Billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates struggled to reply when asked on Tuesday by PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff about his meetings with Epstein.
"What did you know about him when you were meeting with him, as you said yourself, in the hopes of raising money?" she asked.
The billionaire repeated what he has said previously, noting that he regrets the meetings but at the time he was focused on the support for the foundation he hoped to receive from the banker.
"He had relationships with people he said, you know, would give to global health, which is an interest I have. You know, not nearly enough philanthropy goes in that direction," he noted. "Those meetings were a mistake. They didn't result in what he purported and I cut them off. You know, that goes back a long time ago now, so there's nothing new on that."
When Woodruff noted that the “dinners” took place over several years, Gates said again that he “regrets having those dinners."
“There's nothing, absolutely nothing new on that,” he added.
After Epstein was detained and accused of sex trafficking in July 2019, Gates said that their communication was not as close as reports suggest. The Microsoft founder told the Wall Street Journal in September 2019 that he and Epstein had no business relationship or friendship.
Nevertheless, reports claim they were in contact as Gates was said to have traveled by Epstein’s private plane and visited his Manhattan house.