WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)—Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was set to face questioning Wednesday from US lawmakers over his relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose network of wealthy and powerful associates has fueled years of scrutiny and conspiracy theories.

Gates, one of the world’s richest men and a leading philanthropist, was due to appear before the House Oversight Committee for a transcribed interview about the disgraced financier, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.

The panel asked Gates to appear after documents released by the Justice Department raised new questions about his contacts with Epstein.

Several other high-profile figures have also appeared before the committee, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

A spokesperson for Gates told AFP in a statement that the billionaire welcomed the chance to appear before the committee and emphasized he had “never witnessed or participated in Epstein’s illegal conduct.”

The Epstein files include a 2013 draft email in which the financier appeared to suggest he had helped Gates manage the fallout from extramarital affairs, including by seeking antibiotics after a sexually transmitted infection.

– ‘Foolish’ –

Gates has called the email fake and denied the allegations. He told Australian television in February that he had been “foolish” to associate with Epstein, but said the relationship had nothing to do with the financier’s crimes.

“Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize that I did that… It’s factually true that I was only at dinners. I never went to (his) island, I never met any women,” he said.

Simply appearing in Epstein-related documents does not indicate evidence of a crime.

Gates told his foundation staff that he had affairs with two Russian women, the Wall Street Journal reported, but denied spending time with Epstein’s victims. He said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Gates reportedly acknowledged that his then-wife Melinda French Gates raised concerns about Epstein in 2013, but that he continued the relationship for at least another year.

Melinda French Gates, who divorced the Microsoft co-founder in 2021, has said remaining questions about the relationship are for her ex-husband and others to answer.

The House Oversight Committee has been investigating Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell as part of a broad examination of how the government handled the case and what it has released from its files.

US President Donald Trump, who also had a years-long relationship with Epstein, initially opposed releasing the files, prompting accusations of a coverup that dogged his first year back in office.

Democrats say they intend to ask what Gates knew about Epstein’s crimes and the full nature of their relationship.

The interview will not be videotaped, unlike several others released by the committee.

US media reported that Gates had hired former Justice Department lawyer John Moran and received preparation from Jake Greenberg, a former top Oversight Committee investigator, a move that ethics experts said raised questions about optics but did not necessarily violate rules.