Bill Gates ‘took responsibility for his actions’ over Epstein links, foundation says
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Documents released by the US Department of Justice have indicated that Mr Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein met repeatedly after Epstein’s prison term to discuss expanding the Microsoft founder’s philanthropic efforts.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Bill Gates “took responsibility for his actions” over ties to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a town hall meeting with employees of the Gates Foundation, a spokesperson for the philanthropic group told Reuters in a written statement on Feb 24.
The spokesperson’s comments came in response to a Wall Street Journal report which said Mr Gates had apologised to staff during the town hall over his ties with Epstein.
Documents released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) have indicated that Mr Gates and Epstein met repeatedly after Epstein’s prison term to discuss expanding the Microsoft founder’s philanthropic efforts.
According to the Journal report, Mr Gates told staff that it was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein and bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with the sex offender. The report cited a recording of the comments Mr Gates made in the town hall.
“I apologise to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made,” he said, according to the newspaper.
The Journal added that Mr Gates also acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they did not involve Epstein’s victims.
“I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” Mr Gates told the staff, according to the report.
Documents released by the DOJ also included pictures of the Microsoft founder posing with women whose faces are redacted. Mr Gates has previously said the relationship with Epstein was confined to philanthropy-related discussions and has said it was a mistake to meet him.
According to the Journal, Mr Gates told the foundation’s staff that the images 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,” Mr Gates added, according to the report.
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told Reuters that Mr Gates held a scheduled town hall with the employees and answered questions on a range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files.
“In the town hall, Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions.”
The spokesperson also said the Gates Foundation statement acknowledged what was shared by the billionaire during the town hall, and the statement is all that the foundation would say about the report.
Earlier in February, the Gates Foundation said it did not make any financial payments to Epstein
The billionaire also pulled out of India’s AI Impact Summit
The Gates Foundation, chaired by Mr Bill Gates and started by him and his then wife in 2000, is one of the world’s biggest funders of global health initiatives. REUTERS
