Billionaire Bill Gates testified that he never interacted with victims of Jeffrey Epstein but acknowledged that he may have been in their presence, according to a transcript of his closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee released Tuesday.
The Microsoft co-founder maintained in the voluntary interview, which took place on Capitol Hill earlier this month, that his three-year relationship with the convicted sex offender was strictly professional and that he never witnessed or participated in any sexual misconduct.
But Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia pointed out that the panel’s investigation has shown that some of Epstein’s employees were also abused by the late financier, making it difficult for Gates to rule out that he was never around any of Epstein’s victims.
“That’s a very good point,” said Gates, who acknowledged he saw some of Epstein’s female employees at the end of a meeting on one of Epstein’s planes. He added, “I may have been in the presence of victims.”
As part of the oversight committee’s ongoing probe, the panel sought Gates’ testimony after the release of additional Epstein files by the Justice Department this year raised questions about his ties to the late convicted sex offender. CNN has reached out to Gates for comment.
