Bill Gates to face questions from House committee over links to Jeffrey Epstein

Bill Gates in January at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters View image in fullscreen Bill Gates in January at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters Bill Gates to face questions from House committee over links to Jeffrey Epstein Microsoft co-founder to appear in closed-door session as part of lawmakers’ investigation into convicted sex offender Bill Gates is set to testify in front of the House committee on oversight and reform on Wednesday as part of the panel’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein . The Microsoft co-founder will appear in a closed-door session, where lawmakers are expected to question him about his past relationship with Epstein. A transcript of the interview is expected to be released at a later date. In a statement to the Guardian before his appearance, a spokesperson for Gates said that Gates “welcomes the opportunity to appear before the committee” and said that “while he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work”. The committee, chaired by James Comer, requested Gates’s appearance in March, following the justice department’s release of millions of documents related to Epstein earlier this year. The files included numerous mentions of Gates, as well as several photographs of him, and records showing that he met with Epstein on several occasions , renewing scrutiny of Gates’s past ties to the disgraced financier. Gates has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. The released records also include correspondences between Epstein and some of Gates’s former advisers and staff at the Gates Foundation . In a statement after the files were released, the foundation said that it was aware of the emails and said that “on the basis of Epstein’s claims that he could mobilize significant philanthropic resources for global health and development, a small number of foundation employees interacted with Epstein to try to secure this potential funding”. “Ultimately, the foundation did not pursue any collaboration with Epstein and no fund was ever created,” the foundation added. In April, the Gates foundation announced that it had commissioned an “external review to assess past foundation engagement with Epstein, and our current policies for vetting and developing new philanthropic partnerships”. The foundation said the review is ongoing and that its board and management will receive an update this summer. In recent years, Gates has publicly expressed regret over his past association with Epstein. In an interview last year, he said that he met with Epstein several times to discuss philanthropy, but said that he was “foolish” to have spent any time with the convicted sex offender. “Yes, I think I was quite stupid,” Gates said.