2026年3月3日 / 美国东部时间晚上10:19 / CBS新闻
微软联合创始人比尔·盖茨是周二被传唤至众议院监督与政府改革委员会作证的7人之一，该委员会正在对已定罪的性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦进行持续调查。
其他六人分别是：爱泼斯坦前长期行政助理莱斯利·格罗夫、另一位前爱泼斯坦员工莎拉·凯伦、前美国总统奥巴马的白宫法律顾问凯瑟琳·吕姆勒、阿波罗全球管理公司联合创始人莱昂·布莱克、前美国总统比尔·克林顿的长期私人助手兼顾问道格·班德（他与妻子、前国务卿希拉里·克林顿上周均曾单独向众议院监督委员会就爱泼斯坦案作证），以及科技亿万富翁泰德·维特（他曾是爱泼斯坦同伙吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦的前男友，2010年作为麦克斯韦的客人出席了切尔西·克林顿的婚礼）。
在这七封信中，众议院监督委员会主席詹姆斯·科默在信中表示，委员会认为收件人“掌握有助于调查的信息”。
科默解释说，委员会正在审查“联邦政府对爱泼斯坦和麦克斯韦的调查中所谓的管理不当”、爱泼斯坦和麦克斯韦“试图讨好在并利用影响力保护其非法活动的方式”，以及“与民选官员相关的潜在违反道德准则行为”。
这七人被安排在4月16日至6月9日期间作证。
盖茨的发言人表示，他计划在委员会面前作证。
“盖茨欢迎有机会在委员会面前作证，”发言人在一份声明中告诉CBS新闻，“虽然他从未目睹或参与爱泼斯坦的任何非法行为，但他期待回答委员会的所有问题，以支持他们的重要工作。”
吕姆勒的发言人詹妮弗·康奈利告诉CBS新闻，吕姆勒“欢迎有机会在委员会面前作证”。
“在她与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦接触时，她是一名执业刑事辩护律师，并且与他有共同客户，”发言人说，“她没有做错任何事，也不知道他有任何持续的犯罪活动。”
格罗夫的律师表示，她对这封信不作评论。
CBS新闻还联系了布莱克、班德和维特寻求置评，并试图联系凯伦。这七人中没有一人因与爱泼斯坦有关的不当行为被刑事指控。
此前，司法部于去年12月开始发布与对爱泼斯坦（一位被控在麦克斯韦协助下运营大规模性交易网络的富豪金融家）数十年调查相关的数百万份文件。两人被指侵害了数十名未成年女孩和妇女。
国会在11月通过一项法案后，司法部才发布这些文件，该法案由特朗普总统签署成为法律，要求司法部这样做。
2008年，爱泼斯坦在佛罗里达州承认州一级的卖淫罪，以换取联邦案件被撤销。他在县监狱服刑13个月，并必须作为性犯罪者登记。
2019年7月，纽约联邦大陪审团以儿童性交易罪名起诉爱泼斯坦，但几周后的8月，他在曼哈顿监狱被发现死亡，死因被裁定为自杀。
麦克斯韦于2021年因联邦性交易罪名被定罪，随后被判处20年监禁。
然而，发布的文件显示，这位富豪金融家在佛罗里达定罪后仍与权贵有密切联系。
比尔·盖茨与爱泼斯坦同乘私人飞机
上周，盖茨向其慈善机构盖茨基金会的员工道歉，称他与爱泼斯坦的关系始于2011年，一直持续到2014年。
据《华尔街日报》获得的道歉录音显示，盖茨告诉员工，他和爱泼斯坦曾一起乘坐私人飞机，并在德国、法国、纽约和华盛顿待过。
美国司法部文件中还包括爱泼斯坦2013年7月18日发给自己的两封电子邮件，其中包含未经证实的指控，称盖茨与一名俄罗斯女子发生婚外情，导致感染性传播疾病需要抗生素治疗。在其中一封电子邮件中，爱泼斯坦声称盖茨还试图“偷偷给”他当时的妻子梅琳达·盖茨抗生素。
这些电子邮件似乎是爱泼斯坦以一名正在辞职的盖茨不满员工的名义撰写的。
针对这些指控，盖茨的发言人在今年1月告诉CBS新闻，“这些说法完全荒谬和虚假。这些文件只能证明爱泼斯坦因未能与盖茨保持持续关系而感到沮丧，以及他为了陷害和诽谤盖茨而不惜采取的手段。”
据《华尔街日报》报道，在上周的市政厅会议上，盖茨承认他“确实有过婚外情，一次是与一名在桥牌活动中认识的俄罗斯桥牌选手，另一次是与一名通过商业活动认识的俄罗斯核物理学家”。
凯瑟琳·吕姆勒曾表示“喜爱爱泼斯坦”
吕姆勒在2011年至2014年期间担任奥巴马政府的白宫法律顾问，2014年加入律师事务所Latham and Watkins，2020年又加入高盛。
吕姆勒在司法部发布的文件中多次出现，包括2015年12月的一次电子邮件交流，其中她写道自己“喜爱爱泼斯坦”。
根据白宫记录，2015年5月，爱泼斯坦请吕姆勒安排电影制片人伍迪·艾伦和他的妻子Soon Yi参观白宫，这次参观于2015年12月进行。
上个月，吕姆勒宣布，由于发布的文件曝光，她将辞去高盛首席律师职务。
莱昂·布莱克从爱泼斯坦处获得如何处理婚外情风波的建议
美国司法部的文件显示，阿波罗全球管理公司联合创始人莱昂·布莱克曾向爱泼斯坦寻求建议，以处理与一名俄罗斯女子长达六年的婚外情不被曝光的问题。
在2015年9月的一封电子邮件中，爱泼斯坦建议布莱克雇佣前执法人员与该女子接触，让她签署保密协议。
“选择传达信息的方式，我的选择。——两名备受尊敬的前——填写空白处，移民局、苏格兰场、SFO。。他们可能会上门提出协议条款，”爱泼斯坦写道。
2015年10月，该女子与布莱克签署了一份保密协议，布莱克同意每月向她支付10万美元，共15年，免除100万美元贷款，并提供200万英镑让她在英国获得合法身份。
参议院财政委员会文件还显示，布莱克向爱泼斯坦支付了1.58亿美元用于税务和遗产规划服务。布莱克于2021年卸任阿波罗董事长兼首席执行官。阿波罗董事会聘请的一家律师事务所审查了布莱克与爱泼斯坦的往来，认为他没有任何不当行为。
劳拉·多恩、埃米特·莱昂斯、格雷厄姆·凯茨和丹尼尔·鲁特尼科为本文报道提供了帮助。
Bill Gates among 7 asked to testify before House committee on possible Epstein ties
March 3, 2026 / 10:19 PM EST / CBS News
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is among seven people who on Tuesday were asked to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee regarding its ongoing investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The six others are Lesley Groff, a former longtime executive assistant to Epstein; Sarah Kellen, another former Epstein employee; Kathryn Ruemmler, former White House counsel to former President Barack Obama; Leon Black, co-founder of Apollo Global Management; Doug Band, a longtime personal aide and counselor to former President Bill Clinton, who along with his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both testified separately on Epstein before the House Oversight Committee last week; and tech billionaire Ted Waitt, a former boyfriend of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who attended Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding as a guest of Maxwell.
In the seven letters, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer writes that the committee believes the recipients “have information that will assist in its investigation.”
Comer explains that the committee is reviewing the “alleged mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation” into Epstein and Maxwell, ways in which Epstein and Maxwell “sought to curry favor and exercise influence to protect their illegal activities,” and “potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials.”
The seven were given testimony dates ranging from April 16 to June 9.
A spokesperson for Gates indicated that he planned to testify before the committee.
“Gates welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee,” the spokesperson told CBS News in a statement. “While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work.”
Jennifer Connelly, a spokesperson for Ruemmler, told CBS News that Ruemmler “welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee.”
“At the time she interacted with Jeffrey Epstein, she was a practicing criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him,” the spokesperson said. “She has done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on his part.”
An attorney for Groff said she had no comment on the letter.
CBS News has also reached out to Black, Band and Waitt for comment, and is attempting to contact Kellen. None of the seven have been criminally charged with wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
The House requests come after the Justice Department in December began the process of releasing millions of files related to its decadeslong investigation into Epstein, a wealthy financier who was accused of running an extensive sex trafficking operation with Maxwell’s aid. The two are believed to have victimized dozens of underage girls and women.
The Justice Department only released the files after Congress passed a bill in November, signed into law by President Trump, compelling it to do so.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting prostitution in exchange for having a federal case against him dropped. He served 13 months in county jail and had to register as a sex offender.
A New York federal grand jury indicted Epstein on child sex trafficking charges in July 2019, but he was found dead weeks later, in August 2019, in a Manhattan jail. His cause of death was ruled a suicide.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of federal sex trafficking charges and later sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The released files, however, have revealed the wealthy financier’s deep connections to the rich and powerful that persisted well after his Florida conviction.
Bill Gates traveled with Epstein on private plane
Last week, Gates apologized to the staff of his philanthropic Gates Foundation for his ties to Epstein, which he said began in 2011 and continued through 2014.
According to audio of the apology obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Gates told staff he and Epstein shared a private jet together once and spent time in Germany, France, New York and Washington.
Included in the trove of DOJ files were two emails Epstein sent to himself on July 18, 2013, containing unverified allegations that Gates had extramarital “sex with Russian girls” that resulted in a sexually transmitted infection requiring antibiotic treatment. In one email, Epstein claimed Gates also sought to “surreptitiously give” antibiotics to his then-wife, Melinda Gates.
The emails appeared to have been written by Epstein on behalf of an aggrieved employee of Gates who was resigning.
Regarding those allegations, a Gates spokesperson told CBS News in January that the “claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”
At last week’s town hall, according to the Journal, Gates admitted that he “did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities.”
Kathryn Ruemmler wrote that she adored Epstein
Ruemmler served as White House counsel under Obama from 2011 to 2014, before joining the law firm Latham and Watkins in 2014 and then Goldman Sachs in 2020.
Ruemmler appeared several times in the Justice Department’s released files, including a December 2015 email exchange in which she wrote that she adored Epstein.
In May 2015, Epstein asked Ruemmler if she could get filmmaker Woody Allen and his wife Soon Yi a tour of the White House, which took place in December 2015, according to White House records.
Last month, Ruemmler announced she would resign from her role as top lawyer for Goldman Sachs in the wake of the released files.
Leon Black received guidance from Epstein on how to handle fallout from an affair
The DOJ’s documents show that Black, co-founder of investment firm Apollo Global Management, received advice from Epstein on how to keep a six-year affair with a Russian woman from going public.
In one September 2015 email, Epstein suggested to Black that he hire former law enforcement officers to approach the woman about signing a nondisclosure agreement.
“Choose method of message delivery, my choice. – two highly respected former —- fill in the blank, immigration, scotland yard. sfo. . who may knock on her door and present the terms,” Epstein wrote.
In October 2015, the woman signed a nondisclosure agreement with Black in which he agreed to pay her $100,000 monthly for 15 years, forgive a $1 million loan and provide two million British pounds for her to obtain legal status in the U.K.
Senate Finance Committee documents also showed that Black paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning services. Black stepped down as chairman and CEO of Apollo in 2021. A law firm retained by Apollo’s board to review Black’s dealings with Epstein cleared Black of any possible wrongdoing.
Laura Doan, Emmet Lyons, Graham Kates and Daniel Ruetenik contributed to this report.