By Shelesh Joshi and Rajiv Menon 
New Delhi, June 11: The Bill Gates Epstein testimony that shook Washington arrived on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, when Gates walked into the United States Capitol and told a congressional committee that Jeffrey Epstein a convicted sex offender who died in federal custody in 2019 had tried to blackmail him using knowledge of his extramarital affairs to force him back into a relationship he had already tried to exit.
Gates appeared voluntarily, denied all criminal wrongdoing, and called the association “a grave error in judgment.” But the testimony is bigger than one man’s reckoning with a bad decision. It is the clearest on-record account yet of how Epstein’s leverage machine actually worked and what it means for the global philanthropic networks, including the Gates Foundation’s deep presence in India, is a question that will outlast this week’s headlines.
Quick Summary
- Bill Gates, 70, testified before the U.S. House Oversight Committee on June 10, 2026, in a closed door session lasting several hours, according to Reuters and ABC News.
- Gates said Epstein tried to use knowledge of his extramarital affairs, layered with fabrications, to pressure him but the effort was unsuccessful, according to Reuters.
- Gates first met Epstein in 2011 and their contact ran through 2014; no philanthropic fund was ever created and no donations were ever raised, according to ABC News.
- The DOJ has released a combined total of nearly 3.5 million pages under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed by President Trump on November 19, 2025, according to an official Department of Justice press release.
- The Gates Foundation commissioned an independent external review of its Epstein ties in March 2026, with findings expected in the summer, according to CBS News.
- Gates is not charged with, and has not been accused of, any criminal wrongdoing by law enforcement, the committee, or any of Epstein’s victims.
Bill Gates Epstein Testimony: What He Said in His Own Words
Gates came prepared with a written opening statement, a copy of which was reviewed by ABC News. He was direct about the nature of the association. “Meeting with Epstein was a grave error in judgment,” Gates said, according to ABC News. He also denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes in unambiguous terms. “I never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct. I never went to his island, his ranch, or his Florida home. I have never victimized anyone,” he stated, according to ABC News.
On the blackmail question, Gates told the committee that Epstein had come to learn sensitive information about his personal life specifically that he had been unfaithful in his marriage to Melinda French Gates. “These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family,” Gates said, according to Reuters.
He went further in describing the mechanism. “Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities in addition to many lies that he layered on top to pressure me to re-engage with him. 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,” he stated, according to Reuters.
Gates also told the committee that Epstein had sought to “foster a personal relationship” with him throughout their contact, but that his own focus remained entirely on using Epstein’s network to raise philanthropic funds, according to ABC News. Before entering the hearing room, Gates paused for reporters. “I hope my testimony is helpful to the work, the important work of the committee, to find justice for the victims,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
After the session concluded, Gates released a brief statement. “I appreciated the opportunity to meet with the House Oversight Committee today and to answer all of their questions. I support the release of all the files and hope my participation contributes to getting justice for the victims,” according to CBS News.
How A Philanthropy Pitch Became A Pressure Campaign
Gates told the committee his first contact with Epstein came in 2011 three years after Epstein had already pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and served 13 months in prison, according to ABC News. He said his initial meetings with Epstein numbered three in 2011 and two in 2012, all focused on global health fundraising goals. “I recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed,” Gates stated, according to ABC News.
By 2013 and 2014, the contact became more substantive. “We began more extensive conversations in 2013 and 2014. The discussions focused on identifying potential giving structures, such as donor advised funds, and how to enroll individuals he claimed were interested in making significant contributions,” Gates said, according to ABC News.
Epstein pitched a donor advised fund a tax deductible charitable vehicle as the vehicle for pooling donations. In DOJ documents, Epstein compared it to “cloud computing for the giving world.” Gates responded in a February 2014 email: “It is a good analogy. It is clearer to me now than before and it could be a great thing,” according to ABC News.
By December 2014, Gates had cooled. “In terms of the DAF I don’t think we have any people at this point who will move to do something soon,” he wrote, according to ABC News. Nothing came of it. No fund was created. No donations were ever received. The Gates Foundation confirmed in a statement that it “did not pursue any collaboration with Epstein and no fund was ever created,” according to ABC News.
The DOJ Documents: What Started This Investigation
The full weight of Wednesday’s testimony cannot be understood without examining what triggered it. Following the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by President Trump on November 19, 2025 the Department of Justice began releasing documents from its Epstein investigations within a 30-day deadline. The DOJ has since released a combined total of nearly 3.5 million pages, naming hundreds of prominent figures across business, technology, and politics, according to an official Department of Justice press release published on justice.gov.
Among the most widely reported disclosures were a pair of emails Epstein sent to himself in July 2013, which contained unverified allegations that Gates had extramarital relationships that resulted in a sexually transmitted infection, according to CBS News. The emails further alleged Gates sought to give antibiotics to his then wife Melinda without her knowledge. A spokesperson for Gates told CBS News: “The claims are absolutely absurd and completely false.”
The documents also showed 2017 text messages in which Epstein communicated with an apparent adviser to Gates about the donor advised fund. In those messages, the adviser told Epstein that Gates was interested but that Melinda Gates did not want him to communicate with Epstein, according to CBS News.
In February 2026, Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina formally demanded Gates be subpoenaed in a letter to Committee Chairman James Comer, citing the DOJ documents, according to an official press release on Representative Mace’s congressional website. Comer wrote to Gates in March 2026, stating the committee “believes you have information that will assist in its investigation,” according to ABC News and The Hill.
Gates’s Prior Statements and the February Town Hall
Wednesday’s testimony did not arrive without warning. Gates had been addressing the Epstein question for months, each time expanding on what he had previously said. In February 2026, Gates held a town hall with Gates Foundation staff. He apologised for his ties to Epstein and confirmed that their relationship ran from 2011 through 2014, according to CBS News. During that meeting he acknowledged two extramarital affairs one with a Russian bridge player, one with a Russian nuclear physicist and told staff that neither woman had been introduced to him by Epstein, according to the Wall Street Journal.
He also told his staff: “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” according to the Wall Street Journal. The Gates Foundation confirmed the meeting to ABC News. “Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions,” a spokesperson said.
Earlier in 2026, Gates told Australia’s 9News: “The focus was always: he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health. In retrospect, that was a dead end,” according to ABC News. He added: “Every minute I spent with him I regret and I apologise that I did that.”
A spokesperson for Gates told the BBC: “While Mr Gates acknowledges that meeting with Epstein was a serious error in judgment, he unequivocally denies any improper conduct related to Epstein and the horrible activities in which Epstein was involved.”
Who Else Has Testified: The Scope of the Investigation
The Oversight Committee’s Epstein investigation has become one of the most sweeping congressional inquiries in recent American political history. Gates’s appearance is one of the most high profile since the probe began, according to ABC News.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were deposed separately in February 2026. Both denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes before his 2008 guilty plea, according to NPR. Neither has been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, billionaire Les Wexner, and investor Leon Black have all appeared before the committee, according to CBS News. Epstein’s former longtime executive secretary, Lesley Groff, testified the day before Gates on June 9, 2026. She had worked for Epstein from 2001 until his arrest in July 2019, handling his schedule, bookings, and travel, according to PBS NewsHour. ABC News reported she described Epstein as a “master manipulator.”
The committee’s ranking Democrat, Representative Robert Garcia of California, called for a videotaped deposition under oath from acting Attorney General Blanche that would be released publicly, according to ABC News.
Committee Chairman Comer told reporters he also wants to question Blanche in July. “I think the main thing that we have for Blanche is the question on what, if any, documents are left out there,” Comer said, according to ABC News. He confirmed he was also seeking a transcribed interview with attorney Alan Dershowitz following Groff’s testimony, according to ABC News. A full transcript of Gates’s own testimony is expected to be released publicly within days, according to Reuters.
Gates Foundation’s India Programme and the New Delhi Summit
For Indian readers, this is not a distant Washington story. The Gates Foundation operates one of its largest international programmes in India, spanning public health initiatives including polio eradication and tuberculosis control, agricultural development, water and sanitation, and financial inclusion.
The foundation’s India office, led by Ankur Vora as President of Africa and India Offices, has functioned as a key partner to both state and central government institutions for over two decades. Earlier in 2026, Gates was scheduled to deliver the keynote at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and billed as one of the most significant technology conferences in the Global South, according to CNN. He withdrew at the last minute as the fresh wave of Epstein disclosures intensified. Ankur Vora appeared in his place, according to CNN.
Gates had been in India that same week. He met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during the visit, with the meeting posted publicly on Gates’s own social media account, according to CNN. The abrupt summit withdrawal made the cancellation particularly visible to Indian institutions and government partners who had expected his presence.
The foundation’s external review of its Epstein ties commissioned in March 2026 is ongoing, with an update expected later this summer, according to CBS News. Foundation officials have stated they expect the review to cover both past engagement with Epstein and internal policies for vetting future philanthropic partnerships.
Melinda French Gates, who divorced Bill Gates in 2021, said the released documents brought back memories of “some very, very painful times” in their marriage. “Whatever questions remain there … those questions are for those people, and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me,” she said on NPR’s Wild Card podcast, according to ABC News.
Who Was Epstein? Essential Background
Jeffrey Epstein was a U.S. financier who cultivated relationships with powerful figures across technology, finance, politics, and academia over decades. He built his network through charitable events, private dinners, and access to a web of wealthy contacts he claimed to represent.
He pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl, serving 13 months in county jail under a plea arrangement widely criticised as excessively lenient. Federal prosecutors who negotiated the deal have faced sustained scrutiny over it ever since.
In 2019, federal prosecutors in New York charged him with sex trafficking of minors involving dozens of underage girls. He pleaded not guilty and died in a Manhattan detention facility in August 2019 officially ruled a suicide while awaiting trial. The circumstances of his death have remained a subject of public controversy.
Ghislaine Maxwell, his close associate and alleged co-conspirator, was convicted on December 29, 2021, on five felony counts including sex trafficking of a minor, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 by U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan, according to an official DOJ press release on justice.gov. The congressional investigation is examining whether the DOJ and FBI mishandled or improperly limited earlier prosecutions of both Epstein and Maxwell, and whether any individuals in positions of power benefited from or encouraged that leniency.
What Happens Next
The committee’s investigation is far from over. Chairman Comer is seeking appearances from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in July and attorney Alan Dershowitz, according to ABC News.
The full transcript of Gates’s testimony is expected to be released publicly within days, according to Reuters. Unlike witnesses who appeared under subpoena whose depositions were videotaped Gates appeared voluntarily, meaning his transcript only interview will not include video footage, according to ABC News.
The Gates Foundation’s external review of its Epstein ties remains ongoing. Officials expect an update later in the summer of 2026, according to CBS News. The review is examining both the foundation’s past engagement with Epstein and whether its internal due diligence processes for evaluating partnerships were adequate.
Gates is not charged with, and has not been accused of, any wrongdoing by law enforcement, the committee, or any of Epstein’s victims. The committee’s role in this investigation is to understand the full scope of Epstein’s network and the federal government’s handling of the case not to prosecute individuals named in the files.
Analysis: The Real Story Is Bigger Than Bill Gates
Strip away the names and headlines, and what this testimony actually exposes is a structural vulnerability no billionaire, no foundation, and no government has yet found a way to close. Epstein’s power was never primarily about money or access. It was about information. He collected secrets the way other financiers collected assets patiently, strategically, across years and deployed them at the moment of maximum leverage. Gates’s testimony is the clearest on record account yet of how that worked: learn something private, layer fabrications on top, then use the combined weight of fact and fiction to demand re-engagement.
The question the Epstein investigation has repeatedly failed to answer is not who knew Epstein. Virtually every powerful institution in the Western world touched his network at some point. The harder question is why so many intelligent people with every resource available to investigate a business associate continued engaging with a man who had a criminal sexual conviction. Gates admitted he knew about that conviction when he kept meeting with him.
The answer Gates offered that Epstein claimed to know very rich people who would give to global health is not cynical. It is the most credible explanation, and in some ways the most troubling one. It means the promise of philanthropic money overrode due diligence that would be standard in any other professional context. The moral urgency of a cause became a reason to ignore warning signs that, anywhere else, would have ended the relationship immediately.
For India and the Global South, that carries direct practical implications. Dozens of large Western philanthropic organisations operate across South Asia and Africa with enormous influence over public health policy, agricultural investment, and education funding. Their accountability mechanisms are almost entirely self regulated. When those internal standards fail as the Gates Foundation’s own commissioned review implicitly acknowledges they did the consequences fall not on distant headquarters, but on the partner governments and communities that built programmes around a relationship they were never in a position to scrutinise.
The Epstein case did not create that vulnerability. It revealed one that was already there. Gates will move on from this testimony. The foundation will publish its review. The transcript will be released. But the underlying question about who holds private power accountable, and whether the promise of doing good has ever been a reliable substitute for the work of scrutiny will remain open long after the hearing rooms go quiet.
Stay ahead with Hindustan Herald — bringing you trusted news, sharp analysis, and stories that matter across Politics, Business, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Lifestyle, and more.
Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, and join our Telegram community @hindustanherald for real-time updates.
Tracking world politics, global markets, trade movements, policy decisions, and the changing balance of economic power.
- Shelesh Joshi
- Shelesh Joshi
- Shelesh Joshi
- Shelesh Joshi
Specializes in South Asian geopolitics and global diplomacy, bringing in-depth analysis on international relations.
- Rajiv Menon
- Rajiv Menon
- Rajiv Menon
- Rajiv Menon