It looks like the Gates Foundation is coming to the defense of Bill Gates for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. A spokesperson for the philanthropic group told Reuters in a written statement on Tuesday that 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.
The spokesperson’s comments came in response to a Wall Street Journal report, which said that Gates had apologized to staff during the town hall over his ties with Epstein.
As per the Journal report, 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 Gates made in the town hall.
Read: From Bill Gates to Bill Clinton: Big names surface in Epstein fallout, triggering resignations (
“I apologize 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 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,” Gates told the staff, as per the report.
However, Gates admitted to having affairs with two Russian women. “I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,” he told staff.
Documents released by the DOJ also included pictures of the Microsoft founder posing with women whose faces are redacted. Gates has previously said the relationship with Epstein was confined to philanthropy-related discussions and has said it was a mistake to meet with him.
“To be clear I never spent any time with victims, the women around him,” Gates added, as per the report.
Despite his then wife, Melinda Gates, expressing concerns in 2013, Gates continued meeting Epstein. “To give her credit, she was always kind of sceptical about the Epstein thing,” he said.