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A new external review commissioned by the Gates Foundation has found that there were “roughly 30 meetings” between Jeffrey Epstein and foundation leaders and staff – including Bill Gates – between 2011 and 2014, even as foundation staff “raised on multiple occasions the risks of associating with Epstein because of his prior conviction”.
The Gates foundation commissioned the review in March, following the justice department’s release earlier this year of millions of documents related to Epstein. The files included numerous references to Gates, several photographs of him, and records showing that he met with Epstein on multiple occasions, which prompted renewed scrutiny of Gates’s past ties to the disgraced financier.
The foundation also said earlier this year that it was aware of emails in the Epstein files “between Jeffrey Epstein and Gates Foundation staff”. The foundation said, at the time, that it “regrets having any employees interact with Epstein in any way” and retained the law firm WilmerHale to conduct a review of the foundation’s past engagements with Epstein.
Related: Bill Gates tells US House ‘I have never victimized anyone’ in Epstein testimony
The report, of which a summary was released on Tuesday, took about five months. It was based on more than 50 interviews with current and former foundation personnel, including Gates, and reviewed extensive written materials relevant to the review, the law firm said.
“WilmerHale found no evidence of participation in or knowledge of Epstein’s ongoing sex trafficking operations or criminal activities,” the summary of the report states. “WilmerHale found no evidence that the foundation was contemporaneously aware of Epstein’s use of the foundation’s name to help advance his conduct. WilmerHale also found no evidence that Epstein was paid by the foundation.”
Gates, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, has publicly expressed regret over his past association with Epstein. He apologized to foundation employees during a February town-hall meeting for his past ties to Epstein, the Wall Street Journal reported. In June, he testified in front of the House committee on oversight and reform and told lawmakers that he “never witnessed nor had any indication” that Epstein was “engaged in ongoing criminal conduct”.
The Microsoft co-founder said that he was introduced to Epstein in 2011 “through people I trusted in my professional and philanthropic work” and that Epstein had “claimed he could raise billions of dollars for global health from people for whom he provided tax and estate services”.
“I recall being aware that Epstein had faced prior legal issues, but I did not fully understand the extent of the crimes he committed,” Gates said, referring to Epstein having pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution and of solicitation of prostitution with a minor. “I accepted the introduction without applying the scrutiny I should have.”
Gates said that their interactions ended in December 2014.
According to the new report, Epstein was introduced to Gates and other foundation personnel in 2011 “by an adviser who held a dual role at the foundation and in Mr Gates’s personal office”.
The review found that the foundation’s interactions with Epstein involved two matters – discussions about the “potential creation of a donor-advised fund entity” and Gates’s “engagement with a nonprofit organization that later became a foundation grantee”.
WilmerHale said that it identified “roughly 30 meetings between Epstein and ten foundation leaders and staff, including Mr Gates, from 2011 to 2014” including one meeting on the foundation’s campus and several meetings at Epstein’s Manhattan residence.
Related: Buffett omits gift to Bill Gates’ foundation after his Epstein ties disclosed
“The foundation’s meetings with Epstein appear to have focused on the DAF concept, donor engagement, the foundation’s polio strategy, and introductions to IPI,” the summary of the report states. “Based on interviews and a review of available foundation records, WilmerHale found no evidence that these meetings were unrelated to philanthropy or involved illegal conduct.”
The report also concluded that Gates “was aware of reputational concerns related to Epstein’s prior conviction and sentencing for a sex-related offense when he began conversations with him in 2011” and that foundation staff had “raised on multiple occasions the risks of associating with Epstein because of his prior conviction, and those concerns were raised to senior leadership, including Mr. Gates”.
In a news release on Tuesday, the Gates Foundation said that its governing board had approved a series of recommendations based on findings in the report, including creating a centralized vetting process for brokers, donor advisers, co-funders and others who facilitate funding partnerships and who are connected to the foundation, as well as creating an “escalation process for organizational risks on projects” and more.
Gates said in a statement on Tuesday that “completing this review is an important step in providing the clarity that partners, employees, and grantees deserve as well as strengthening our oversight with additional policies going forward.
“The work the foundation does to save lives and unlock opportunities so people everywhere can lead healthier, more productive lives, is more important than ever,” he said. “We are committed to ensuring trust and transparency are never compromised.”
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