Bill Gates Apologizes to Foundation Staff Over Epstein Ties [View all]

Source: Wall Street Journal

Bill Gates apologized to staff of the Gates Foundation over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, admitting he made mistakes that had cast a cloud over the philanthropic group while insisting he didn’t participate in Epstein’s crimes. In a town hall on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they didn’t involve Epstein’s victims. “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Gates said, according to a recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Gates said images in the recently released Epstein files showing him with women whose faces are redacted were pictures that Epstein asked him to take with Epstein’s assistants after their meetings. “To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” Gates said. “It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein” and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender, Gates said. “I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.”

The billionaire said he met with Epstein starting in 2011, years after Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Gates said he was aware of some “18-month thing” that had limited Epstein’s travel but said he didn’t properly check his background. Gates said he continued meeting with Epstein even after his then-wife Melinda French Gates expressed concerns in 2013.

“Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it’s clear there was ongoing bad behavior,” Gates told staff. Speaking of his ex-wife, he added: “To give her credit, she was always kind of skeptical about the Epstein thing.”

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bill-gates-apologizes-to-foundation-staff-over-epstein-ties-67f39ef5