Bill Gates tells members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee that late financier Jeffrey Epstein tried to use information about Gates’s extramarital affairs to pressure him. Multiple outlets report Gates described Epstein as attempting to leverage his knowledge of Gates’s private life after Gates ended discussions with Epstein related to philanthropy. Gates says he regretted his association with Epstein, but he also presents the claims as part of his account to lawmakers in a closed-door setting. According to the reports, Gates says Epstein used the knowledge of his marital infidelities to encourage renewed engagement, including pushing Gates to re-establish a relationship with Epstein. Several sources characterize Gates’s description as “pressure” or “leverage,” while one outlet frames it as blackmail. At the same time, at least one report says Gates told lawmakers he had no indication of Epstein’s crimes. Across the coverage, the central point is Gates’s testimony that Epstein sought to use personal information about his infidelities to influence his actions.