Bill Gates gave testimony this Tuesday before a committee of the United States Congress, in a closed-door hearing about his relationship with New York financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In his initial statement, published on the website GatesNotes, the billionaire stated that he “should never have met with Epstein”, but stressed that he “never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was involved in ongoing criminal activities”.
“I have never harmed anyone,” Gates added.
The technology mogul became the latest influential figure linked to Epstein to testify before the Congressional Oversight Commission.
Upon arriving at the Capitol, Gates highlighted that he attended voluntarily and said he hoped his testimony would be “useful for the work, the important work, of the committee, to seek justice for the victims.”
The commission’s chairman, Republican Representative James Comer, formally requested that Gates testify after the businessman’s name appeared several times in documents released by the Department of Justice as part of the Epstein investigation.
Gates said he met Epstein through people connected to his professional and philanthropic work and was interested in claims that the financier could help raise billions of dollars for global health initiatives.
According to Gates, the relationship came to an end in 2014, after he concluded that Epstein would not be able to fulfill these promises.
The Microsoft founder also stated that he never visited Epstein’s island or other properties associated with the financier.
“I have never victimized anyone. Although he may have tried to develop a personal relationship, I was never interested in it and never responded,” said Gates.
The so-called “Epstein files” include records of meetings between Gates and Epstein, email exchanges about philanthropic projects and photographs of Gates at events in which Epstein also attended.
According to the documents, the relationship between the two began in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution, and continued until at least the end of 2014.
Gates, who chairs the Gates Foundation, has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein and has repeatedly denied knowledge of the financier’s abuse of young girls.
Epstein was formally charged by the United States federal government in July 2019 with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.
The Justice Department alleged that he created a wide network of girls, some as young as 14, for sexual exploitation between 2002 and 2005.
Jeffrey Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.
Source: www.noticiasaominuto.com.br
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