Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates told a congressional panel that files released by the Justice Department in January only added to his embarrassment over interacting with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"I should never have met with Epstein in the first place," Bill Gates told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates told US members of Congress that the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had sought to "blackmail" him over his extramarital affairs, according to a…