A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told the agency this Tuesday (25) Reuters that Bill Gates “took responsibility for his actions” related to his ties to financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The statement was made after an internal meeting with employees of the philanthropic organization.
The position was given in response to a report by Wall Street Journalwhich reported that Gates apologized to foundation officials for meeting with Epstein in the past and for taking the institution’s executives to meetings with him.
According to the newspaper, Gates told employees that it was “a big mistake” to have spent time with Epstein. “I apologize to other people who were involved because of the mistake I made,” he said. “I didn’t do anything illegal. I didn’t see anything illegal,” Gates reportedly said.
Documents released by the United States Department of Justice indicate that Gates and Epstein met several times after the financier’s first conviction for sexual exploitation of minors.
In a previously released statement, the Gates Foundation stated that a small number of employees interacted with Epstein because he claimed to be able to mobilize resources for philanthropic projects. The institution stated that no partnership was signed with the financier, that there were no payments to Epstein and that he was never employed by the foundation. The entity also stated that it regrets that employees had any type of interaction with Epstein.
