FILE PHOTO: White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler listens as President Barack Obama speaks at an installation ceremony for FBI Director James Comey at FBI Headquarters in Washington, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013.
Charles Dharapak | AP
The House committee investigating the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday night asked Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Goldman Sachs‘ top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, billionaires Leon Black and Ted Waitt, and three other people to testify about their dealings with Epstein.
Gates, Ruemmler and Black all quickly agreed to voluntary, transcribed interviews with the House Oversight Committee.
The panel is also seeking testimony from Doug Band, a former assistant to former President Bill Clinton, Epstein’s former executive assistant Lesley Groff, and Sarah Kellen, another former assistant to Epstein.
Bill Gates speaks with Reuters during an interview in New York City, U.S., May 8, 2025.
Mike Segar | Reuters
A spokesperson for Gates said, “Gates welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee.”
“While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work,” the spokesperson said.
Ruemmler’s spokeswoman said, “Ms. Ruemmler welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee.”
“At the time she interacted with Jeffrey Epstein, she was a practicing criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him,” said Jennifer Connelly, her spokeswoman. “She has done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on his part.”
The House Oversight Committee’s request that Ruemmler voluntarily appear before the panel comes nearly three weeks after she said she would leave Goldman Sachs at the end of June.
Ruemmler’s announcement came after a wave of new media coverage focused on her often-friendly email exchanges with Epstein.
Leon Black, chairman and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management LLC, at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Monday, April 27, 2015.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Black’s spokesperson said, “Mr. Black paid Epstein for tax and estate planning work and he had no awareness of Epstein’s criminal activity.”
“He looks forward to answering the committee’s questions, providing additional clarity and furthering their work,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick voluntarily agreed to testify to the Oversight Committee about his connection to Epstein, the panel’s chairman, Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, said.
Lutnick, who had been a neighbor of Epstein in New York, admitted in testimony last month to the Senate Appropriations Committee that he visited Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean with his family in 2012.
Lutnick had previously claimed that he cut off contact with Epstein years before that visit.
