Gates among 7 asked to testify before House committee on possible Epstein ties

Last week, Bill Gates apologized to the staff of his philanthropic Gates Foundation for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, which he said began in 2011 and continued through 2014. Politics Bill Gates among 7 asked to testify before House committee on possible Epstein ties By Faris Tanyos Faris Tanyos News Editor Faris Tanyos is a news editor for CBSNews.com, where he writes and edits stories and tracks breaking news. He previously worked as a digital news producer at several local news stations up and down the West Coast. Read Full Bio Faris Tanyos March 3, 2026 / 10:19 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is among seven people who on Tuesday were asked to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee regarding its ongoing investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The six others are Lesley Groff, a former longtime executive assistant to Epstein; Sarah Kellen, another former Epstein employee; Kathryn Ruemmler, former White House counsel to former President Barack Obama; Leon Black, co-founder of Apollo Global Management; Doug Band, a longtime personal aide and counselor to former President Bill Clinton, who along with his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both testified separately on Epstein before the House Oversight Committee last week; and tech billionaire Ted Waitt, a former boyfriend of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who attended Chelsea Clinton's 2010 wedding as a guest of Maxwell. In the seven letters, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer writes that the committee believes the recipients "have information that will assist in its investigation."Comer explains that the committee is reviewing the "alleged mismanagement of the federal government's investigation" into Epstein and Maxwell, ways in which Epstein and Maxwell "sought to curry favor and exercise influence to protect their illegal activities," and "potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials."The seven were given testimony dates ranging from April 16 to June 9. A spokesperson for Gates indicated that he planned to testify before the committee. "Gates welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee," the spokesperson told CBS News in a statement. "While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein's illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee's questions to support their important work." Jennifer Connelly, a spokesperson for Ruemmler, told CBS News that Ruemmler "welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee.""At the time she interacted with Jeffrey Epstein, she was a practicing criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him," the spokesperson said. "She has done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on his part."An attorney for Groff said she had no comment on the letter. CBS News has also reached out to Black, Band and Waitt for comment, and is attempting to contact Kellen. None of the seven have been criminally charged with wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. The House requests come after the Justice Department in December began the process of releasing millions of files related to its decadeslong investigation into Epstein, a wealthy financier who was accused of running an extensive sex trafficking operation with Maxwell's aid. The two are believed to have victimized dozens of underage girls and women. The Justice Department only released the files after Congress passed a bill in November, signed into law by President Trump, compelling it to do so. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting prostitution in exchange for having a federal case against him dropped. He served 13 months in county jail and had to register as a sex offender.A New York federal grand jury indicted Epstein on child sex trafficking charges in July 2019, but he was found dead weeks later, in August 2019, in a Manhattan jail. His cause of death was ruled a suicide. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of federal sex trafficking charges and later sentenced to 20 years in prison. The released files, however, have revealed the wealthy financier's deep connections to the rich and powerful that persisted well after his Florida conviction. Bill Gates traveled with Epstein on private planeLast week, Gates apologized to the staff of his philanthropic Gates Foundation for his ties to Epstein, which he said began in 2011 and continued through 2014. According to audio of the apology obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Gates told staff he and Epstein shared a private jet together once and spent time in Germany, France, New York and Washington. Included in the trove of DOJ files were two emails Epstein sent to himself on July 18, 2013, containing unverified allegations that Gates had extramarital "sex with Russian girls" that resulted in a sexually transmitted infection requiring antibiotic treatment. In one email, Epstein claimed Gates also sought to "surreptitiously give" antibiotics to his then-wife, Melinda Gates. The emails appeared to have been written by Epstein on behalf of an aggrieved employee of Gates who was resi