Megan Basham

Well, you know, obviously, Georgia, Gates is one of the committee's highest profile interviews so far because his name appears repeatedly in those Epstein-related documents, including things like calendars, emails, photos, things like that.

And before going in, Gates briefly addressed reporters.

Now, once inside the room, Gates tried to draw a very clear line.

Here's what he stated.

While he may have sought to foster a personal relationship, I was never interested in that and never reciprocated.

So that is the full quote.

Now, essentially, what Gates was admitting there was that meeting with Epstein was wrong because these meetings came after Epstein was already a convicted sex offender.

But what he denies is knowing anything about ongoing criminal conduct, and he denies ever victimizing anyone.

Now, what exactly did Gates say about why he was meeting with Epstein in the first place?

Well, he says that he was introduced to Epstein in 2011 through people in his professional and philanthropic world.

And he says that Epstein claimed that he could help raise billions of dollars for global health causes

by connecting Gates with those wealthy donors.

Well, according to Gates, those meetings started with three preliminary meetings in 2011 and then two more in 2012, and then the discussions became more extensive in 2013 and 2014, focusing on possible charitable giving structures like donor-advised funds.

But Gates says that Epstein never delivered on any of this.

He said that no charitable vehicle was created, no funds were raised, and that he cut off contact with Epstein back in 2014.

But again, what we have to note here is that Epstein was already a convicted sex offender by then.

He had pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

And Gates told lawmakers that he was aware that Epstein had prior legal issues and that the conviction was sexual in nature.

But he says that he did not understand the full extent of Epstein's crimes.

So that then became one of the major points of questioning, why someone like Gates continued interacting with Epstein after that conviction.