know the financier after he had already served 13 months behind bars on state charges in Florida beginning in 2008 of one count of solicitation of prostitution and one count of procurement of minors for prostitution.Gates has said the contacts with Epstein occurred between 2011 and 2014. Earlier this year, ​the Gates Foundation said it ⁠did not make any financial payments to Epstein or employ him at any time, but also that an external review of the organization's contacts with Epstein would take place.In 2021, the New York Times reported that Gates had dinners at Epstein's Manhattan townhome and had flown on his jet. Ahead of meeting Gates, Epstein had informed foundation members of his Florida conviction, according to the newspaper.WATCH | Lutnick, who gave conflicting Epstein accounts, sits for interview:Howard Lutnick grilled about ties to Jeffrey EpsteinMay 6|Duration 2:06U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was confronted by reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as he entered a closed-door hearing about Jeffrey Epstein, with his past ties, including a disputed island visit, back under scrutiny.Gates Foundation conducting external reviewDocuments released ⁠by the Justice Department also included pictures of the Microsoft founder posing with women whose faces are redacted, although the context of those pictures and other photos of high-profile figures released by the department has not always been clear.According to a Wall Street Journal report earlier this year, the billionaire apologized to Gates Foundation staff at a town hall. He reportedly admitted to foundation employees that he had affairs with two Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that those women were not Epstein victims.Authorities were hot on the trail of Epstein's co-conspirators. Why weren't they named in the document dump?Gates told Nine that he never received an email written by Epstein that was discovered in the Justice Department tranche, in which Gates and Russian prostitutes are mentioned. Nevertheless, the revelations have caused reputational harm, and Gates told Nine that he understood people like himself should be held to a "very high bar" in who they associate with.Melinda Gates French, the billionaire's ex-wife who left the foundation two years ago, previously told CBS News she had made it to clear at the time to her former husband that she did not approve of the Epstein meetings. The release of files has placed scrutiny on a number of individuals who had relationships with Epstein. In both the U.S. and Europe, several individuals have resigned from positions since the release of the files.A banner displaying the logo of the Gates Foundation is shown during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 20, 2026. (Ina Fassbinder/AFP/Getty Images)On Wednesday, the committee interviewed Lesley Groff, who ended up in Epstein's employ in 2001 after seeking employment through a headhunter, and stayed on until 2019, the year of his death.Groff, who was married, never resided at any of Epstein properties and was involved in scheduling appointments and travel with Epstein. A synopsis of an FBI interview with Groff previously released by the U.S. government suggests Groff indicated she believed massage bookings for Epstein to be like any other appointments, with no suggestion of impropriety.Several victims in court or in media interviews have described the massages as a guise for Epstein to commit sexual assault.Groff "has long stated that she was unaware of the abuse that took place. I'll be honest with you, I'm extremely skeptical of that," Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona told CNN in an interview on Tuesday.LISTEN | Politico legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney on accountability and the Epstein files:Front Burner31:06Epstein’s orbit: will justice come?