Microsoft founder Bill Gates broke his silence regarding his close ties to Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday, saying he “regrets” ever knowing the international sex trafficker.
Gates appeared in photographs in prior batches of released Epstein files, but is mentioned by name in the latest release. In Emails from 2013, Epstein claims that Gates got an STD from unnamed “Russian girls” and had requested antibiotics to give to his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, “surreptitiously.” Gates’ office flatly rejected the claims in a statement on Friday.
French Gates publicly urged her ex-husband to answer for his ties to Epstein. “Whatever questions remain there … for those people, and for even my ex-husband, they need to answer to those things, not me,” she told NPR on Tuesday.
Gates addressed his relationship to Epstein in an interview with Australia’s 9News, calling the allegations in the email “false” and calling himself “foolish” for associating with Epstein.
“Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is false,” Gates said. “I don’t know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way? Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize that I did that.”
Start your day with essential news from Salon.Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Gates denied ever traveling to Epstein’s residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands or with having sexual relations with any of the women and girls present on the island.
“The more that comes out, the more clear it will be that, although the time was a mistake, it has nothing to do with that kind of behavior,” Gates said.
Watch the interview below via YouTube:
Read more
about the Epstein files
