The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has requested testimony from seven people as part of its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Committee chair James Comer sent the letters seeking information from Microsoft co‑founder Bill Gates and six others: Lesley Groff (a former longtime executive assistant to Epstein), Sarah Kellen (a former Epstein employee), Kathryn Ruemmler (former White House counsel under President Obama), Leon Black (co‑founder of Apollo Global Management), Doug Band (a longtime aide to former President Bill Clinton), and tech entrepreneur Ted Waitt (a former boyfriend of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell who attended Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding as Maxwell’s guest).
Comer said the committee believes these individuals have information relevant to an investigation into alleged mismanagement of the federal probe of Epstein and Maxwell, efforts by Epstein and Maxwell to curry favor or influence to protect illegal activity, and possible ethics violations by elected officials. Testimony dates were scheduled between April 16 and June 9.
Responses and status
Bill Gates has agreed to appear, a spokesperson told CBS News, and said he welcomes the opportunity to answer the committee’s questions. Gates earlier apologized to staff at the Gates Foundation for his ties to Epstein, saying those interactions began in 2011 and continued through 2014; he has said he never witnessed or participated in Epstein’s illegal conduct.
A spokesperson for Kathryn Ruemmler also said she welcomes the opportunity to testify. Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel from 2011 to 2014 and later worked at Latham & Watkins and Goldman Sachs, has said she did nothing wrong and had no knowledge of ongoing criminal activity by Epstein. An attorney for Lesley Groff declined to comment. The committee sought comment from Black, Band, Kellen and Waitt. None of the seven have been criminally charged in connection with Epstein.
What the released files show
The committee’s requests follow the Department of Justice’s release, beginning in December, of millions of pages tied to its long investigation of Epstein. The files were made public after Congress passed a bill requiring their disclosure that was signed into law by President Trump.
The documents have highlighted Epstein’s connections to influential people that persisted after his 2008 Florida plea to state prostitution charges, for which he served 13 months and registered as a sex offender. Epstein was later indicted on federal sex‑trafficking charges in New York in July 2019; he died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, a death ruled a suicide. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted on federal sex‑trafficking charges in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Files tied to Gates include records of meetings and travel between Gates and Epstein from 2011 to 2014. Among released documents were two emails that Epstein sent to himself in July 2013 containing unverified allegations about Gates’ personal life; Gates’ spokesperson called those claims “absolutely absurd and completely false,” and described the material as part of Epstein’s attempts to defame or entrap. Reporting also noted Gates acknowledged past affairs during an internal Gates Foundation meeting.
Ruemmler appears in DOJ materials as well, including a 2015 email expressing fondness for Epstein and communications in which Epstein asked her to arrange a White House tour for filmmaker Woody Allen and Soon‑Yi Previn; that tour took place in December 2015. Ruemmler subsequently announced she would resign as general counsel of Goldman Sachs after the file releases.
Leon Black’s communications with Epstein in the released records show Epstein advising on how to handle fallout from a multi‑year affair and suggesting use of former law enforcement officers to present nondisclosure terms. Documents indicate Black later signed an agreement involving large payments to the woman and that Senate Finance Committee filings show Black paid Epstein significant sums for tax and estate planning services. Black stepped down as Apollo’s chairman and CEO in 2021; a law firm retained by Apollo’s board said its review cleared him of wrongdoing.
The Oversight Committee’s requests aim to clarify these and other matters raised by the documents as lawmakers probe who may have helped shield Epstein and Maxwell and whether any public officials violated ethics rules.