Bill Gates on Wednesday denied any involvement in Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, before a US Congressional committee investigating the case, which heard behind closed doors from the billionaire about his friendship with the sex offender.

"I want to make this very clear: I have never witnessed or had any indication that Epstein was engaged in any ongoing criminal activity," the Microsoft co-founder said in his opening remarks to lawmakers, published on his GatesNotes website.

"I have never harmed anyone," the 70-year-old billionaire asserted, claiming that while Jeffrey Epstein had indeed tried to "nurture a personal relationship" with him, he had never been interested.

"I have never been to his island, his ranch, or his house in Florida," he said.

After more than five hours of hearings, Bill Gates left the Capitol in Washington without speaking to the press.

Earlier, upon his arrival, he had said he "hoped that (his) testimony would help the important work of this commission to bring justice to the victims" of Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 before his trial for sex crimes.

At the time of his death, the former American financier was notably accused of bringing underage girls to the island he owned in the Caribbean for the purpose of sex trafficking.

The chairman of the inquiry committee, Republican Congressman James Comer, explained before the hearing that the members wanted to know more about Mr. Gates' relationship with the sex offender and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States.

"What did he see? Did he know what was going on? Was he involved in all of this?", the elected official summarized to the press, also emphasizing that "no one is accusing Bill Gates of any wrongdoing."

- "Number of lies" -

At the end of February, Bill Gates told the Wall Street Journal that his ties to Jeffrey Epstein were a "huge mistake," admitting to members of his foundation that he had had extramarital affairs with two Russian women but denying any involvement in the actions of the former financier.

Mr. Gates claims that his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein began in 2011, three years after the former financier pleaded guilty to prostitution charges involving minors.

A draft email from Jeffrey Epstein, released by the US Department of Justice in the mass of documents from the case of the same name, alludes to extramarital affairs with Bill Gates.

In this message, which does not appear to have been sent, Jeffrey Epstein boasts in particular of having helped "Bill" obtain medication to "remedy the consequences of sexual relations with Russian girls".

Speaking before parliamentarians on Wednesday, the former Microsoft boss acknowledged that Jeffrey Epstein had knowledge of extramarital affairs and accused him of using this information "and a number of lies" to push him to get closer to him.

"He was not successful in this endeavor, but it shows some of the techniques he used to leverage his interactions with me" for his own benefit, Bill Gates said.

The mere mention of a person's name in the Epstein file does not imply any wrongdoing a priori. But these documents at the very least show links between the sex offender or his associates and certain figures who have often minimized, or even denied, their existence.

Several American political figures have already testified before the congressional inquiry committee, including Bill Clinton. The former Democratic president asserted that he had "no idea" of his former friend's sexual crimes.

The controversy surrounding the release of the Epstein documents has haunted Donald Trump since the beginning of his second term. Last year, the Republican called on his supporters to move on, even as demands for transparency grew increasingly urgent.

The Ministry of Justice maintains that it has published all the documents it was legally obligated to make public.