During testimony on Capitol Hill today, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told lawmakers that Jeffrey Epstein used Gates’ marital infidelities as “leverage” to keep the billionaire in Epstein’s circle.
“I’m glad to be here voluntarily,” Gates told reporters before entering a House hearing room.
“I hope my testimony is helpful to the important work of the committee to find justice for the victims.”
In a prepared opening statement, Gates told committee members that he “never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct.”
“I never went to his island, his ranch, or his Florida home. I have never victimized anyone. While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated,” he went on.
Bill Gates told Congress that Jeffrey Epstein discovered that he had had affairs during his marriage and tried to leverage that information https://t.co/LH7JRwNAHE
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 10, 2026
During his testimony, Gates also disclosed that Epstein learned of Gates having “been unfaithful in my marriage” and sought “to use information about my infidelities — in addition to many lies that he layered on top — to pressure me to re-engage with him.”
“He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda,” Gates added.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said he wanted to learn more about Gates’ relationship with Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
“What did he see? Did he know what was going on? Was he involved in any of this?” Comer asked rhetorically
“I’m sure as we ask questions, more questions will arise,” he added.
“I will say this: No one’s accusing Bill Gates of any wrongdoing, and I certainly appreciate him coming in voluntarily.”
Emails and photos released by the Justice Department — in addition to remarks by Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda, about Epstein having contributed to the end of the couple’s 27-year marriage — have stained the image of the billionaire and philanthropist.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, told reporters that “we’re certainly going to ask him about … some of the emails that were in the files that relate to Mr. Gates’ possible activities with Mr. Epstein.”
In one photo released by the DOJ, Gates can be seen with Epstein, banker Jes Staley and former Harvard University President Larry Summers during a January 2011 dinner at his Manhattan penthouse.
Another image shows Gates standing with his arm around a woman whose face is redacted.
Gates told the committee on Wednesday that he first met Epstein in 2011 and was promised “billions of dollars for global health” from the financier’s “tax and estate services” clients.
In February, Gates told staffers at his foundation on Tuesday that he had two affairs with Russian women while married to his now-ex-wife.
Gates also issued an apology for his links to Epstein.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Gates, during his confession to staffers at the time that he flew on a private plane with the disgraced financier and spent time with him in the US and abroad, but didn’t participate in any crime.
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates said in the town hall meeting at the time.
“To be clear, I never spent any time with the victims, the women around him.”
“I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,” he told staffers.
In addition to Gates, Comer also told reporters he would next seek to ask Epstein’s former criminal defense attorney, the law professor Alan Dershowitz, to interview with the Oversight panel.
A lawyer for Gates has yet to comment at the time of publication.