June 26 (V7N) - Gates told US members of Congress that the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had sought to "blackmail" him over his extramarital affairs, according to a transcript of the testimony.

 

The tech pioneer testified behind closed doors before the House Oversight Committee on June 10 about his friendship with the disgraced American financier, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex crimes.

 

According to the transcript released by the committee Tuesday, Gates spoke of "veiled" threats and said Epstein had considered using his knowledge of Gates's extramarital affairs to keep him in Epstein’s orbit, even as Gates was distancing himself.

 

“I was not blackmailed, but you know, as you look at these emails, you know, it looks like Mr. Epstein’s brainstorming was going in that direction,” Gates said, referring to documents from the Epstein case released in January by the US Department of Justice.

 

“He never sent me anything that I would call blackmail,” Gates added under further questioning. But it appeared to Gates that through draft emails, Epstein “was sort of rehearsing how either he or he, coaching someone else, might choose to blackmail me, but none of those messages were ever sent to me.”

 

Gates, 70, had released his opening remarks on the day of the testimony, stating he had never been aware of Epstein’s criminal behavior and had “never victimized anyone.”

 

In late February, Gates told The Wall Street Journal that his ties to Epstein were a major mistake and admitted to having extramarital affairs with two Russian women but denied any involvement with the financier’s activities.

 

Gates said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution charges involving minors. He also acknowledged he knew of Epstein’s legal troubles, but had been told Epstein could raise billions for global health, an issue Gates was deeply involved in.

 

“I knew that it [the Epstein conviction] was of a sexual nature, but, no, I don’t think I knew — dug into the specifics, although I probably should have.”

 

The mere mention of a person’s name in the Epstein dossier does not in and of itself imply any wrongdoing. But the documents do, at the very least, reveal links between the sex offender or his associates and certain public figures who often downplayed or even denied such ties.

END/AJ/RH