Epstein Records Renew Scrutiny of Gates, Network Ties (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: So, these unsent draft emails in this particular situation have caught a lot of attention. What do you know about them?

[00:00:05] Speaker 2: That's right. Well, Erin, these two drafted emails are both dated July 18th, 2013, and they were saved in Jeffrey Epstein's email account, so they appear to be draft emails from Epstein to itself. It's not actually clear who authored them, and there's no indication the messages were ever sent, no evidence they were shared with Bill Gates or anyone else. Now, in those draft emails, Epstein or whoever authored them makes graphic and explicit and unverified allegations about Gates. Within one email, Epstein claimed he helped, quote, get drugs in order to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls and set up illicit trysts with married women. The email also references Gates asking Epstein to provide Adderall for bridge tournaments. One draft email alleges that Gates tearfully asked Epstein to delete messages referencing an STD, writing, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you surreptitiously give to Melinda. The email also says Gates asked him to delete explicit personal details about his penis. Now, a representative for Gates strongly denied those claims, telling CNN they were, quote, absolutely absurd and absolutely false. And Gates himself was asked about this by a CNN affiliate in Australia. Take a listen to what he said here.

[00:01:13] Speaker 3: Apparently Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is, you know, false. So I don't know what his thinking was there. This reminds me, you know, every minute I spent with him, I regret and I apologize that I did that. It's actually true that I was only at dinners. You know, I never went to the island. I never met any women. And so, you know, the more that comes out, the more clear it'll be that although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior.

[00:01:47] Speaker 1: And that's his response, it seems like, within the past day or so. Andrew, you dug into both the emails sent between the two, Epstein and Gates, and the meetings listed in the Justice Department files. Can you tell us what that showed?

[00:02:03] Speaker 2: Well, what also stands out, Erin, is how much Epstein was advising Gates on his philanthropic strategy more than previously known. And it appears in at least one of those emails that Gates took Epstein's advice seriously. For instance, an email exchange from August 2014 shows Gates and Epstein discussing Gates' approach to philanthropy. Gates wrote to, Epstein wrote to Gates, I am confident that with the right approach you'll be able to raise at least $100 billion. Everyone of hyper-wealth is dealing with the same issues. How to give some away. I can see that selling yourself is not your strong point, to which Gates replied, I agree. I should not use slides or even do a presentation. I do think a bit about how surprised I am at how tough doing good philanthropy is and what really has worked might be interesting to them. I will find a time for us to talk this week. We're not the only meeting, according to Epstein's calendars and emails, which we went through. Epstein's email listed a dinner with Gates in December 2010, a possible lunch in February 2011, followed by a dinner in April and October 2011. The records also show a planned meeting in Norway in August 2012, another a week later. Two meetings in February 2013, a possible dinner in September 2013, in which Epstein extended an invite to a Norwegian diplomat. We also saw a Google calendar reminder for a Skype meeting with Gates in January 2014, a meeting and a phone call in September 2014. And there's also this February 2011 message where Epstein emailed an individual whose name is redacted, saying, quote, you and I are invited to Seattle to spend serious time with Bill Gates. And again, Erin, all of this occurring years after his 2008 conviction.

[00:03:37] Speaker 1: Yeah, years after that, of course, when, you know, as he was a registered sex offender. Okay. Now, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates' ex-wife, they're divorced now. She broke her silence this week, and she was candid about Epstein in the sense of what that did, that entire thing did to their marriage. And she talked about how she felt seeing her ex-husband as the subject of those draft emails. And in all these other mentions of those draft emails that you went through that are, you know, too disgusting to recount, here she is.

[00:04:11] Speaker 4: Whatever questions remain there of what I can't even begin to know all of it, those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me. I'm able to take my own sadness and look at those young girls and say, my God, how did that happen to those girls, right? And so for me, it's just sadness, sadness for, you know, I left my marriage. I had to leave my marriage. I wanted to leave my marriage. I had to leave the, I felt I needed to eventually leave the foundation. For me, I've been able to move on in life, and I hope there's some justice for those now women.

[00:04:52] Speaker 1: I mean, that was incredibly powerful. Your reporting suggests that Epstein appeared to be aware of the fact that Melinda Gates was uncomfortable with his relationship with Bill Gates.

[00:05:02] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's absolutely right, Erin. Remember, too, the Wall Street Journal previously reported Bill Gates' association with Epstein was a factor in their divorce. And we found a February 2017 text exchange between Epstein and a redacted intermediary who wrote about Gates, he wants to talk to you, but his wife won't let him. That same intermediary wrote to Gates, wrote to Epstein that Gates, quote, loves you and says hi, but made clear that Melinda objected to continued contact. Epstein then suggested Melinda connect with Kathy Rumler, that's a former Obama White House counsel, and a friend of Epstein's to reassure Melinda. He said, Bill met my friend Kathy Rumler, Obama counsel, for five years. She would love to sit with Melinda and give her the other side of Jeffrey, Epstein wrote, adding, she is, quote, an arch feminist who is my great defender, and Rumler previously told CNN that she never met with Melinda Gates, the redacted individual, then replied about this exchange, not sure individuals can influence one's impressions are made, but I will try. I do not know for sure, but I do think, do not think he would be unwilling to bring it up with her.

[00:06:11] Speaker 5: New details from the released Epstein files revealing the deceased pedophile's wide-reaching global network of the rich and powerful. Remember, it was August 2006 when Palm Beach police went public with their investigation, August 2006 when police said Epstein had committed unlawful sex acts with and lewd and lascivious molestation of five underage girls. In 2006, Epstein would, a couple years later, be convicted on two counts of solicitation of prostitution, one of those counts involving a minor, so that's 2008, yet these individuals associated with Epstein years after those facts were well-known, so today let's start with a prominent name with which you might not be familiar, Brad Karp, the now former chairman of Paul Weiss, one of the nation's top corporate law firms, representing some of the biggest companies in the world. Karp abruptly resigned yesterday following the release of his email exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein, such as this 2015 email, in which Karp profusely thanked Epstein for hosting him, writing, quote, I can't thank you enough for including me in an email I'll never forget. It was truly once in a lifetime in every way, though I hope to be invited again, unquote. Epstein responded, writing, quote, you are always welcome. There are many, many nights of unique talents. You will be invited often, unquote. These sort of cringey, chummy emails between Epstein and Karp continued as recently as February 2019, that's the year that Epstein showed up dead in his cell, later ruled a suicide, and only months before he would face a second set of criminal charges for sex trafficking minors. In a previous statement to the Wall Street Journal, the Paul Weiss firm said, quote, Mr. Karp never witnessed or participated in any misconduct. Mr. Karp had two group dinners in New York City and had a small number of social interactions by email, all of which he regrets, I bet he does. Karp's own statement says, quote, recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm. Despite stepping down as chairman, the law firm says Karp, quote, will continue to focus his full-time attention to client service at the firm. We're also getting our first look at the hundreds of friendly text messages between Epstein and former Trump advisor, Maga Svengali, Steve Bannon. They include crude sexual jokes about women and Trump and discussions on countless other topics. Put together, the communications suggest a much closer relationship between the two that was widely understood. There's also a nearly two-hour-long, largely sympathetic interview filmed around 2019 that Bannon conducted with Epstein, which was reportedly originally intended to be part of a documentary intended to, we believe, rehabilitate Epstein's image as something other than a pedophile and predator and trafficker in child rape. Several exchanges from the interview stand out, such as this one where Epstein is asked about being a sex offender.

[00:09:12] Speaker 6: What are you, class three sexual predator? Tier one. Tier one's the highest and worst? No, I'm the lowest. You're the lowest. Tier one, you're the lowest. But a criminal. He is.

[00:09:25] Speaker 5: Bannon has not responded to CNN's request for comment. We should note that Bannon has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.