6 ms·

Bill Gates says it was a "huge mistake" to spend time with Epstein

36 points by jimmy2020 5y ago

chovybizzass 5y ago
You don't say?
superflit 5y ago
Like multiple times mistake?
- overthemoon 5y ago
  Not only multiple times, but AFTER Epstein's first charge of sex crimes. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/business/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/business/jeffrey-epstein-...
bestcoder69 5y ago
> Microsoft founder Bill Gates told CNN on Wednesday that he regrets spending time with Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire financier who was accused of child sex trafficking. Hm I think the more relevant context to include might be that Epstein had already been _convicted_ for separate sex crimes _before_ these hang-outs with Bill, as well. But axios’s thing is brevity I guess.
- orra 5y ago
  > more relevant context to include might be that Epstein had already been _convicted_ for separate sex crimes _before_ these hang-outs with Bill Indeed. It makes Bill's decision quite the choice.
  - rapjr9 5y ago
    Given the speculation that Epstein was blackmailing people, I have to wonder if he was blackmailing Gates. What happened to all the evidence the FBI seized at Epstein's homes? Is the FBI doing anything with it? Does it still exist? Why has there been no news about it? What did it consist of? Just because Epstein died does not put an end to the many questions his life has raised. Someone needs to be watching the FBI carefully as well since powerful blackmail material could just as well be misused by the FBI. It's not as if they haven't done it before: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/martin-luther-king-fbi_n_4631112 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/martin-luther-king-fbi_n_4631... Maybe there is some huge investigation going on that we don't know about but all that is visible currently is the Ghislaine trial and now the Giuffre trial. I'm really surprised that nothing more has come out given that the FBI reportedly seized the video recordings from Epstein's surveillance systems: https://www.mintpressnews.com/shocking-origins-jeffrey-epstein-blackmail-roy-cohn/260621/ https://www.mintpressnews.com/shocking-origins-jeffrey-epste...
pydry 5y ago
I was never surprised but I was disappointed about the vast chasm between how Richard Stallman got treated for a couple of offhand comments about Epstein versus how Bill Gates got treated after flying on the lolita express. Challenging existing power structures essentially requires you to be absolutely spotlessly clean, whereas being an elite who doesnt challenge the system gives you a lot more leeway not only to misbehave but also to be given the benefit of the doubt when it's unclear if you did. Epstein clearly exploited that to the max.
- orra 5y ago
  > how Richard Stallman got treated for a couple of offhand comments That's quite misleading. Richard Stallman was criticised for a repeated pattern of behaviour. Allegedly, according to many witnesses, he harassed and coerced women for decades.
  - hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
    This is not what happened. The mass attack on Stallman happened after Selam Jie Gano wrote her hate piece[0] full of half-truths and manipulations that later were quoted by the media as "Stallman is defending Epstein" whereas the opposite was true. When I compared what RMS actually wrote with what the press reported, I was appalled - it's as if people collectively lost their ability to read. [0] https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794 https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec21...
    - sasaf5 5y ago
      Stallman tried to bring reason to an emotion's fight... From [0]: "I’m writing this because I’m too angry to work."
    - orra 5y ago
      Again, as I said: Stallman allegedly has a pattern of troubling behaviour going back decades. Not just troubling words, either, but actual behaviour. Stallman's crass words about consent, re sex-traffic teenagers, was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
jansan 5y ago
What exactly does "spend time" mean in this context? Just chatting and having a drink together?
- wayoutthere 5y ago
  Fucking 13-year-olds more than likely.
  - canadianfella 5y ago
    Based on what?
- superflit 5y ago
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7350469/Bill-Gates-flew-Jeffrey-Epstein-Loliota-Express-2013-years-pedophile-prison-stay.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7350469/Bill-Gates-...
- TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
  Probably Minecraft. Maybe some Call of Duty. Edit: In the billionaire league you can hire an entire small corporation to look after your interests. Lawyers, PR people, "influencers", security experts - whole offices of full-time employees and contract hires who do nothing but You. If you're any good at it, you hire people who can hire people who can hire people to get things done covertly by back channels - if necessary. So getting associated with someone like Epstein certainly is a huge mistake. And not just a personal one. Either Gates knew the risks and personally decided they were manageable, or someone decided that Gates needed some bad advice. Considering that Gates is now divorced, I suspect the former. But at this distance - who can tell for sure?
- tartoran 5y ago
  It’s an opaque eufemism for doing other things he’ll never admit unless evidence comes out. Bill Gates as well as Clinton and lots of other Bills and others spent time with Epstein’s lolitas as well. I think Bill Gates is hedging against that information coming out at some point in the future.
tersers 5y ago
By that time was Epstein not already engaging in the abuse? If so then it’s not doing anyone any favours to associate with Epstein for any reason.
wayoutthere 5y ago
If he’s apologizing, he knows he did more than “spend time” with Epstein. Epstein had already done jail time for sex trafficking by then and he was well known in wealthy circles as the guy who could get you young girls. There is no way Bill Gates didn’t fuck a child.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
overthemoon 5y ago
It's odd to me that Epstein's value to Gates could be "connections". He's one of the richest and most famous people on the planet, what trouble would he have making connections to anyone he wants who would be interested in global health?
- busterarm 5y ago
  Government intelligence agencies don't work with the rich and powerful _directly_. They use intermediaries. And if you're doing global health work, there are large parts of the world where those are the types of connections that you need.
- lazyjones 5y ago
  Connections to certain types of women perhaps, the soliciting of which would get even Gates in trouble?
- fsloth 5y ago
  Generally people resent unsolicited approaches. Money, power, trust and prestige are not completely interchangeable.
superflit 5y ago
Annnnnnndd it is dead this thread! That was fast!
kebman 5y ago
The social gestures of Bill Gates is that of hugging himself, which shows that the question made him visibly uncomfortable. The way he speaks, with his tongue curling into itself, also reveals clear discomfort. I really don't like the implication of the whole interview. CNN is merely capitalizing on guilt by association. Sure, Epstein was a bad guy. No question about it. But tacitly accusing people who merely had dinner with him of also being bad, is stretching it beyond both reason and fairness.

36 points by jimmy2020 5y ago

chovybizzass 5y ago

You don't say?

superflit 5y ago

Like multiple times mistake?

overthemoon 5y ago
Not only multiple times, but AFTER Epstein's first charge of sex crimes. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/business/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/business/jeffrey-epstein-...

bestcoder69 5y ago

> Microsoft founder Bill Gates told CNN on Wednesday that he regrets spending time with Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire financier who was accused of child sex trafficking. Hm I think the more relevant context to include might be that Epstein had already been _convicted_ for separate sex crimes _before_ these hang-outs with Bill, as well. But axios’s thing is brevity I guess.

orra 5y ago
> more relevant context to include might be that Epstein had already been _convicted_ for separate sex crimes _before_ these hang-outs with Bill Indeed. It makes Bill's decision quite the choice.
- rapjr9 5y ago
  Given the speculation that Epstein was blackmailing people, I have to wonder if he was blackmailing Gates. What happened to all the evidence the FBI seized at Epstein's homes? Is the FBI doing anything with it? Does it still exist? Why has there been no news about it? What did it consist of? Just because Epstein died does not put an end to the many questions his life has raised. Someone needs to be watching the FBI carefully as well since powerful blackmail material could just as well be misused by the FBI. It's not as if they haven't done it before: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/martin-luther-king-fbi_n_4631112 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/martin-luther-king-fbi_n_4631... Maybe there is some huge investigation going on that we don't know about but all that is visible currently is the Ghislaine trial and now the Giuffre trial. I'm really surprised that nothing more has come out given that the FBI reportedly seized the video recordings from Epstein's surveillance systems: https://www.mintpressnews.com/shocking-origins-jeffrey-epstein-blackmail-roy-cohn/260621/ https://www.mintpressnews.com/shocking-origins-jeffrey-epste...

pydry 5y ago

I was never surprised but I was disappointed about the vast chasm between how Richard Stallman got treated for a couple of offhand comments about Epstein versus how Bill Gates got treated after flying on the lolita express. Challenging existing power structures essentially requires you to be absolutely spotlessly clean, whereas being an elite who doesnt challenge the system gives you a lot more leeway not only to misbehave but also to be given the benefit of the doubt when it's unclear if you did. Epstein clearly exploited that to the max.

orra 5y ago
> how Richard Stallman got treated for a couple of offhand comments That's quite misleading. Richard Stallman was criticised for a repeated pattern of behaviour. Allegedly, according to many witnesses, he harassed and coerced women for decades.
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
  This is not what happened. The mass attack on Stallman happened after Selam Jie Gano wrote her hate piece[0] full of half-truths and manipulations that later were quoted by the media as "Stallman is defending Epstein" whereas the opposite was true. When I compared what RMS actually wrote with what the press reported, I was appalled - it's as if people collectively lost their ability to read. [0] https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec210794 https://selamjie.medium.com/remove-richard-stallman-fec6ec21...
  - sasaf5 5y ago
    Stallman tried to bring reason to an emotion's fight... From [0]: "I’m writing this because I’m too angry to work."
  - orra 5y ago
    Again, as I said: Stallman allegedly has a pattern of troubling behaviour going back decades. Not just troubling words, either, but actual behaviour. Stallman's crass words about consent, re sex-traffic teenagers, was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

jansan 5y ago

What exactly does "spend time" mean in this context? Just chatting and having a drink together?

wayoutthere 5y ago
Fucking 13-year-olds more than likely.
- canadianfella 5y ago
  Based on what?
superflit 5y ago
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7350469/Bill-Gates-flew-Jeffrey-Epstein-Loliota-Express-2013-years-pedophile-prison-stay.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7350469/Bill-Gates-...
TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
Probably Minecraft. Maybe some Call of Duty. Edit: In the billionaire league you can hire an entire small corporation to look after your interests. Lawyers, PR people, "influencers", security experts - whole offices of full-time employees and contract hires who do nothing but You. If you're any good at it, you hire people who can hire people who can hire people to get things done covertly by back channels - if necessary. So getting associated with someone like Epstein certainly is a huge mistake. And not just a personal one. Either Gates knew the risks and personally decided they were manageable, or someone decided that Gates needed some bad advice. Considering that Gates is now divorced, I suspect the former. But at this distance - who can tell for sure?
tartoran 5y ago
It’s an opaque eufemism for doing other things he’ll never admit unless evidence comes out. Bill Gates as well as Clinton and lots of other Bills and others spent time with Epstein’s lolitas as well. I think Bill Gates is hedging against that information coming out at some point in the future.

tersers 5y ago

By that time was Epstein not already engaging in the abuse? If so then it’s not doing anyone any favours to associate with Epstein for any reason.

wayoutthere 5y ago

If he’s apologizing, he knows he did more than “spend time” with Epstein. Epstein had already done jail time for sex trafficking by then and he was well known in wealthy circles as the guy who could get you young girls. There is no way Bill Gates didn’t fuck a child.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

overthemoon 5y ago

It's odd to me that Epstein's value to Gates could be "connections". He's one of the richest and most famous people on the planet, what trouble would he have making connections to anyone he wants who would be interested in global health?

busterarm 5y ago
Government intelligence agencies don't work with the rich and powerful _directly_. They use intermediaries. And if you're doing global health work, there are large parts of the world where those are the types of connections that you need.
lazyjones 5y ago
Connections to certain types of women perhaps, the soliciting of which would get even Gates in trouble?
fsloth 5y ago
Generally people resent unsolicited approaches. Money, power, trust and prestige are not completely interchangeable.

superflit 5y ago

Annnnnnndd it is dead this thread! That was fast!

kebman 5y ago

The social gestures of Bill Gates is that of hugging himself, which shows that the question made him visibly uncomfortable. The way he speaks, with his tongue curling into itself, also reveals clear discomfort. I really don't like the implication of the whole interview. CNN is merely capitalizing on guilt by association. Sure, Epstein was a bad guy. No question about it. But tacitly accusing people who merely had dinner with him of also being bad, is stretching it beyond both reason and fairness.