Daily London
The documents appear to show draft messages in Epstein’s email account alleging that Gates had used him to organise trysts with women and contracted a sexually transmitted infection.
In an exclusive interview with 9News’ Chief Political Editor Charles Croucher, Gates again denied the “false” accusations.
“Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is false,” he said.
“I don’t know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?
“Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologise that I did that.”
Gates said he met Epstein in 2011 and had several dinners together over three years, but never visited his island nor had relations with women.
“The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health. In retrospect, that was a dead end,” he said.
“I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him.
“The more that comes out, the more clear it will be that, although the time was a mistake, it has nothing to do with that kind of behaviour.”
Gates talks AI disruption in Australia, praises social media ban
Gates became wealthy after co-founding Microsoft in 1975.
He has pledged to spend the entire endowment of the Gates Foundation, about $200 billion, to eradicate diseases and reduce poverty by the time the charity closes in 2045.
“I hope when people read about Malaria in the future, I hope they’ll say what was that? The same with polio,” he told 9News in the wide-ranging interview.
“I think it’s up to people in the field to say to society at large, this could really be disruptive,” he said.
“I know it’s not an easy thing to implement. I think it’s a favour to the world that you’ll study,” he said.
“We overprotect kids in the real world; we don’t let them go out and do things. But we underprotect them in the digital world.”
Watch the full interview at the top of the page
NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.
