Bill Gates Tells Congress His Affairs Had Nothing to Do With Epstein

WASHINGTON—Bill Gates told Congress that Jeffrey Epstein discovered that he had had affairs during his marriage and tried to leverage that information against the billionaire philanthropist, revealing how the sex offender sought to blackmail some of the powerful people in his orbit. “These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family,” the Microsoft co-founder said in prepared remarks before a House committee investigating the Epstein case. During questioning in Wednesday’s closed-door session, Gates told lawmakers he had sexual contact with three women—two Russian women and a third woman who was a doctor—that one of his mutual contacts with Epstein was aware of, a person familiar with the session said. “Based on what has been released in the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities—in addition to many lies that he layered on top—to pressure me to re-engage with him,” Gates said. “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.”