Bill Gates is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday as congressional investigators examine his past relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein following the release of millions of pages of Justice Department documents linked to the Epstein investigation.
The closed-door interview comes after lawmakers requested Gates’s voluntary cooperation amid renewed scrutiny of his interactions with Epstein.
Committee members from both parties are expected to question the Microsoft co-founder about the extent of his relationship with the late financier and what he knew during the years they remained in contact after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Gates is not accused of wrongdoing and that investigators are seeking information about his knowledge of Epstein and those within his circle.
The Justice Department documents contain hundreds of references to Gates, including emails, meeting schedules, phone call proposals and records of interactions between the two men from 2010 to 2014.
Among the materials are draft emails attributed to Epstein that contain graphic allegations about Gates’s personal life.
The allegations include claims that Epstein facilitated sexual encounters for Gates and helped him obtain medication related to a sexually transmitted infection.
The allegations remain unverified and uncorroborated, and there is no indication the draft messages were ever sent.
Gates has strongly denied the claims and has repeatedly stated that he had no involvement in Epstein’s criminal activities.
He has also maintained that he never visited Epstein’s private island and that his meetings with Epstein were limited to dinners and discussions connected to philanthropy.
Lawmakers are expected to focus on why Gates continued to associate with Epstein after his conviction and whether Epstein sought to influence or gain leverage through relationships with powerful figures.
Democratic Representative Robert Garcia said investigators want to understand what Gates knew, who else was part of Epstein’s network and why the relationship continued despite public knowledge of Epstein’s past.
Gates has acknowledged that meeting Epstein was a mistake and has publicly expressed regret over the relationship.
The Gates Foundation has said that interactions with Epstein were tied to discussions about potential philanthropic funding, but that no collaboration or fund was ultimately created.
The committee’s interview marks one of the most prominent congressional examinations of a figure connected to Epstein since the release of the Justice Department records.