Bill Gates testified behind closed doors before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a decision that drew criticism from lawmakers who said the public deserved to hear the testimony directly.
The deposition came as the committee continued reviewing more than 3 million Epstein-related files released by the Department of Justice. Those documents included references to Gates’ past relationship with Epstein, as well as emails that raised new questions about the nature of their association.
A spokesperson for the Oversight Committee defended the closed-door format, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that depositions and transcribed interviews allow investigators to conduct longer, more detailed questioning.
“The Committee is conducting a thorough investigation of the federal government’s handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases. Depositions and transcribed interviews provide the committee with more in-depth, sustained questioning in order to gather the facts,” the spokesperson said.
The committee also said Gates’ interview was the 15th conducted as part of the investigation and that full transcripts are released publicly after each interview.
Still, the private format stood out because several of Epstein’s alleged victims had testified publicly before the House Oversight Committee on May 13. Sarah Kellen, a former personal assistant to Epstein, also testified privately before the committee on May 22.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said he believes the testimony should have been public. Speaking to the DCNF, Burchett said both Republicans and Democrats had generally agreed that the hearings should be open.
“I’m about transparency, I always say let it be wide open,” Burchett said.
When asked why Gates’ testimony was not public, Burchett said the decision was “above my pay grade.” He also compared the situation to the committee’s dealings with the Clintons, saying he believed they also insisted on private testimony.
Burchett later told reporters that Epstein appeared to have “reeled” Gates in because Epstein liked surrounding himself with powerful and important people. Burchett also said Gates seemed “very worn down and stressed” while answering questions.
Democrats on the committee also objected to the closed-door setting. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member on the Oversight Committee, said Democrats wanted the hearings to be public, videotaped, under oath, and released to the American people.
“But that’s a decision that Chairman Comer and the majority get to make by being in the majority, and we think it’s very unfortunate,” Garcia told the DCNF. “We should be opening these to the American public.”
The testimony also attracted attention because Gates reportedly hired Jake Greenberg, a former committee staffer who had been leading the Epstein inquiry until December, to help prepare him. According to The New York Times, the move concerned some government ethics experts, who said the arrangement created troubling optics.
The DOJ files included several references to Gates and Epstein. In one 2013 email draft, Epstein claimed he had urged Gates to delete emails about an alleged sexually transmitted disease and said Gates wanted antibiotics secretly given to his then-wife, Melinda. Another draft email appeared to describe Epstein resigning from the Gates Foundation while claiming he had helped Gates obtain drugs related to “consequences of sex with Russian girls.”
Gates has denied any involvement in Epstein’s criminal conduct. In February, he told 9 News Australia that he never went to Epstein’s island and never met with any women connected to Epstein.
“It’s factually true that I was only at dinners,” Gates said. “I never went to the island, I never met any women.”
Gates acknowledged meeting with Epstein in 2011 and maintaining a relationship with him for roughly three years, after Epstein had already served time for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Gates called the association a mistake but said it had “nothing to do with that kind of behavior.”
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