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Billionaire divorcee Bill Gates squirmed and played with his ring finger when confronted in a TV interview about his dealings with late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Microsoft co-founder was pressed on “PBS NewsHour” Tuesday about having “had a number of meetings” with Epstein after the latter had already been “found guilty of soliciting prostitution from minors.”
“You know, I had dinners with him,” Gates replied, fiddling nervously with his hands and pulling on the ring finger on his left hand.
“I regret doing that,” Gates said of the friendship that reportedly played a key role in the destruction of his 27-year marriage to now-ex-wife, Melinda.
“He had relationships with people he said, you know, would give to global health, which is an interest I have,” Gates explained, trying to justify it because “not nearly enough philanthropy goes in that direction.”
“Those meetings were a mistake. They didn’t result in what he purported and I cut them off,” Gates said with a nervous smile.
He tried to end the discussion by saying, “You know, that goes back a long time ago now, so there’s nothing new on that.”
However, anchor Judy Woodruff was not ready to let him off the hook so easily — noting that he “continued to meet with him over several years,” rather than quickly severing ties with the convicted pedophile as he’d suggested.
“Well …,” an exasperated-sounding Gates said, raising his hands as he pondered his response.
“I’ve said I regretted having those dinners. And there’s nothing, absolutely nothing new on that,” he said, again trying to end the topic.
Woodruff again pressed on, asking him if there was “a lesson for you, for anyone else looking at this?”
“Well, he’s dead, so …,” Gates said, shrugging and chuckling nervously.