The mysterious death of Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 didn’t answer any questions. In fact, it only made us more suspicious of his ability to hobnob with the rich, famous, and powerful.

Names have been floating around for years, but one has recently resurfaced: Bill Gates. And the connection between the pedophile and the founder of Microsoft now seems more credible given a new report that Epstein may have threatened to reveal an affair Gates allegedly had with a Russian bridge player.

Gates “met the woman around 2010, when she was in her 20s,” according to The Wall Street Journal. “Epstein met her in 2013 and later paid for her to attend software coding school. In 2017, Epstein emailed Gates and asked to be reimbursed for the cost of the course, according to the people familiar with the matter. … The implication behind the message, according to people who have viewed it, was that Epstein could reveal the affair if Gates didn’t keep up an association between the two men.”

The questionable relationship between Gates and Epstein wasn’t merely questioned by the media. Gates’s former wife wondered about it as well. “Ms. French Gates had expressed discomfort with her husband spending time with the sex offender, but Mr. Gates continued doing so, according to people who were at or briefed on gatherings with the two men,” reports The New York Times. “So, in October 2019, when the relationship between Mr. Gates and Mr. Epstein burst into public view, Ms. French Gates was unhappy. She hired divorce lawyers, setting in motion a process that culminated this month with the announcement that their marriage was ending.”

Since then, Gates has tried to avoid any mention of Epstein. In a 2021 interview with Judy Woodruff on the PBS NewsHour, Gates was visibly uncomfortable answering questions about his connections with Epstein, ultimately admitting that their meeting was “a mistake.”

Those who knew Epstein are pretending they didn’t, and those who want answers are being silenced. This became awkwardly clear in a recent Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. Peter Flaherty, chair of the National Legal and Policy Center, was arrested after attending the meeting and speaking out against a resolution making Warren Buffet chairman of the board and CEO of the company.

“Flaherty talked about Buffett’s contributions to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and noted Gates’ reported travel with a convicted sex offender, financier Jeffrey Epstein,” according to The Daily Signal. "After doing so, Flaherty’s microphone was cut and he was escorted out, then arrested. He paid $2,500 bail.“

Just before his trial was to begin, Nebraska prosecutors dropped the charges.

As more names of Epstein’s list of acquaintances keep trickling out, the whole situation becomes more sordid. And we’re learning that Epstein’s web ensnared people across a wide spectrum, including government, intelligence, business, politics, academia, and entertainment.

New York Magazine reports that the recent revelations from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times "deepen public understanding of the ties between Epstein and some boldfaced names who he had previously been associated with. And they underscored just how frequently Epstein met with his high-flying pals. The Journal delved into his packed itinerary for just one day — September 8, 2014 — and found that he planned to meet with four extremely wealthy men: Bill Gates, Leon Black, Thomas Pritzker, and Mortimer Zuckerman.”

It gets worse. “The documents,” according to New York Magazine, “all pertain to the time period after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution in Florida, and at least some of the period was after Epstein was publicly accused of sex trafficking by victim Virginia Giuffre in 2015.”

And while all this sheds light on who Jeffrey Epstein really was, it also reveals the depravity of those who associated with him — most of whom continue to wield great power and influence within American society.

We can only imagine what other names are on that list of hundreds — a list that remains sealed by court order but which might one day soon be made public.

Let’s hope so. Epstein’s victims, and the American people, deserve to know.