The US Congress is continuing its probe into the misconduct of late New York City financier Jeffrey Epstein by questioning several of his high-profile associates, including Bill Gates.
The Microsoft co-founder appeared before the lawmakers on Wednesday, June 10, and expressed regret over his acquaintance with Epstein, stating that he had cut ties with him in 2014.
He, however, alleged that Epstein continued to attempt to blackmail him back into his fold by using “painful” details about his marriage to Melinda Gates.
“He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda,” Gates said.
Bill Gates claimed Jeffrey Epstein attempted to pressure him into renewing their friendship by using marital secrets
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“I learned Epstein had become aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage,” Gates detailed.
He had faced rumors of having affairs with two Russian women for a long time, and when the U.S. Department of Justice released millions of pages of email and photographic evidence concerning Epstein’s misconduct between December 2025 and January 2026, it became confirmed that the rumors were true.
Image credits: DOJ
Gates corroborated the same at a February 2025 town hall meeting with Gates Foundation employees, confessing, “I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player, who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist whom I met through business activities.”
The Wall Street Journal had previously identified the bridge player as Mila Antonova, who met Gates in 2010 at a tournament.
She later met Epstein in 2013, who paid for her to attend software coding school.
The nuclear physicist remains unidentified, but she reportedly worked at one of Gates’s companies.
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Addressing his ties to Epstein at the town hall, Gates acknowledged spending time with him in New York, Germany, France, and Washington, but said, “I did nothing illicit. Saw nothing illicit.”
He maintained the same stance when speaking before Congress.
Image credits: Kjetil Ree/Wikimedia Commons
He recounted that he had struck a friendship with Epstein in 2011, three years after he pleaded guilty to engaging in improper acts, because he promised to help him raise billions of dollars for global public health initiatives.
“I did not understand the extent of the crimes he committed. I accepted the introduction without applying the scrutiny I should have,” Gates argued in his defense.
The Microsoft cofounder then claimed that after he cut off contact, Epstein used what he knew about his affairs, along with “many lies that he layered on top,” to try to get him to speak to him again.
Gates appeared to reference Epstein’s claim that he had contracted an STD from the Russian women
In a series of email drafts Jeffrey Epstein wrote to himself in July 2013, he claimed Gates had asked him for antibiotics for his STD, informing him they were intended to be given to Melinda Gates without her knowledge.
Gates’s spokesperson called the detail “absolutely absurd and completely false.”
Image credits: DOJ
Melinda addressed being mentioned by name in the Epstein files during a sit-down with NPR for an episode of their Wild Card podcast in February.
“I think we are having a reckoning as a society,” she said, referring to Epstein’s crimes and the powerful men linked to him.
“But for me, it’s personally hard whenever those details come up, because it brings back memories of some very painful times in my marriage.”
Image credits: DOJ
When asked directly about the STD antibiotics email, she refused to comment, instead only saying she feels “unbelievable sadness” over the matter.
Melinda Gates gave a pointed response when she was asked about forgiving Bill Gates for his alleged actions
Melinda and Bill Gates ended their 27-year-long marriage in 2021.
When Wild Card host Rachel Martin asked Melinda what growing older had taught her about life, she said it was the importance of “absolute trust” in all relationships, and that without it, it was impossible to keep growing.
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“Did it take you more than a minute to learn to trust again, because that had been broken in your…” Martin said, when Melinda jumped in to add, “Marriage?”
“Of course,” Melinda remarked, before noting that she thought she would never know how to trust again.
“But I have learned that with the right person, you can,” she later shared.
Image credits: NPR/YouTube
Asked by NPR if she was good at forgiveness, Melinda replied, “Yes, I think I am.”
“If you cannot eventually forgive somebody, then you hurt yourself,” Melinda opined, adding, “I forgive them, but I do not need to be in touch with them anymore.”
Melinda’s perspective on forgiveness appeared to center on friendships and other connections, as when asked if she had forgiven Bill, she said, “I think I am going to keep that one to myself.”
However, she later had a change of heart and went on to call her forgiveness of her ex-husband a “work in progress,” ultimately sharing, “I think I am getting there.”
“Suddenly he’s the victim? Make that make sense!” a netizen said about Bill Gates
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