Bill Gates sat before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday and told lawmakers that his repeated meetings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were "a grave error in judgment," delivering the admission under oath as Congress presses forward with its wide-ranging investigation into Epstein's network of powerful associates.
The Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist appeared voluntarily after the committee issued a formal request for his testimony. His appearance marked one of the highest-profile moments yet in the committee's Epstein probe, which has drawn scrutiny to a long list of wealthy and influential figures who maintained contact with Epstein even after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Gates acknowledged meeting Epstein multiple times between 2011 and 2014, well after that conviction. He told lawmakers he believed Epstein could help channel large donations toward global health initiatives through the Gates Foundation. That rationale, Gates conceded, did not excuse the association.
In his prepared remarks and responses to questioning, Gates described the meetings as transactional in nature. He said Epstein dangled the prospect of facilitating philanthropic contributions from wealthy individuals in Epstein's circle. Gates told the committee he eventually concluded that Epstein had not delivered on those promises and cut off contact.
"Meeting with Epstein was a grave error in judgment, and I regret it deeply," Gates said in his testimony, as reported by CBS News.
Gates denied witnessing any illegal activity during his encounters with Epstein. He also denied that Epstein ever provided him with any personal benefit or that their relationship extended beyond the philanthropic discussions he described.
Committee members pressed Gates on why he continued meeting with a registered sex offender over a span of years. Gates reiterated that he was focused on the potential for large charitable donations and that he should have recognized sooner that the association was inappropriate regardless of the stated purpose.
The meetings Gates acknowledged took place between 2011 and 2014. Epstein had completed his 13-month jail sentence in Florida in 2009 after pleading guilty to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. He was required to register as a sex offender. Despite that public record, Gates met with Epstein on multiple occasions at Epstein's New York townhouse.
Previous reporting had established that Gates visited Epstein's Manhattan residence at least several times. Emails released in connection with the committee's investigation showed coordination between Gates Foundation staff and Epstein's associates to arrange some of those meetings. The Gates Foundation launched an internal review after those emails surfaced publicly, putting the organization's leadership on notice about the scope of the Epstein connection.
Gates told the committee he did not recall every specific meeting but acknowledged the general pattern. He said the encounters typically involved dinner conversations about philanthropy and global health.
Republican members of the Oversight Committee used the hearing to underscore broader questions about how Epstein maintained access to powerful figures for years after his conviction. Several members pointed to Gates as an example of how Epstein leveraged the promise of philanthropic connections to sustain relationships with billionaires and public figures who should have known better.
Committee Chairman James Comer has framed the Epstein investigation as a matter of institutional accountability. The committee has issued subpoenas and formal requests to multiple individuals connected to Epstein, seeking to build a comprehensive record of who knew what and when.
Gates had previously been ordered to testify in the House Epstein probe after issuing a public apology for his ties to the convicted sex offender. His voluntary appearance Tuesday fulfilled that obligation, though committee members signaled they may have follow-up questions depending on what additional documents and records the investigation produces.
The hearing also touched on whether Gates had any knowledge of Epstein's alleged trafficking operation. Gates said he did not. He told lawmakers he was unaware of the full scope of Epstein's criminal conduct until it became public in 2019, when federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking of minors. Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 in what was ruled a suicide.
Gates's testimony left several threads unresolved. Investigators have not publicly confirmed whether any donations Gates described as the purpose of the meetings ever materialized through Epstein's connections. The committee has not released a full accounting of the emails and scheduling records it has obtained related to the Gates-Epstein interactions.
Authorities have also not said whether any of the meetings Gates described involved other individuals who are subjects of the committee's broader investigation. The question of who else attended dinners or gatherings at Epstein's residence during those years remains open.
The unresolved questions surrounding Epstein's death and the records that remain sealed continue to fuel public demand for transparency. The Oversight Committee's investigation represents one of the most sustained congressional efforts to pry open Epstein's network of associations.
Gates is far from the only prominent figure to face questions. The committee has heard from multiple witnesses, including Epstein's longtime attorney Darren Indyke, who told the committee he knew nothing about Epstein's criminal activities despite years of close professional contact.
Gates's core argument before the committee rested on the idea that his meetings with Epstein were driven entirely by charitable ambition. He portrayed himself as someone who made a serious misjudgment about a useful contact, not as someone who condoned or overlooked Epstein's crimes.
That defense carries a built-in tension. Gates is one of the most informed and well-advised people on the planet. His foundation employs thousands of people and conducts due diligence on partners and grantees worldwide. The decision to meet repeatedly with a convicted sex offender, at that person's home, over a period of years, raises questions about whether standard vetting processes were bypassed or ignored.
Gates did not directly address that tension in his testimony. He acknowledged the error but did not explain why no one on his staff flagged the meetings as a reputational or ethical risk before 2014, when he says the contact ended.
The committee's investigation has also drawn attention to the expanding scope of allegations tied to Epstein's properties, including claims that have surfaced in civil litigation. Those filings paint a picture of an operation that extended well beyond the Manhattan townhouse where Gates says his meetings took place.
The Oversight Committee has not indicated whether Gates will be called back for additional testimony. Members said they would review transcripts and compare Gates's statements against documents already in the committee's possession before deciding on next steps.
The broader Epstein investigation continues on multiple fronts. Civil lawsuits involving Epstein's estate are still active. Congressional investigators are pursuing additional witnesses. And public pressure for full disclosure of Epstein's associations shows no sign of easing.
Gates left the hearing room Tuesday having delivered the words Congress wanted to hear. Whether those words satisfy the public's demand for a full accounting is another matter entirely. When a billionaire calls something "a grave error in judgment," the follow-up question is always the same: who else made that same error, and what did it cost?
