An investigation that cleared the Gates Foundation of any wrongdoing in connection with its founder Bill Gates’ ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did not include a vital source of relevant information.
The Seattle-based foundation started by Bill and ex-wife Melinda French Gates hired an outside law firm in March to “assess past foundation engagement with Epstein” after becoming mired in controversy following the release of the Epstein files.
Documents released by the Department of Justice included emails between Epstein and members of the Gates Foundation staff, along with photos of Bill Gates posing with the disgraced financier—who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges—and with women whose faces were redacted.
The law firm, WilmerHale, has now completed its review and found “no evidence” that the philanthropy paid Epstein, knew about or participated in his crimes, or knew that he was using the foundation to bolster his own reputation, according to a three-page summary shared on Tuesday by the foundation.
But while the investigation included interviews with more than 50 current and former foundation employees—including Bill Gates—it didn’t have access to the Microsoft founder’s personal communications or review interactions with his private office, according to a footnote that was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal.
“WilmerHale did not have access to Mr. Gates’s personal communications and did not review Epstein’s interactions with Mr. Gates in a personal capacity or separate legal entities associated with Mr. Gates, including Gates Ventures and the Gates Foundation Trust,” the firm wrote in a footnote.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Gates Foundation for comment about the omission.
WilmerHale identified about 30 meetings between Epstein and foundation leaders and staff, including Gates, that took place from 2011 to 2014 despite multiple warnings from the organization’s own employees.
Epstein was already a registered sex offender at the time, having pled guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution in connection with allegations that he ran a sex-trafficking ring that included girls as young as 14.
Although he faced up to 45 years in prison for allegedly abusing dozens of girls, he was sentenced to just 18 months in jail as part of an unprecedented sweetheart deal spearheaded by then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, who went on to serve as President Donald Trump’s labor secretary.
Trump and Epstein were close friends for years, though the president has denied any involvement in his crimes.
According to the WilmerHale memo, Gates Foundation staff repeatedly warned their founder and other leaders about the risks of associating with a convicted sex offender.
Several meetings were nevertheless organized on the foundation’s campus and at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, where the late pedophile was accused of luring young girls and abusing them.
WilmerHale found “no evidence” that the foundation meetings were “unrelated to philanthropy or involved illegal conduct,” according to its review.
The organization’s governing board has nevertheless agreed to adopt a new vetting process for donors and other foundation partners, including a heightened review of proposed foundation meetings that take place at personal residences, according to WilmerHale.
Gates has apologized over his ties to Epstein and said it was a mistake to meet with him, though he has denied any involvement in illegal activity
He has admitted to having affairs with two Russian women whom Epstein later found out about, and told Congress he might have unknowingly “been in the presence of victims” while meeting with Epstein.
