Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Mega Edition: The Bill Gates Epstein Related Congressional Transcripts (Part 1-3) (8/16/26)

Transcript

Mega Edition: The Bill Gates Epstein Related Congressional Transcripts (Part 1-3) (8/16/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
0:03
Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to begin taking
0:07
Speaker 1: a look at the Bill Gates transcript, and we're going
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Speaker 1: to pick up right at the start with Bill Gates
0:14
Speaker 1: giving his opening statement after he was sworn in. Mister Gates,
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Speaker 1: mister chairman, ranking member members of the Committee, thank you
0:24
Speaker 1: for the opportunity to appear before you today. I'm here
0:28
Speaker 1: to answer your questions about my interactions with Jeffrey Epstein
0:31
Speaker 1: and to help contribute to the Committee's important work. I
0:34
Speaker 1: support the release of all the Epstein files and sincerely
0:38
Speaker 1: hope that, through your efforts and those of others advocating
0:41
Speaker 1: on their behalf, the survivors of Epstein's crimes, Epstein's crimes
0:46
Speaker 1: can get the justice that they deserve. At the outset,
0:50
Speaker 1: I want to state very clearly, I never witnessed, nor
0:53
Speaker 1: had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct.
0:58
Speaker 1: I never went to his island or his Florida home.
1:02
Speaker 1: I have never victimized anyone. While he may have sought
1:06
Speaker 1: the foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in
1:09
Speaker 1: that and never reciprocated. I was introduced to Epstein in
1:13
Speaker 1: twenty eleven, through people I trusted in my professional and
1:16
Speaker 1: philanthropic work, Epstein claimed that he could raise billions of
1:20
Speaker 1: dollars for global health from people for whom he provided
1:24
Speaker 1: tax and estate services. I recall being aware that Epstein
1:28
Speaker 1: had faced prior to legal issues, but I did not
1:30
Speaker 1: fully understand the extent of the crimes that he committed.
1:34
Speaker 1: I accepted the introduction without applying the scrutiny I should have.
1:39
Speaker 1: For almost two decades, my full time focus has been
1:42
Speaker 1: global health and education. I've been guided by the belief
1:46
Speaker 1: that all lives have equal value, and every child should
1:49
Speaker 1: have the chance to live a healthy life, no matter
1:51
Speaker 1: where they were born. I have committed all my resources
1:55
Speaker 1: and my time to this effort, but my wealth alone
1:58
Speaker 1: cannot fill the enormous funding gap that remains. This is
2:01
Speaker 1: why trying to encourage others of significant means to invest
2:05
Speaker 1: in global health has become such an important element of
2:08
Speaker 1: my work. My interactions with Epstein began with a limited
2:13
Speaker 1: number of preliminary meetings, three in twenty eleven and two
2:16
Speaker 1: in twenty twelve, during which I talked about my goals
2:20
Speaker 1: of my work. We began more extensive conversations in twenty
2:24
Speaker 1: thirteen and twenty fourteen. The discussions focused on identifying potential
2:30
Speaker 1: giving structures such as donor advice funds and how to
2:33
Speaker 1: enroll individuals he claimed more interested in making significant contributions.
2:39
Speaker 1: I made it clear to Epstein from the outset that
2:41
Speaker 1: he would never play a role in any of the
2:43
Speaker 1: work or receive any compensation. In twenty fourteen, after Epstein
2:49
Speaker 1: brought together a group he described as potential donors, I
2:52
Speaker 1: realized that our prior discussions, which should have translated into
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Speaker 1: meaningful philanthropic support, were a dead end. It was clear
3:00
Speaker 1: that no one in the group was interested enough to
3:02
Speaker 1: move forward. At that point, I concluded Epstein would never
3:06
Speaker 1: deliver on his promises. I told him we would go
3:09
Speaker 1: no further and stop communicating or meeting with them. No
3:13
Speaker 1: vehicle for charitable giving was ever created, and no funds
3:16
Speaker 1: were ever raised. Our interactions ended in December of twenty fourteen,
3:21
Speaker 1: four years before new reports in the press and unsealed
3:25
Speaker 1: court documents shed additional light on the extent of his crimes.
3:29
Speaker 1: It was during the same time period that an employee
3:32
Speaker 1: was in the process of transitioning out of my private office.
3:36
Speaker 1: This employee engaged Epstein to negotiate and advise them on
3:39
Speaker 1: the terms of the separation. I did not ask, nor
3:42
Speaker 1: did I want or need Epstein to be involved in
3:45
Speaker 1: this matter. His involvement resulted in email exchanges, calls, and
3:50
Speaker 1: meetings with members of my team and me. However, the
3:53
Speaker 1: agreement we ultimately reached was not any different from what
3:57
Speaker 1: was previously agreed upon months in advance of Epstein in
4:00
Speaker 1: axserting himself. It was after this that I learned Epstein
4:03
Speaker 1: had become aware of sensitive information about my personal life,
4:08
Speaker 1: including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage.
4:12
Speaker 1: These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein,
4:15
Speaker 1: but they were painful for my family. As the public
4:19
Speaker 1: can now see based on what has been released in
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Speaker 1: the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities,
4:25
Speaker 1: in addition to many lives that he layered on top
4:29
Speaker 1: to pressure me to re engage with them. He was
4:32
Speaker 1: unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the
4:35
Speaker 1: ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to
4:37
Speaker 1: further his agenda. I should have never met with Epstein
4:41
Speaker 1: in the first place. Based on what I know now,
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Speaker 1: I understand that even if he had delivered the donors
4:46
Speaker 1: he promised, I would not have justified associating with them.
4:50
Speaker 1: I see now that he sought to build an image
4:52
Speaker 1: of legitimacy around himself, using connections to reputable and powerful
4:57
Speaker 1: people to deflect scrutiny and attempt to rehabilitate his reputation.
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Speaker 1: I was so focused on the possibility of raising funds
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Speaker 1: for global health that I allowed that goal to override
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Speaker 1: my better judgment. That is a sobering realization, and it
5:12
Speaker 1: has reinforced for me the importance of being more attentive
5:16
Speaker 1: to how access and reputation can be manipulated by people
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Speaker 1: acting in bad faith. In the work that I do,
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Speaker 1: reputation is the basis for developing partnerships that save lives.
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Speaker 1: Meeting with Epstein was a grave error in judgment, and
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Speaker 1: it put this work at risk. His behavior antithetical to
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Speaker 1: all my efforts to contribute to a world where everyone
5:38
Speaker 1: has a chance to live a healthy and productive life.
5:42
Speaker 1: If the time I spent with Epstein lent them credibility,
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Speaker 1: I am deeply sorry. I've learned a significant lesson and
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Speaker 1: am now far more careful about who I engage with.
5:53
Speaker 1: Even in a limited capacity. I look forward to answering
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Speaker 1: all your questions about my interaction with Epstein and the
6:00
Speaker 1: topics identified in the Chairman's invitation to appear today. The
6:04
Speaker 1: committee's work is essential. It's my sincere hope that those
6:08
Speaker 1: harm by Epstein's crimes will receive the justice that they deserve.
6:13
Speaker 1: Thank you, mister Spector. Thank you, mister Gates. We've had
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Speaker 1: a couple of extra members join, starting with the majority,
6:21
Speaker 1: Can you please introduce yourself for the record, Lauren Bobert,
6:25
Speaker 1: Eric Burlison, Congressman Steve Lynch, eighth Congressional District of Massachusetts.
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Speaker 1: Mister Spector, thank you. The time reads ten fifteen, and
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Speaker 1: the Majority's time will begin now. Mister Spector, still asking
6:40
Speaker 1: the questions, mister Gates, I want to thank you again
6:43
Speaker 1: for coming here voluntarily to answer our questions today. I
6:46
Speaker 1: want to start by very very briefly discussing your background.
6:50
Speaker 1: I know, of course, you've had a very long and
6:52
Speaker 1: very very successful career. Can you provide the committee with
6:55
Speaker 1: a brief summary of your career up until now? Answer? Yeah.
7:00
Speaker 1: I was born in nineteen fifty five. I went to
7:02
Speaker 1: high school in Seattle, graduated, I attended Harvard College for
7:06
Speaker 1: a few years, but did not complete a degree. I
7:08
Speaker 1: founded Microsoft in seventy five. I stayed as CEO of
7:12
Speaker 1: Microsoft through the year two thousand. I stayed as Chief
7:16
Speaker 1: Technical Advisor through two thousand and eight, so two thousand
7:19
Speaker 1: and eight, and in my full time work at Microsoft,
7:22
Speaker 1: overlapping that, I created the Gates Foundation in the year
7:26
Speaker 1: of two thousand, so I gave a substantial gift of
7:28
Speaker 1: Microsoft stock in the year of two thousand and so
7:31
Speaker 1: between two thousand and two thousand and eight, I was
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Speaker 1: a full time Microsoft, part time Gates Foundation. Two thousand
7:38
Speaker 1: and eight, I ceased my full time work at Microsoft
7:41
Speaker 1: and began full time as chairman of the Gates Foundation.
7:45
Speaker 1: And since two thousand and eight that's been my primary effort.
7:48
Speaker 1: I still give some advice to Microsoft. I have some
7:51
Speaker 1: energy innovation work under the term Breakthrough Energy, but my
7:55
Speaker 1: full time work is the work of the Gates Foundation,
7:58
Speaker 1: which involves areas like education, global health, agriculture, financial services,
8:04
Speaker 1: and so that's my primary work today. I turned seventy
8:07
Speaker 1: last year. Question thank you, And to be clear, do
8:10
Speaker 1: you hold any official position at any of your other
8:13
Speaker 1: Do you currently hold any positions at any of your
8:16
Speaker 1: other ventures besides the Gates Foundation. Answer. Yeah, I have
8:21
Speaker 1: some title with Breakthrough Energy. I'm not sure what that is.
8:24
Speaker 1: I have an entity called Gates Ventures that is my
8:27
Speaker 1: private office, and I have a group that manages investments
8:31
Speaker 1: on my behalf and the foundation's trust behalf called Cascade.
8:35
Speaker 1: So I think that's all of my official roles. Question.
8:38
Speaker 1: Thank you, and we'll get to more, of course, into
8:41
Speaker 1: your interactions with mister Epstein a little bit later. But
8:44
Speaker 1: just to be clear for the record, your opening statement
8:46
Speaker 1: indicated that your relationship with them, your interactions with them,
8:50
Speaker 1: occurred between twenty eleven and twenty fourteen, late twenty fourteen.
8:56
Speaker 1: Is that right answer? That's right question. So for the
8:59
Speaker 1: entire day of that time, your primary role was at
9:02
Speaker 1: the Gates Foundation. Is that right answer? Yeah? I mean
9:05
Speaker 1: I was doing the whole mix of things I do,
9:07
Speaker 1: but yes, at all times since two thousand and eight,
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Speaker 1: that's been my primary role. Question and you were not.
9:14
Speaker 1: You didn't have a formal job at Microsoft during that
9:16
Speaker 1: time that you knew, mister Epstein. Is that right answer?
9:19
Speaker 1: No question, And at this point philanthropy is your full
9:23
Speaker 1: time endeavor? Is that right answer? That's right? For some
9:26
Speaker 1: of the energy innovation work, I use private investment vehicles,
9:30
Speaker 1: and even the foundation itself often uses investments as part
9:33
Speaker 1: of its overall strategy. But the work, the aim of
9:37
Speaker 1: the work is philanthropic. Question. Thank you, and again, we'll
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Speaker 1: get deeper into this a little bit later, but I
9:43
Speaker 1: just want to do a high level lynch. We can
9:46
Speaker 1: hear the question, we can hear the answer, we can't
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Speaker 1: hear the questions at all. Thank you, mister Emmer. We've
9:52
Speaker 1: had another member join. Can they please announce themselves for
9:56
Speaker 1: the record. William Timmins, South Carolina fourth Congressitional District. Question,
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Speaker 1: mister Gates, when did you first meet mister Jeffrey Epstein? Answer?
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Speaker 1: It was January twenty eleven that I had dinner with them.
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Speaker 1: Question and was that at mister Epstein's home? Answer? His
10:14
Speaker 1: home in New York. Yes. Question, can you describe the
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Speaker 1: circumstances that led you to attending that dinner? Answer? Doctor Nikolicch,
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Speaker 1: who worked for me, said that since I was out
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Speaker 1: in New York, I might be interested in having dinner
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Speaker 1: with them, and so that got scheduled. Question He said
10:30
Speaker 1: you might be interested in it. Did he say why
10:32
Speaker 1: you might be interested in it. Answer, he probably gave
10:36
Speaker 1: me a brief description that about Epstein. Question do you
10:39
Speaker 1: recall what that description entailed? Answer? No, I don't. Question
10:43
Speaker 1: What did you discuss in your first interaction with mister Epstein? Answer?
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Speaker 1: You know, it was a dinner that I would have
10:50
Speaker 1: talked about what I was doing. He would have mentioned
10:53
Speaker 1: a number of scientists and people that he spent time
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Speaker 1: talking to. You know, it was kind of an introductory dinner,
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Speaker 1: and I don't remember all the specific question, so he
11:02
Speaker 1: was sort of giving you an outline of the powerful
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Speaker 1: people that he knew. Is that what you mean by
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Speaker 1: that answer? More intellectual you know, professors or science people,
11:10
Speaker 1: as well as some business leaders. I don't know if
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Speaker 1: it was that night or some other time, but he
11:16
Speaker 1: did talk about that he provided advice to lots of billionaires.
11:22
Speaker 1: Question do you recall any specific names that he mentioned
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Speaker 1: to you? Answer not at the time. You know, he
11:27
Speaker 1: talked about Wall Street billionaires, he talked about Middle East billionaires.
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Speaker 1: He made it sound very extensive. Question did you get
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Speaker 1: the sense that he was offering you some kind of service? Answer? No.
11:37
Speaker 1: Question Why do you think he was telling you about
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Speaker 1: the people that he worked with? Answer? Maybe for me
11:43
Speaker 1: to have a good impression of them. You know, at
11:44
Speaker 1: some point, I don't think that first night, the idea
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Speaker 1: that some of those people might give money to Global
11:50
Speaker 1: Health came up. Question I know you said you don't
11:53
Speaker 1: recall exactly the description that doctor Nikolach gave you about
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Speaker 1: mister Epstein. But do you recall, if anything, you knew
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Speaker 1: about mister Epstein in general before you met him the
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Speaker 1: first time? Answer? I was aware that he had a
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Speaker 1: criminal conviction. Question how were you aware of that? Answer?
12:10
Speaker 1: I'm not sure either I looked it up or somebody
12:12
Speaker 1: told me. Question did doctor Nikolicche tell you that? Answer?
12:16
Speaker 1: I'm not sure. Question do you recall knowing at the
12:18
Speaker 1: time what the criminal conviction was for? Answer? I knew
12:22
Speaker 1: that it had to do with the sexual nature, But no,
12:25
Speaker 1: I don't think I knew dug into the specifics, although
12:28
Speaker 1: I probably should have. Question would you normally look into
12:31
Speaker 1: people's backgrounds before you meet with them? Was this an
12:35
Speaker 1: uncommon way of handling it? Answer? I don't have a
12:38
Speaker 1: formal process for people I meet. Question did you ask
12:42
Speaker 1: mister Epstein about the conviction at any time? Answer? I
12:45
Speaker 1: did not bring it up during the dinner. Answer and
12:48
Speaker 1: he didn't bring it up either. Answer no, question, did
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Speaker 1: anyone ever raise concerns to you about mister Epstein with
12:54
Speaker 1: regard to that conviction or anything else in twenty eleven?
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Speaker 1: Answer well, throughout the time I spent with Epstein, the
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Speaker 1: concern about his reputation was voiced by me and other people.
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Speaker 1: So there was an awareness that he had a bad
13:07
Speaker 1: reputation stemming from his criminal conviction. Question, and you're saying
13:12
Speaker 1: that you were aware of these concerns early on. Were
13:15
Speaker 1: you describing conversations that occurred later in your relationship with
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Speaker 1: mister Epstein. Answer I'd say both. Question, So you were
13:23
Speaker 1: aware that he had a bad reputation and he had
13:26
Speaker 1: some sort of sex related conviction at the time you
13:28
Speaker 1: first entered into contact with him. Answer that's right. All right, folks,
13:34
Speaker 1: We're going to wrap up right here, and in the
13:36
Speaker 1: next episode dealing with the topic, we're going to pick
13:38
Speaker 1: up where we left off. All the information that goes
13:41
Speaker 1: with this episode can be found in the description box.
13:45
Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
13:48
Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're going to pick up
13:51
Speaker 1: where he left off with Bill Gates and the transcript
13:55
Speaker 1: from his interview with Congress. Question what were your first
13:59
Speaker 1: impress of mister Ebstein? Answer, Well, he talked about a
14:03
Speaker 1: lot of scientists that he would talk to, were business
14:06
Speaker 1: leaders he would talk to, and he made that sound
14:08
Speaker 1: fairly extensive, you know, across a wide range of topics,
14:12
Speaker 1: somebody who focuses time on a large number of subjects
14:16
Speaker 1: and new people who were deeply engaged in those areas. Questions,
14:20
Speaker 1: So he made a good impression. Answer, you know, he's
14:22
Speaker 1: kind of a unique person. You know, based on the
14:25
Speaker 1: limited knowledge I have had at the time, it was
14:28
Speaker 1: kind of a unique thing to have this large house
14:31
Speaker 1: in Manhattan and to mention quite a wide range of
14:33
Speaker 1: people from both business and academic areas. I would say,
14:37
Speaker 1: you know, I thought that was unusual. Question who else
14:41
Speaker 1: was with you at this first dinner you had with
14:43
Speaker 1: mister Epstein in twenty eleven? Answer for dinner itself, just
14:46
Speaker 1: doctor Nikolich? Question were other people traveling with you for that?
14:51
Speaker 1: Is that what you meant? Answer? No questions who at
14:54
Speaker 1: the dinner you were with doctor Nikolich, mister Ebstein and
14:57
Speaker 1: nobody else was at the dinner? Is that right? Answer?
15:00
Speaker 1: That's right? Question? And did you understand his job or
15:04
Speaker 1: career to be when you met with him. Answer, I'm
15:07
Speaker 1: not sure if it was at night, but over time
15:09
Speaker 1: he suggested that he provided tax advice and advice on wills,
15:13
Speaker 1: and a wide variety of people, both from Wall Street,
15:15
Speaker 1: from the Middle East. You know that he was in
15:18
Speaker 1: a position of trust with a number of wealthy people.
15:22
Speaker 1: Question and you said you didn't get the sense he
15:24
Speaker 1: was offering you any kind of service. So he wasn't
15:26
Speaker 1: offering you the tax or estate services of any kind.
15:30
Speaker 1: Answer No, There came a time later when he brought
15:33
Speaker 1: it up, you know he could help on taxes, and
15:35
Speaker 1: I rather sternly rebuff the effort. Question sure, and we
15:39
Speaker 1: can get more into that a bit later. So at
15:41
Speaker 1: this point, meeting him for the first time in twenty eleven,
15:45
Speaker 1: did you understand him to already be wealthy at that point? Answer? Well, certainly,
15:50
Speaker 1: you know, just the house alone represented a significant amount
15:54
Speaker 1: of wealth. I'd never seen. I don't think to this
15:57
Speaker 1: day I've seen a private house in Manhattan that's quite
15:59
Speaker 1: that spacious. Yes. Question did you have any idea at
16:02
Speaker 1: the time how he acquired his money? Answer? No, to
16:06
Speaker 1: this day I find it a bit confusing question. And
16:09
Speaker 1: again we'll get a bit deeper into your interactions with
16:12
Speaker 1: mister Epstein later, but just for now, could you briefly
16:15
Speaker 1: characterize the nature of the relationship that you had with
16:19
Speaker 1: mister Epstein between twenty eleven and twenty fourteen. Was he
16:23
Speaker 1: a friend? Was he a business associate? Answer? No, he
16:27
Speaker 1: certainly wasn't a friend. You know, he made an effort
16:30
Speaker 1: to extend the relationship with various invitations, but you know, eventually,
16:34
Speaker 1: you know, as I talked about my work in global
16:36
Speaker 1: health for the Gates Foundation, he suggested that he could
16:40
Speaker 1: raise substantial amounts of money from people that he knew
16:43
Speaker 1: to help with that endeavor, and he became the primary
16:46
Speaker 1: focus out in twenty thirteen, twenty eleven, we just had
16:50
Speaker 1: you know, two dinners, one where it was with Jess
16:53
Speaker 1: Daily and Larry Summers, one where he was just dropping by. So,
16:57
Speaker 1: you know, three encounters in twenty eleven, and then over
17:00
Speaker 1: a year passes, and I see him twice in late
17:02
Speaker 1: twenty twelve, and then it's I think spring twenty thirteen
17:07
Speaker 1: where this purported availability of people who then they would
17:11
Speaker 1: sit and talk about their wills, their taxes that as
17:14
Speaker 1: part of the process, they would realize they had significant
17:17
Speaker 1: amount of access money and hopefully they would want to
17:20
Speaker 1: give that philanthropically, and hopefully they would consider giving that
17:23
Speaker 1: to global health. So that became the focus in spring
17:27
Speaker 1: of twenty thirteen. Question, so you said he would give
17:30
Speaker 1: invitations for things. Were these social functions or philanthropic or otherwise? Answer? No,
17:36
Speaker 1: they weren't social. I mean, there was one time at
17:39
Speaker 1: the end of a dinner David Blaine came and so
17:42
Speaker 1: that was a lighter thing. He's a magician. But the
17:45
Speaker 1: meetings they were always about the world and you know
17:48
Speaker 1: what was going on. Obviously when somebody like Larry Summers
17:51
Speaker 1: or Jess Daley is there, they're talking about what they
17:54
Speaker 1: see in the world, what they expect. So it's a
17:56
Speaker 1: wide ranging discussion. Question So did you ever socialized with
18:01
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein? Answer no, I would not say I was
18:04
Speaker 1: socializing with him. I was at a dinner where a
18:06
Speaker 1: wide range of serious topics came up. When he, for example,
18:10
Speaker 1: invited me to come to his island, that would have
18:12
Speaker 1: been socializing and I didn't do that. You know, one
18:15
Speaker 1: time in Paris he asked me to go to a
18:17
Speaker 1: show and I said that would not be a good idea.
18:20
Speaker 1: I chose not to do that. Question So he did
18:23
Speaker 1: invite you to a couple of social functions and you
18:26
Speaker 1: just rejected him. Answer? He did many things to try
18:29
Speaker 1: to deepen the relationship, including various invitations. Question did you
18:34
Speaker 1: ever discuss sexual behavior of any kind with Jeffrey Epstein?
18:38
Speaker 1: Answer no. Question. Did you ever witness Jeffrey Epstein engaging
18:42
Speaker 1: in sexual contact of any kind? Answer no. Question Did
18:47
Speaker 1: you ever witness Epstein receive a massage from a young
18:50
Speaker 1: woman or a girl? Answer no. Question Whether often young
18:55
Speaker 1: women or girls at the places where you would meet
18:58
Speaker 1: with Epstein? Answer no. The only time anyone who I'd
19:01
Speaker 1: call a girl was around after that first dinner, Eva
19:04
Speaker 1: Dubin came and she had her daughter with her. Other
19:07
Speaker 1: than that, there were no young women at any other
19:10
Speaker 1: times I saw with Epstein. Questions, So none of Epstein's employees,
19:14
Speaker 1: we understand, were younger women. Did you ever meet any
19:17
Speaker 1: of those people? Answer? I was not introduced to them,
19:21
Speaker 1: but you know, like when you go to the New
19:23
Speaker 1: York thing, I think they opened the door. Jeffrey Mister
19:27
Speaker 1: Epstein had what appeared to be administrative assistants with them,
19:31
Speaker 1: and the extent of my contact with them was that,
19:33
Speaker 1: you know, they were there as I would go into
19:36
Speaker 1: the meeting. They never attended any meeting that I was in.
19:39
Speaker 1: There were several occasions where mister Ebstein asked me to
19:42
Speaker 1: be photographed with them at the end of the meeting.
19:45
Speaker 1: I was not introduced to them as part of that.
19:47
Speaker 1: That was quite brief. One of the admins stayed when
19:51
Speaker 1: David Blaine did one of his tricks, so she was
19:53
Speaker 1: standing around then. And there was also a time when
19:56
Speaker 1: I took a flight from Newark to Palm Beach and
19:58
Speaker 1: Jeffrey had two admins assistance with them who sat in
20:01
Speaker 1: the front cabin. But so I saw them as I
20:04
Speaker 1: walked onto the plane, and as I walked off the plane.
20:08
Speaker 1: So to the other admins that were around, you know,
20:10
Speaker 1: who appeared to be women, I believe they did not
20:12
Speaker 1: look to be underage. I think I fully described any
20:15
Speaker 1: contact with women around Epstein. Question thank you, did you
20:20
Speaker 1: ever engage in sexual contact of any kind in the
20:23
Speaker 1: presence of Jeffrey Epstein? Answer no, question. Did you ever
20:27
Speaker 1: engage in sexual contact with a person introduced to you
20:31
Speaker 1: by or affiliated with Jeffrey Epstein? Answer no question did
20:36
Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein or any of his associates ever offer you
20:39
Speaker 1: a young woman or a girl for the purpose of sex?
20:42
Speaker 1: Answer no question. Did you ever receive a massage that
20:46
Speaker 1: was arranged by Jeffrey Epstein or any of his staff
20:49
Speaker 1: or associates, answer no question. We already discussed that you
20:53
Speaker 1: were aware that he had been convicted of his sex crime.
20:56
Speaker 1: But to be clear, at the time, were you aware
20:58
Speaker 1: that he was a registered sex offender? Answer? I was not. Question.
21:03
Speaker 1: Do you recall when you first learned that he was
21:05
Speaker 1: a registered sex offender? Answer? You know it's really twenty eighteen,
21:10
Speaker 1: one of Miami newspapers described the sort of extensive and
21:12
Speaker 1: horrific details of what he had done before his two
21:16
Speaker 1: thousand and eight two thousand and nine conviction. That I
21:19
Speaker 1: became aware of the extent of his crimes, and I
21:21
Speaker 1: believe that's when I first knew that he actually registered
21:24
Speaker 1: as a sex offender. Question. And so you ended your
21:28
Speaker 1: relationship with mister Epstein in late twenty fourteen, as you've
21:31
Speaker 1: mentioned today, and you just said that you learned he
21:34
Speaker 1: was a sex offender and more of the extent of
21:36
Speaker 1: his crimes in twenty eighteen. To be clear. Did you
21:39
Speaker 1: have any interaction with mister Apstein after twenty fourteen? Answer
21:44
Speaker 1: I did not. Question Did you have any communication with
21:47
Speaker 1: mister Epstein directly or through an intermediary during that time?
21:52
Speaker 1: Answer yeah, right after twenty fourteen. There was an email
21:55
Speaker 1: sent to me. After twenty fourteen, he sent me quite
21:58
Speaker 1: a bit of emails. The majority of emails that he
22:01
Speaker 1: sent to me actually were after I'd cut off all contact.
22:04
Speaker 1: Most of those I did not read, but in the
22:07
Speaker 1: early period there was some that I did read. One
22:10
Speaker 1: of those sought reimbursement for what he purported was expenses
22:13
Speaker 1: that he paid with a woman who he became aware
22:16
Speaker 1: of was a woman who I had an affair with,
22:19
Speaker 1: and I communicated to my key person, top person at
22:22
Speaker 1: Gates Ventures, Larry Cohen, that we were never going to
22:25
Speaker 1: pay anything. And so in that sense, I did have
22:28
Speaker 1: direct communication or indirect communication with them, and I think
22:32
Speaker 1: that was in the months after I cut off direct contact. Question. Okay,
22:36
Speaker 1: we'll get into that a little bit more later, but
22:38
Speaker 1: just a few questions about that. So this person that
22:41
Speaker 1: you had the affair with, is that Milla Antonova. Answer yes, question,
22:46
Speaker 1: and you said you directed your staff not to reimburse
22:49
Speaker 1: mister Epstein for payments he was requesting. They were you said,
22:53
Speaker 1: reimbursements for expenses he was covering for miss Antonova. Is
22:57
Speaker 1: that right? Answer? That's what he represent ended. Question. Why
23:01
Speaker 1: would he want you to reimburse him for that? Answer?
23:04
Speaker 1: You know, I viewed it as a tactic to re
23:06
Speaker 1: engage with me. I'd never ask him to do anything
23:09
Speaker 1: with the respect to a person worth discussing. So I
23:12
Speaker 1: was rather surprised. That was the first time I knew
23:14
Speaker 1: explicitly that he'd become aware of that affair. Question. So
23:18
Speaker 1: you did not know until I'm sorry, this was in
23:21
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen that we're discussing now. Answer, yeah, late twenty fourteen,
23:27
Speaker 1: maybe early twenty fifteen, where he's seeking reimbursement. Question, So
23:31
Speaker 1: you did not know until late twenty fourteen or early
23:34
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen that Jeffrey Epstein was aware of any of
23:38
Speaker 1: your affairs or just this affair. Answer in the termination
23:43
Speaker 1: or exit discussion relative to doctor Nikolch, which is as
23:47
Speaker 1: early as I think spring of twenty thirteen, mister Epstein
23:50
Speaker 1: made some Beil references that made me wonder whether he
23:53
Speaker 1: had become aware, which you know, the only way I
23:56
Speaker 1: can imagine that would have been happening was through doctor
23:59
Speaker 1: Nikolic of either one or two affairs that I'd had
24:02
Speaker 1: that doctor Nikolitch was aware of, but until the specific
24:06
Speaker 1: reimbursement requests, it was a veiled type of thing that
24:09
Speaker 1: he would say, you know, we should all want to
24:11
Speaker 1: remain friends. Question do you know what exactly the expenses
24:16
Speaker 1: he paid for for miss Antonova were? Answer? I have
24:20
Speaker 1: no idea. You know, he wasn't an honest person, so
24:23
Speaker 1: understanding did he pay those expenses or not? I have
24:26
Speaker 1: no knowledge. Question And we'll talk a little bit more
24:29
Speaker 1: about that a little bit later, so we can go
24:32
Speaker 1: ahead and move along. Mister Emmer, we've had another member join.
24:36
Speaker 1: Can you please announce yourself for the record, James Walkinshaw,
24:39
Speaker 1: eleven District, Virginia. Now mister spector asking questions. Thank you,
24:45
Speaker 1: mister Gates, and again we'll come back to some of
24:47
Speaker 1: those topics and my apologies. We're probably going to bounce
24:50
Speaker 1: around a little bit. We're going to try to have
24:52
Speaker 1: some sort of you know, semblance of chronology here. Emmer.
24:56
Speaker 1: We've had another member joined, Can he please announce himself
24:59
Speaker 1: for the record. Congressman Eric Burlison, Missouri. Question, so we've
25:05
Speaker 1: already begun talking about doctor Nikolch, but for the record,
25:08
Speaker 1: who is doctor Nikolich? Answered doctor Nikolich. He is a
25:12
Speaker 1: person who worked at the Gates Foundation on the diagnostic
25:15
Speaker 1: strategy for a period. Then he left the Gates Foundation
25:18
Speaker 1: and came to work in my private office, which was
25:20
Speaker 1: called the BGC three. It's been renamed to Gates Ventures.
25:26
Speaker 1: It's the same private office. So he worked there. I
25:29
Speaker 1: think his title was Science Advisor from something like twenty
25:32
Speaker 1: ten until one was his last day end of twenty thirteen. Yeah,
25:37
Speaker 1: until the end of twenty thirteen. Question and just very briefly,
25:41
Speaker 1: because we're going to be discussing his employment dispute, but
25:44
Speaker 1: why did he leave his employment at the end of
25:46
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen? Just briefly, did you fire him? Did he resign?
25:50
Speaker 1: What exactly occurred? Answer? Doctor Nikolch. When he worked for me,
25:55
Speaker 1: had decided that he wanted to become a venture capitalist,
25:59
Speaker 1: and so he said, hey, you know, working for you,
26:01
Speaker 1: I can just make a salary. I understand about biotech companies,
26:05
Speaker 1: which ones are going to be successful. I think both
26:08
Speaker 1: in terms of impact and making money. That's where I
26:10
Speaker 1: should go, and so more than a year before he left,
26:13
Speaker 1: we talked about that. I said, you know, why don't
26:16
Speaker 1: you stay another year. You can make some up to
26:18
Speaker 1: three investments during the time you're with me, you know,
26:21
Speaker 1: sort of practice venture capital type investment, and we'll share
26:24
Speaker 1: the profit of those investments. So doctor Nikolch, you know,
26:28
Speaker 1: had decided that he was moving on and was going
26:30
Speaker 1: to venture capital. His actual exit was somewhat accelerated by
26:34
Speaker 1: the fact that I shared with my wife at the
26:36
Speaker 1: time that he was aware of the affairs that I had,
26:40
Speaker 1: and she and I discussed that I should probably have
26:42
Speaker 1: them leave sooner rather than later. So that was a
26:45
Speaker 1: factor in terms of the timing of his exit question. So,
26:49
Speaker 1: in summary, he was already kind of had, you know,
26:51
Speaker 1: one foot out the door to some degree, but it
26:54
Speaker 1: was accelerated by the disclosure of your affairs to your
26:57
Speaker 1: then wife, Melinda French Gates. Is that right answer? That's right?
27:01
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know what would have happened if
27:03
Speaker 1: I hadn't given him the opportunity to make the investments.
27:06
Speaker 1: And he was sort of saying that he didn't want
27:08
Speaker 1: to go and do that, and so I think I
27:10
Speaker 1: extended the amount of time he stayed with me by
27:12
Speaker 1: letting him make up to three investments. Question would you
27:15
Speaker 1: say doctor Nikolich was one of your closest advisors? Answer?
27:19
Speaker 1: I have a lot of advisers, but he as my
27:21
Speaker 1: science advisor at Gates Venture. He was a valuable advisor
27:25
Speaker 1: to me. Did you see him as purely professional? Was
27:29
Speaker 1: it purely a professional relationship or was he a friend
27:32
Speaker 1: of yours as well? Answer? That was a professional relationship.
27:37
Speaker 1: I mean where you draw the line there. I was
27:39
Speaker 1: friendly with doctor Nikeolch, but I didn't socialize with him.
27:42
Speaker 1: He didn't come to my house. I didn't go to
27:44
Speaker 1: his house. Question When was the last time you communicated
27:48
Speaker 1: with doctor nikolic Answer? Many years ago? Question can you
27:52
Speaker 1: give me an estimate? Was it twenty fourteen when he
27:55
Speaker 1: left employment or was it after that? Answer? There was
27:58
Speaker 1: an MIT advisory committe for some of the work the
28:00
Speaker 1: Foundation was doing with MIT, and he stayed on that
28:03
Speaker 1: committee for I think a year after he left, and
28:07
Speaker 1: that was probably the last direct communication that I had
28:10
Speaker 1: with him in those couple of years where he stayed
28:13
Speaker 1: on the advisory committee and no communication since then. All right, folks,
28:17
Speaker 1: we're gonna wrap up right here and in the next
28:19
Speaker 1: episode dealing with the topic, we're gonna pick up where
28:21
Speaker 1: we left off. All the information that goes with this
28:24
Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box. What's up, everyone,
28:28
Speaker 1: and welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In
28:33
Speaker 1: this episode, we're gonna pick up where we left off
28:35
Speaker 1: with the Bill Gates transcript from his meeting with Congress. Question,
28:41
Speaker 1: we've already discussed mister Nickolic. Doctor Nikolic of course, introduced
28:45
Speaker 1: you to mister Epstein. So in your words, can you
28:48
Speaker 1: characterize doctor nikeolch relationship with mister Epstein, or at least
28:52
Speaker 1: your understanding of their relationship? Answer? Well, during the time
28:56
Speaker 1: I knew Epstein, I thought it was just he had
28:59
Speaker 1: met him before I had, and he was kind of
29:02
Speaker 1: organizing the visits that took place. In Looking at the
29:05
Speaker 1: email documents that came out in January, to my surprise,
29:08
Speaker 1: I now see that he had quite an extensive relationship
29:11
Speaker 1: with mister Epstein. So I was not aware of all
29:14
Speaker 1: of that during the time that I met with mister
29:16
Speaker 1: Epstein in twenty eleven to twenty fourteen. Question, are you aware
29:22
Speaker 1: that doctor Nikolch was ultimately named in one of mister
29:25
Speaker 1: Epstein's final will and testaments. Answer, I've seen that in
29:29
Speaker 1: the press. Question so you learned about that much later
29:32
Speaker 1: in the press? Answer? I hope it's an accurate thing.
29:36
Speaker 1: I was a press report that mentioned it. Question but
29:39
Speaker 1: you have no first hand knowledge of that? Answer? No question.
29:43
Speaker 1: Did that surprise you when you read it? Answer A
29:45
Speaker 1: lot question by mister spector. I'd like to enter into
29:50
Speaker 1: the record majority Exhibit one, which is an email that
29:53
Speaker 1: Epstein sent to doctor Nikolic on June sixteenth, twenty thirteen.
29:57
Speaker 1: The bates number on this document is E zero zero
30:01
Speaker 1: eight seven three eight seven four, And just for the record,
30:05
Speaker 1: all of the bates numbers that begin with the FTA
30:08
Speaker 1: are documents that the Department of Justice released pursuant to
30:12
Speaker 1: the Epstein Files Transparency Act. I'll give you a second
30:16
Speaker 1: to look at it, but I will note that I'll
30:18
Speaker 1: be reading much of or all of it into the record,
30:21
Speaker 1: so you don't need to read the entire thing. The
30:24
Speaker 1: first question is have you seen these emails before? Answer? Yeah, okay,
30:28
Speaker 1: I mean I may have seen these when they came
30:31
Speaker 1: out in January, but not before that question, So you
30:34
Speaker 1: don't recall ever seeing these emails prior to the Epstein
30:37
Speaker 1: Files Transparency Act release by the DOJ answer, I did
30:40
Speaker 1: not question in the first email. So the email at
30:44
Speaker 1: the bottom of the page, that's an email from mister Epstein.
30:47
Speaker 1: Context clues from the rest of the document indicate that
30:50
Speaker 1: that was sent to Boris Nikolch, but of course that
30:53
Speaker 1: is redacted on the document he sent to do Boris
30:57
Speaker 1: on Sunday, June sixteenth, at twelve oo. It reads to
31:01
Speaker 1: me and then it looks like a draft of a
31:03
Speaker 1: statement or an email that says Bill. I'm in tears
31:06
Speaker 1: as I write this. I have barely slept for three days.
31:09
Speaker 1: I'm devastated, beyond words. I find myself losing my best
31:13
Speaker 1: friend in my career, all in one day, by no
31:16
Speaker 1: fault on my own. As your friend, I suggest you
31:19
Speaker 1: carefully reconsider your alternatives. If Melinda decides to file for divorce,
31:24
Speaker 1: I will of course stand by you and help any
31:27
Speaker 1: way I can. I want to see you happy. Truly
31:30
Speaker 1: difficult choices no matter what. As you know, I'm going
31:34
Speaker 1: in for delicate surgery on my eyes on Tuesday. This
31:37
Speaker 1: timing cannot be worse. I will totally be out of
31:40
Speaker 1: it for a few days. I hope you're able to
31:43
Speaker 1: convince Melinda to allow me to continue doing my job,
31:46
Speaker 1: a job you described as I could not have done better.
31:50
Speaker 1: I hope to ask her face to face to change
31:52
Speaker 1: your mind. I have done nothing wrong. And the email continues,
31:56
Speaker 1: but just for the record, there in twenty thirteen when
31:59
Speaker 1: this email was sent, were you and your wife Melinda
32:02
Speaker 1: considering divorce? Answer no question. Why would mister Epstein or
32:07
Speaker 1: doctor Nikolch be under the impression that you were? Answer well,
32:11
Speaker 1: I never would have discussed anything relating to that subject
32:14
Speaker 1: with mister Epstein. I told Boris doctor Nikolich, sorry that
32:19
Speaker 1: I shared the information about the two affairs, and he
32:21
Speaker 1: may have thought, you know, that meant our marriage was
32:24
Speaker 1: at risk. It was certainly a deeply troubling thing for
32:27
Speaker 1: my wife, But at this time there was not a
32:29
Speaker 1: discussion of a divorce question. It seems in this draft
32:34
Speaker 1: that's written from doctor Nikolich's perspective that he may have
32:37
Speaker 1: believed that Melinda was the one who wanted him to
32:40
Speaker 1: leave the job. And I think you characterized it earlier
32:42
Speaker 1: as kind of a back and forth discussion with your
32:44
Speaker 1: then wife. Was it Melinda's discussion? To ask doctor Nikolitch
32:50
Speaker 1: to accelerate his departure or was it a mutual decision
32:53
Speaker 1: between the two of you. Answer? It was a mutual decision.
32:57
Speaker 1: I agreed with Melinda that having him leave pretty soon
33:00
Speaker 1: was the best thing, and so that's what I did,
33:03
Speaker 1: and that was a quicker departure than would have happened otherwise. Question.
33:08
Speaker 1: I'll continue reading the draft email it continues. However, I
33:11
Speaker 1: recognize the fact that it might not be possible at
33:14
Speaker 1: this time. I also recognize that I will need a
33:17
Speaker 1: lawyer to review any agreement we might enter into. But
33:20
Speaker 1: I don't trust any with such sensitive information. I've asked
33:24
Speaker 1: Jeffrey to oversee and negotiate for me, and have given
33:27
Speaker 1: him power of attorney to act on my behalf. He
33:30
Speaker 1: also needed to be my health proxy during my operation.
33:34
Speaker 1: I have informed them of all the details surrounding our dilemma.
33:37
Speaker 1: I trust them one hundred percent. My communication with him
33:41
Speaker 1: is privileged. No worry. He's agreed to act as my
33:44
Speaker 1: financial and legal representative. You can trust him. He's dealt
33:49
Speaker 1: with very similar problems in the past. Obviously, he hasn't
33:52
Speaker 1: given me the details. I would greatly appreciate you and
33:56
Speaker 1: he talking directly. He does not know Larry and cannot
33:59
Speaker 1: be open with him. He doesn't like or trust pr people.
34:03
Speaker 1: This is a terrible circumstance in which we find ourselves.
34:06
Speaker 1: But I'm confident of our friendship, and I know you
34:09
Speaker 1: know how devoted I am to you, and I will
34:12
Speaker 1: say I ask you if you've seen these emails before
34:15
Speaker 1: the release, but I'll be more specific. Do you have
34:18
Speaker 1: any email or any other type of message that's similar
34:21
Speaker 1: to that draft I just read to you? Did you
34:23
Speaker 1: receive something like that in twenty thirteen? Answer? Never? Never
34:27
Speaker 1: anything close question. So doctor Nikolch and mister Epstein are
34:31
Speaker 1: communicating about something that they might send to you, but
34:34
Speaker 1: it sounds like they didn't. Is that right? Answer? I
34:37
Speaker 1: never received anything like that. Question. In the second email
34:41
Speaker 1: in the middle that doctor Nikolch writes back to mister
34:44
Speaker 1: Epstein at twelve twelve on June sixteenth, twenty thirteen, doctor
34:49
Speaker 1: Nikolch seems to say, this is great. My only worry
34:52
Speaker 1: is whether I should send him now or tell him
34:55
Speaker 1: when I see him on Monday. He's still trying to
34:57
Speaker 1: make it work with Melinda. He's having next round of
35:00
Speaker 1: negotiation with her next weekend. If all fails, then it's
35:04
Speaker 1: a negotiation for a next step. If I send it
35:06
Speaker 1: right now, it reads that I accepted. It's all over. Finally,
35:11
Speaker 1: I can't put something such as divorce in an email.
35:14
Speaker 1: If she reads, she'll go the extra step to be
35:16
Speaker 1: as nasty as possible. Also, I think that my chances
35:20
Speaker 1: of convincing him to talk to you or hire if
35:22
Speaker 1: I do it in person and not over the email.
35:25
Speaker 1: So how about hold this? So? How about you hold
35:28
Speaker 1: this for eight days? Thank you? B It sounds like
35:31
Speaker 1: mister Nikolich agrees with the perspective denoted in mister Epstein's
35:35
Speaker 1: draft and that he would be more interested though, in
35:38
Speaker 1: having the conversation with you face to face. Did he
35:41
Speaker 1: have any sort of conversation with you face to face
35:44
Speaker 1: during this time? Answer? But I've never seen this email,
35:48
Speaker 1: so I mean you can ask me questions, but I
35:50
Speaker 1: add no value questions, so I guess I'll be more specific.
35:54
Speaker 1: I understand you've testified that you've not seen the email.
35:57
Speaker 1: Did doctor Nikolitch approach you and communicate these feelings in person,
36:01
Speaker 1: so not over email? Answer no question in the draft email? Again,
36:06
Speaker 1: understanding that you have not seen it until much later,
36:09
Speaker 1: Doctor Nikolitch is implying that he has entrusted Jeffrey Epstein
36:13
Speaker 1: with sensitive information, seemingly with relation to you, and that
36:17
Speaker 1: he has given Epstein power of attorney to act on
36:20
Speaker 1: his behalf, that he will be as financial and legal representative.
36:24
Speaker 1: So were you aware that Jeffrey Epstein was going to
36:27
Speaker 1: be acting as a legal or financial representative of doctor Nikolich? Answer? Welly,
36:32
Speaker 1: he wasn't a lawyer, so I'm not sure how a
36:34
Speaker 1: non lawyer becomes someone's legal representative. Eventually, doctor Nikolich did
36:39
Speaker 1: communicate to me that he was involving Epstein in the
36:41
Speaker 1: discussion of doctor Nikolich's exit. I forgot exactly, but he
36:46
Speaker 1: sent he told me that he was involving Epstein. Question again,
36:50
Speaker 1: you didn't receive this email, but it seems that they're
36:52
Speaker 1: trying to get across to you. Is that, while you're
36:55
Speaker 1: correct that Jeffrey Epstein was not in fact a lawyer,
36:58
Speaker 1: they are representing him to have some sort of privileged
37:00
Speaker 1: communication with doctor Nicolache, seemingly in a way that would
37:04
Speaker 1: make it seem like sensitive information, the sensitive information that
37:08
Speaker 1: mister Epstein knows about is privileged. Did you ever have
37:11
Speaker 1: a conversation like that with doctor Nikolich. Answer no, how
37:16
Speaker 1: could it be privileged? Question I'm just as confused as
37:19
Speaker 1: you are. But I guess what I'm asking is, did
37:22
Speaker 1: they represent to you that it could be privileged? Answer?
37:26
Speaker 1: I told you that in terms of awareness of the
37:28
Speaker 1: affairs that I had, there were no explicit reference to that,
37:31
Speaker 1: but there was some what you could call veiled reference
37:35
Speaker 1: to it, in the form of, hey, we should all
37:37
Speaker 1: want to be friends. It's only later when Epstein is
37:40
Speaker 1: talking about his reimbursements to a specific woman that I
37:43
Speaker 1: was aware of that. I became fully aware of that.
37:46
Speaker 1: There was a point in the discussions with Boris where
37:49
Speaker 1: you know, I said, I'm not going to be influenced
37:52
Speaker 1: by what you might or might not know or say.
37:54
Speaker 1: But again, this email is complete news to me. Question Okay,
37:58
Speaker 1: the top of the email, I won't the entire one,
38:01
Speaker 1: but it seems to imply that you had already given
38:03
Speaker 1: doctor Nikolic some kind of offer, probably related to his departure.
38:07
Speaker 1: Had you already given doctor Nickolch some kind of exit
38:10
Speaker 1: package or offer in June of twenty thirteen. Answer, yeah,
38:15
Speaker 1: there was a prior agreement about He ended up making
38:17
Speaker 1: two investments on our mutual behalf. You know, I'd authorize
38:21
Speaker 1: him to make three, but he made two, so there
38:23
Speaker 1: was you know, putting into writing how we would handle
38:26
Speaker 1: his payment for his share of those, and then just
38:28
Speaker 1: the termination agreement. So that was all known before he
38:32
Speaker 1: engaged Epstein in the exit discussions. Question. Okay, thank you.
38:38
Speaker 1: I will now enter into the record majority exhibit two,
38:41
Speaker 1: which is an email from mister Epstein to himself on
38:44
Speaker 1: July eighteenth, twenty thirteen. This is Mark Bates number EFTA
38:49
Speaker 1: zero one nine sixty six nine eight eight. And they'll
38:53
Speaker 1: note for the record that there are a few similar
38:55
Speaker 1: versions of these emails throughout the files. I think with
38:59
Speaker 1: things being forwarded along, I'll be referencing this version and
39:03
Speaker 1: asking you questions about it. Some of the other ones
39:06
Speaker 1: are just cut off answer, I don't know what you
39:10
Speaker 1: mean forward it along question. Within the Epstein files, there
39:14
Speaker 1: are duplicates for various reasons, and I'm just referencing that.
39:18
Speaker 1: I'm using this particular EFTA number for the record, and
39:22
Speaker 1: while you're reviewing it, we've had more members and staff join.
39:26
Speaker 1: Can they please identify themselves for the record, mister Garcia,
39:30
Speaker 1: Robert Garcia, ranking member redacted. Representative Garcia, Congressman Raja Krishna
39:37
Speaker 1: Morthy from Illinois. Question, mister Gates, have you seen this
39:42
Speaker 1: email before? Answer? No, I mean I would have seen
39:45
Speaker 1: it when it was released in January as part of
39:47
Speaker 1: the Epstein files, but prior to that. No question. So
39:50
Speaker 1: this appears to be a draft email or statement that
39:53
Speaker 1: Epstein may have written he at least sent it to
39:55
Speaker 1: himself from the perspective of doctor Nikolic. Is at fair answer?
40:00
Speaker 1: I add no value to that question. Well, we can
40:04
Speaker 1: agree that this is not the perspective of Jeffrey Epstein.
40:07
Speaker 1: Is clearly written from the perspective of somebody else. Is
40:10
Speaker 1: that fair answer? Are you asking me to speculate on
40:13
Speaker 1: that question? So I'll read from the record. Then it
40:17
Speaker 1: is again, sent Thursday, July eighteenth, twenty thirteen, at twelve
40:21
Speaker 1: thirty nine from Jeffrey Epstein to himself. However, the email
40:25
Speaker 1: reads quote, I've decided to resign my position, effective immediately
40:29
Speaker 1: with BG three and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I
40:33
Speaker 1: have not come to this decision quickly or without great
40:36
Speaker 1: deal of thought. During the past few weeks, I've been
40:39
Speaker 1: caught up in a severe marital dispute between Melinda and Bill.
40:43
Speaker 1: I'll stop reading there for a second. But given majority
40:46
Speaker 1: Exhibit one, which we were just discussing, and the fact
40:49
Speaker 1: that mister Epstein and doctor Nikolch were clearly discussing a
40:52
Speaker 1: marital dispute of some kind between you and Melinda, is
40:56
Speaker 1: it fair to say that this email that was intended
40:59
Speaker 1: to have been sent by doctor Nikolich. Answer? I don't know.
41:03
Speaker 1: It was never sent by doctor Nicolich. That's all I
41:05
Speaker 1: can bring to this question. Sure I can continue reading.
41:10
Speaker 1: I have the greatest respect for my friend of seven years,
41:13
Speaker 1: and I wish them both well. In my role as
41:15
Speaker 1: the right hand, I've been asked on multiple occasions and
41:18
Speaker 1: in hindsight wrongly acquiesced into participating in things that have
41:22
Speaker 1: ranged from the morally inappropriate to the ethically unsound, and
41:26
Speaker 1: had been repeatedly asked to do other things that get
41:29
Speaker 1: nearer and potentially over the line into the illegal. Though
41:34
Speaker 1: it was kindly suggested that I make a transition to
41:36
Speaker 1: a new position after my six years of service, and
41:39
Speaker 1: that Bill would, in his own words, give me a
41:42
Speaker 1: generous package, I feel it would be dishonest to myself
41:45
Speaker 1: and my future from helping Bill to get drugs in
41:48
Speaker 1: order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls,
41:52
Speaker 1: to facilitating his illicit trysts with married women, to being
41:56
Speaker 1: asked to provide adderall for bridge tournaments. I feel I
41:59
Speaker 1: owe it to my friends and future colleagues to admit
42:02
Speaker 1: a moral failure, to ask forgiveness, and to move on
42:04
Speaker 1: with life. So again, I understand you did not receive
42:10
Speaker 1: this email. So I'll just begin to discuss the facts
42:13
Speaker 1: in that email. I've already asked you this. I asked
42:16
Speaker 1: you if you had considered a divorce with Milinda in
42:19
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen. I'll ask it a different way. Were you
42:23
Speaker 1: having a marital dispute of some kind with your wife Melinda?
42:26
Speaker 1: French Gates answer, Well, certainly, the fact that I told
42:30
Speaker 1: Milinda during this timeframe about the two affairs that was
42:33
Speaker 1: very distressing to her. But at the same time, there
42:36
Speaker 1: was no explicit mention of getting divorced. It may have
42:39
Speaker 1: occurred to Melinda at that point, but it was not
42:42
Speaker 1: a subject to discussion. Question, But you were having a
42:45
Speaker 1: marild dispute at the time, Is that fair answer? I
42:48
Speaker 1: wouldn't call it a marital dispute. You could say that
42:51
Speaker 1: it was a marital crisis because she became aware of
42:54
Speaker 1: bad behavior on my part. Question sure was this dispute
42:59
Speaker 1: that is reference in this email? Or how about this
43:02
Speaker 1: the discussion you had with Melinda at the time about
43:04
Speaker 1: your infidelity. Were those ultimately relevant to your divorce in
43:08
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one? Answer you would have to ask her,
43:11
Speaker 1: but I imagine that they were. Question how did doctor Nikolch
43:15
Speaker 1: know of your marital of your dispute with Melinda? Answer?
43:19
Speaker 1: I never discussed the topic with them. I did tell
43:21
Speaker 1: him she was aware of the affairs and that I
43:24
Speaker 1: shared with her that there were also other affairs. Question
43:30
Speaker 1: when did you tell Melinda about the affairs? Answer That
43:33
Speaker 1: would have been in the spring of twenty thirteen. Question
43:36
Speaker 1: and when did you tell doctor Nikolch that you told
43:38
Speaker 1: Melinda about the affairs? Answer around the same time question
43:43
Speaker 1: shortly thereafter? Answer right, and you know that was part
43:46
Speaker 1: of my telling them that his employment was not going
43:48
Speaker 1: to continue. Question So it's possible then that doctor Nickolitch,
43:52
Speaker 1: while you didn't tell him that you were that you
43:54
Speaker 1: didn't say you were considering a divorce, as you said
43:57
Speaker 1: you weren't. But it's possible that doctor Nikolich read into
44:01
Speaker 1: what you were telling him to believe that Melinda was
44:03
Speaker 1: the reason he was being let go and that he
44:06
Speaker 1: needed to fix things with you. Is that fair? Answer? Well,
44:09
Speaker 1: it's not clear to me that doctor Nikolach ever saw
44:11
Speaker 1: the emails. But you know, doctor Nikolich may have inferred
44:15
Speaker 1: from the fact that I said that I, you know,
44:17
Speaker 1: discuss the affairs, he may have speculated about what was
44:20
Speaker 1: doing in terms of my marriage. Question. Do you have
44:24
Speaker 1: any other suggestion of how Jeffrey Epstein would know about
44:27
Speaker 1: your affairs or other details in this email except through
44:30
Speaker 1: doctor Nikolich? Answer? I believe he found out about the
44:34
Speaker 1: two affairs through doctor Nikolch. Mister Moran, And just to
44:38
Speaker 1: be clear, you asked about other details Gates, Yeah, I'm
44:42
Speaker 1: not commenting on that. All right, folks, we're gonna wrap
44:45
Speaker 1: up right here, and in the next episode dealing with
44:48
Speaker 1: the topic, we're gonna pick up where we left off.
44:51
Speaker 1: All the information that goes with this episode can be
44:53
Speaker 1: found in the description box.