Bill Gates publicly issued statements following a massive release of Department of Justice (DOJ) documents and took responsibility for his actions regarding his ties to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a town hall meeting with Gates Foundation employees.
The recent remarks come in response to a Wall Street Journal report, which clarified that Gates had expressed regret to staff during the town hall over his ties with Epstein.
According to Reuters, 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. In this connection he said: “I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.”
The documents released by the DOJ also included pictures of the Microsoft founder posing with women whose faces are redacted. Gates had previously clarified that his relationship with Epstein was limited to philanthropy-related discussions and has since maintained that meeting with him was a big mistake.
Gates told the foundation’s staff that the images were taken at Epstein’s request, featuring him alongside Epstein’s assistants following their meetings.
In this regard he said: “To be clear I never spend any time with victims, the women around him.”
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation said that Gates held a scheduled town hall with the employees and answered questions on a wide range of issues including the release of Epstein files.
Furthermore, a spokesperson also said that the Gates Foundation stated that the organization did not make any financial payments to Epstein. The billionaire also opted out of a recently held AI summit hours before his scheduled keynote last week.
The Gates Foundation, which was directed by Bill Gates and his former wife in 2000 is one of the world’s most prominent funders of global health initiatives. Nonetheless, recently circulating this month were described as painful and have reiterated questions regarding the ongoing debate.
