Bill Gates among 7 asked to testify before House committee on possible Epstein ties

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is among seven people who were invited Tuesday to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about its ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, convicted sex offender.

The other six are Lesley Groff, Epstein’s former longtime executive assistant; Sarah Kellen, another former Epstein employee; Kathryn Ruemmlerformer White House advisor to former President Barack Obama; Leon Blackco-founder of Apollo Global Management; Doug Grouppersonal assistant and long-time alumni advisor President Bill Clintonwho, with his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clintonboth testified separately about Epstein before the House Oversight Committee last week; and tech billionaire Ted Waitt, a former boyfriend of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010 as Maxwell’s guest.

In the seven letters, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer writes that the committee believes the recipients “have information that will assist in its investigation.”

Comer says the committee is examining the federal government’s “alleged mishandling of the investigation” into Epstein and Maxwell, how Epstein and Maxwell “sought favor and influence to protect their illegal activities” and “potential ethics violations related to elected officials.”

The seven people testified on dates ranging from April 16 to June 9.

A Gates spokesperson said he plans to testify before the committee.

“Gates welcomes the opportunity to appear before the committee,” the spokesperson told CBS News in a statement. “While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he looks forward to answering all of the committee’s questions in support of its important work.”

Jennifer Connelly, a spokesperson for Ruemmler, told CBS News that Ruemmler “welcomes the opportunity to appear before the committee.”

“At the time she interacted with Jeffrey Epstein, she was a criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him,” the spokesperson said. “She did nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on her part.”

Groff’s attorney said she had no comment on the letter.

CBS News has also reached out to Black, Band and Waitt for comment and is attempting to contact Kellen. None of the seven have been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

The House requests come after the Justice Department in December began the process of releasing millions of records related to its decades-long investigation into Epstein, a wealthy financier accused of running a massive sex trafficking operation with Maxwell’s help. The two men allegedly victimized dozens of minor girls and women.

The Department of Justice only published the files after Congress passed a bill in November, signed by President Trump, requiring him to do so.

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to charges of soliciting prostitution in exchange for dropping federal charges against him. He served 13 months in the county jail and had to register as a sex offender.

A New York federal grand jury Epstein indicted for child sex trafficking in July 2019, but he was found dead a few weeks later, in August 2019, in a Manhattan prison. The cause of his death was ruled a suicide.

Maxwell was found guilty in 2021 on federal sex trafficking charges and was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Released records, however, revealed the wealthy financier’s deep ties to the rich and powerful, which persisted well after his conviction in Florida.

Bill Gates traveled with Epstein on a private plane

Last week, Gates apologized to staff at his philanthropic Gates Foundation for his ties to Epstein, which he says began in 2011 and continued through 2014.

According to audio of the apology obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Gates told staff that he and Epstein once shared a private jet and spent time in Germany, France, New York and Washington.

The DOJ trove of files included two emails Epstein sent to himself on July 18, 2013, containing unverified allegations that Gates had “extramarital sex with Russian girls” that resulted in a sexually transmitted infection requiring antibiotic treatment. In an email, Epstein claimed that Gates also sought to “surreptitiously give” antibiotics to his then-wife, Melinda Gates.

The emails appear to have been written by Epstein on behalf of an aggrieved Gates employee who was resigning.

Regarding these allegations, a spokesperson for Gates told CBS News in January that “the claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration at not having had an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to to frame and defame.”

At last week’s town hall, according to the Journal, Gates admitted that he “had affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and another with a Russian nuclear physicist I met through business activities.”

Kathryn Ruemmler wrote that she loved Epstein

Ruemmler served as White House counsel under Obama from 2011 to 2014, before joining the law firm Latham and Watkins in 2014, then Goldman Sachs in 2020.

Ruemmler appeared several times in records released by the Justice Department, including in a December 2015 email exchange in which she wrote that she loved Epstein.

In May 2015, Epstein asked Ruemmler if she could give filmmaker Woody Allen and his wife Soon Yi a tour of the White House, which took place in December 2015, according to White House records.

Last month, Ruemmler announcement she would resign from her role as Goldman Sachs’ lead lawyer following the release of the files.

Leon Black received advice from Epstein on how to deal with the aftermath of an affair

DOJ documents show that Blackco-founder of investment firm Apollo Global Management, received advice from Epstein on how to prevent a six-year relationship with a Russian woman from becoming public.

In a September 2015 email, Epstein suggested Black hire former law enforcement officers to approach the woman about signing a nondisclosure agreement.

“Choose the method of delivering the message, my choice. – two highly respected elders —- fill in the blank, immigration, scotland yard. sfo. . who can knock on his door and present the conditions,” Epstein wrote.

In October 2015, the woman signed a confidentiality agreement with Black in which he agreed to pay her $100,000 a month for 15 years, forgive a million-dollar loan and provide her with two million pounds to obtain legal status in the United Kingdom.

Senate Finance Committee documents also showed that Black paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning services. Black resigned as chairman and CEO of Apollo in 2021. Law firm retained by Apollo board to examine Black’s dealings with Epstein erased Black of any possible wrongdoing.