In an apologetic talk with staff at the Gates Foundation, the Microsoft founder explained his connection to Epstein. Gates said he first met the man in 2011 — after Epstein had been convicted as a sex offender — and discussed raising money for global health initiatives. The two men met several times in various locations until 2014, when Gates determined the funding plan was going nowhere.
At that point, Gates may have also found himself getting in deeper with the creepy con man than he ever wanted to be. Among the thousands of emails uncovered by the Epstein scandal is one in which Epstein remarks on love affairs Gates had with two Russian women. In the meeting at his foundation, Gates acknowledged having extramarital relationships with a Russian bridge player and a Russian nuclear physicist, and said Epstein wanted to use that information against him.
“I made huge mistake,” Gates confessed to his colleagues. “Our reputation is on the line and what was the upside? In retrospect, nothing.”
The remarkable thing revealed about Epstein over the past year is his huge talent for making connections with rich and powerful people, and his skill in leveraging those connections to insinuate himself into the lives of people with even more wealth and power. Having gotten meetings with Gates, he thereafter referred to him as “my good friend Bill Gates” as a tactic to demonstrate his influence and lure new suckers into his vast web.
In an email, Epstein told now-disgraced British politician Peter Mandelson that he was having “monstrous fun” with Gates during a visit to Seattle. Epstein’s hyperbole proves nothing. Gates insists he never went to Epstein’s private Island or his New Mexico ranch, where the wheeler-dealer kept his harem of underage sex slaves.
But one thing we know for sure, really smart people can do really dumb things. Gates is just one name on a long list of brilliant people — mostly men — who failed to recognize Epstein for what he was. Some were truly fooled, some knew and did not care, and some eagerly indulged themselves in all that Epstein offered, figuring they would always be protected from consequences by their money and power.
Until there is evidence to the contrary, I will give Bill Gates the benefit of the doubt and assume he fits into the first category; one more rich rube with a big brain who failed to see the trap door in front of him.
See more of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View other syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
Editor’s note: Seattle Times Opinion no longer appends comment threads on David Horsey’s cartoons. Too many comments violated our community policies and reviewing the dozens that were flagged as inappropriate required too much of our limited staff time. You can comment via a Letter to the Editor. Please email us at letters@seattletimes.com and include your full name, address and telephone number for verification only. Letters are limited to 200 words.
