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Bill Gates Ignored Repeated Warnings And Met Epstein Thirty Times

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

An independent review has confirmed what many long suspected: Bill Gates and senior figures at his foundation met with Jeffrey Epstein roughly 30 times between 2011 and 2014, brushing aside repeated internal warnings about the reputational and ethical risks of associating with a man already convicted of sex crimes involving a minor.

The findings, released by the Gates Foundation after a months-long external examination by the law firm WilmerHale, show that foundation staff "raised on multiple occasions the risks of associating with Epstein because of his prior conviction," and that those concerns reached senior leadership, including Gates himself.

Gates was aware of the reputational issues tied to Epstein's 2008 conviction and sentencing when the conversations began in 2011. Meetings took place on the foundation's campus and at Epstein's Manhattan residence. Interactions centered on potential philanthropy ideas that never materialized and ended by December 2014.

The review found no evidence that the foundation paid Epstein, no evidence of knowledge or participation in his sex-trafficking operations, and no evidence the meetings involved illegal conduct.

Yet the sheer volume of contact, combined with documented staff alarms that went unheeded, underscores a pattern of elite indifference that has defined the Epstein saga from the start.

Bill Gates ignored numerous warnings about the reputational risks of associating with Jeffrey Epstein, according to an independent review.

? https://t.co/ipdAMBh4Tz pic.twitter.com/99H1F6JUjb

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 22, 2026

Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman commissioned the review in March 2026 with support from Gates and independent board members. WilmerHale conducted more than 50 interviews and reviewed foundation records.

In a statement, Suzman said the work "depends on integrity and earning and maintaining the trust of partners" and that the foundation is moving forward with board-approved steps to strengthen vetting, risk management, and accountability.

Gates himself stated: "Completing this review is an important step in providing the clarity that partners, employees, and grantees deserve as well as strengthening our oversight with additional policies going forward."

The board approved new processes for centralized vetting of intermediaries, escalation of risks introduced by leadership, clearer dual-role rules, and tighter conflict-of-interest policies.

Notably, the review did not examine Gates's personal emails or communications from his private office - a limitation disclosed in a footnote that leaves significant territory unexamined.

This latest disclosure lands amid a broader reckoning that has already forced Gates into congressional testimony and exposed layers of previous denials.

For years the Microsoft co-founder insisted his contacts with Epstein were limited and regrettable.

In 2019 he admitted the meetings were a mistake, saying he had given Epstein "some benefit by the association" after the financier's conviction for soliciting a minor.

"My doing that was a mistake," Gates said at the time. "None of that money ever appeared, and I gave him some benefit by the association, so I made a doubly wrong mistake there."

That measured language has long contrasted with Gates's visible discomfort whenever the subject arises. In one 2021 interview he snapped "He's dead!" when pressed.

In a later appearance he insisted "There never was any relationship of any kind," then offered an odd smile while repeating that he "shouldn't have had dinners with him" for the "over 100th time."

"I shouldn't have had dinners with him." – @billgates on his association with Jeffrey Epstein #abc730 pic.twitter.com/xdqHjyVv3U

— abc730 (@abc730) January 30, 2023

The February 2026 release of millions of Epstein files intensified the pressure. Documents included draft emails in which Epstein alleged Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted infection after encounters with Russian women and contemplated secretly medicating his then-wife Melinda.

A Gates spokesperson dismissed the claims as "absolutely absurd and completely false." Melinda French Gates, speaking on NPR's Wild Card podcast, did not contest the specifics.

She described "unbelievable sadness" and said the revelations contributed to the end of their marriage and her departure from the foundation. "They need to answer to those things, not me," she stated. "And I am so happy to be away from all the muck."

The files also contained a 2011 email from Hollywood producer Barry Josephson to Epstein referencing a question Epstein had posed to Gates: "How do we get rid of poor people as a whole?"

Josephson claimed to have "an answer." The exchange then shifted to discussing a 16-year-old relative of Epstein's for a film project. The document does not record Gates's response, but it sat alongside the foundation's documented meetings during the same period.

Even liberal media turned. On The View, hosts mocked Gates's denials. Joy Behar ridiculed the familiar refrain "I was not on the island," noting it was hardly the only location where Epstein operated. Sunny Hostin said the Justice Department files meant Gates "should answer to it."

Lawmakers moved quickly. Rep. Nancy Mace publicly demanded a subpoena, writing that she had watched Melinda Gates's interview and immediately asked House Oversight Chairman James Comer to compel Gates's testimony.

"I have questions for Bill Gates about Epstein," Mace stated. "Nobody is above the law. Not billionaires. Not the powerful. Nobody." Comer confirmed the committee was consulting counsel and that "the odds are good" Gates would face questions under oath, noting bipartisan interest on the panel.

Gates ultimately sat for a transcribed interview with the Oversight Committee in June 2026.

He told lawmakers he "never witnessed nor had any indication" Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct, described the association as a "grave error in judgment," and acknowledged he may have been in the presence of victims.

He has also said he was "quite stupid" to spend time with Epstein, believing it would advance global health philanthropy when it did not.

The foundation's new review arrives as other strands of the Epstein network continue to fray under scrutiny. This week French model scout Daniel Siad, whose name appeared more than 2,000 times in the released files and who arranged introductions of young women to Epstein for over a decade, was found dead at his home near Paris.

An autopsy has been ordered. Siad is the second French modeling figure linked to Epstein to die before facing trial; Jean-Luc Brunel was found hanged in a Paris prison cell in 2022. Prosecutors say the broader trafficking investigation continues without him.

Meanwhile, former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has detailed how federal prosecutors in 2019 persuaded his office to halt its probe of Epstein's Zorro Ranch in exchange for a promise to return state-related materials once the federal case concluded.

That promise was never kept. Current New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has waited more than 130 days for unredacted files while agents recently searched the property for possible remains.

Balderas said the Justice Department "burned" his office and is now burning the current one.

The pattern is consistent. Warnings are ignored. Evidence is withheld. Associates exit the stage under opaque circumstances. Powerful figures issue carefully lawyered statements of regret while the machinery of accountability moves slowly, if at all.

The Gates Foundation review closes one chapter with institutional reforms and a finding of no direct criminal knowledge. It does not erase the documented decision to meet a convicted sex offender nearly thirty times after staff raised alarms, nor does it resolve the unanswered questions that still surround the broader network of influence, money, and protection that allowed Epstein to operate for so long.

Accountability for the elite has never been the default setting of the administrative state. It remains a demand that must be forced.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/24/2026 - 22:35

Moranis stepped away from Hollywood in 1997 to take care of his two children following his wife's 1991 death.

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Humanoid War Robot Gets Advanced AMD-Powered AI Brain

At the start of February, we began tracking startup Foundation Robotics after publicly available news reports and X posts suggested it could become one of the first US companies to deploy humanoid robots on the modern battlefield.

TIME later reported that the company's robots had been sent to Ukraine for testing and evaluation, raising the prospect that these war bots could soon reach the front lines in Eastern Europe.

Our February 2 report, "Watch: Russian Soldiers Surrender To Gun-Wielding Robot; Humanoid Warfare Nears," and our February 3 report, "AI's Next Frontier Is Physical As Humanoid Robots Begin March On Assembly Lines And Beyond," both preceded TIME's coverage of Foundation by a full month and showed how these robots were being positioned for testing in Ukraine.

In another signal that Foundation is preparing its war bots for battlefield deployment, Reuters reported that the startup partnered with Advanced Micro Devices to supply high-end AI processors for its second-generation Phantom MK-2 robot.

Foundation plans to open a factory in October capable of producing 5,000 robots per year, followed by a second facility with capacity for 50,000 units. Industrial robots will be leased for about $100,000 annually, while defense models designed for logistics and reconnaissance will be sold for $300,000 per unit.

Phantom MK-1 robot 

Last month, we were also the first to publish video from a Las Vegas testing range showing the Phantom MK-1 operating a light mortar system.

Phantom MK-1 robot 

Founded in 2024, Foundation said its first-generation Phantom MK-1 robots are already operating in the automotive supply chain and contributed to the production of more than 24,000 vehicles last year.

Beyond the factory floor, the key question is when these bots will reach the front lines. Our report earlier this month, citing a Ukrainian news outlet, revealed that Kiev is preparing to launch a grant competition for war bots, with Foundation appearing well positioned to secure funding.

Latest coverage on warfare robotics:

• Drone War Enters Terrifying New Phase As Russia Deploys 300-MPH Jet-Powered Shahed
• Watch: Aerial Drone Airlifts Kamikaze Ground Bot Into Battle As Warfare Automation Accelerates
• Anduril Unveils Tiltrotor Killer Drone Straight Out Of 'Terminator'

Major Wall Street desks are finding ways to profit from the asymmetric warfare boom:

• "Only The Beginning": How To Profit From The Asymmetric Warfare Boom
• This American Drone-Motor Company Is Positioned For "Massive Procurement Tailwind"

You're getting a front-row seat to what the 2030s battlefield will look like - a lot of automation - AI kill chains - just chaos.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/24/2026 - 22:10

More than a dozen children at a New Jersey summer camp chowed down on suspected mushroom-laced chocolate, sending the group into a “zombie”-like state and hospitalizing one, according to a report. The campers, aged between 10 and 13 years old, consumed the apparent edibles at the East Orange YMCA Thursday, creating a concerning ordeal for...

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Smokey Skies Does Not Mean Global Warming

Authored by Anthony Watts via American Thinker,

Every summer seems to follow the same predictable media script.

Wildfires ignite somewhere in North America. Smoke drifts hundreds or even thousands of miles. Air quality alerts are issued. Television stations fill the screen with hazy skylines. Then, before investigators have even determined how the fires started, headlines begin linking the smoke to climate change.

This year has been no different. As smoke from Canadian wildfires spread across parts of the Midwest and Northeast, much of the news coverage quickly shifted from reporting on the fires to treating them as evidence of a worsening climate crisis. Yet one crucial fact was often left out: many of the fires responsible for the smoke were ignited by lightning, a natural cause that has existed for as long as forests have.

Lightning is not new. Smoke carried by prevailing winds is not new. What is new is the growing tendency to treat every smoky sky as proof of climate change.

That illogical leap simply isn't supported by the evidence.

One of the most striking graphics I've seen tells a story you probably haven't seen in the news. Using data from the European Commission's Global Wildfire Information System, it shows that 2026 has experienced the lowest cumulative burned area across the Americas in at least the past decade.

A second graphic, using the same global database, shows that every inhabited continent is running below its recent average for area burned this year, with Africa, the Americas, and Europe at record lows.

Those are remarkable statistics. They don't mean wildfires have disappeared or that smoke isn't a serious public health concern. They simply demonstrate that the broader wildfire picture is very different from the one often portrayed in daily news reports.

If global burned areas are unusually low, why are so many stories describing an escalating wildfire emergency and attributing it to climate change?

Part of the answer lies in how we consume news. Reporters naturally cover fires that are burning today, not forests that aren't burning. Dramatic images of smoke-filled cities attract attention. Maps showing below-average burned area rarely do. The result is a form of selection bias: the public constantly sees active disasters while receiving little context about longer-term trends. It's a variation of the old news adage, "If it bleeds it leads."

History provides even more perspective.

Another telling graph comes from fire research published by the Royal Society. Drawing on evidence from more than 800 fire-scar sites across western North America, it shows that large wildfires were substantially more common before 1900 than they are today. Fire activity declined with changes in land management, livestock grazing, settlement patterns, and organized fire suppression. In other words, today's forests are not burning at historically unprecedented levels.

The broader scientific literature reflects this. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in chapter 12 of their Sixth Assessment Report has concluded there is low confidence in observed global trends for fire weather and burned area. The IPCC also reports with high confidence that the global land area burned has declined in recent decades. That is a far more cautious assessment than many news reports suggest.

None of this means climate has no influence on wildfire behavior. Weather has always affected fire, and changing climate conditions may influence fire risk in some regions. But wildfire is driven by many interacting factors: ignition sources such as lightning, accidents, and even arson, wind, humidity, fuel accumulation, insect damage, forest management, decades of fire suppression, and simple bad luck. Reducing every wildfire to somehow being caused by climate change ignores most of what really determines how a fire starts and how it spreads. The smoke itself tells us even less.

Smoke is transported by normal atmospheric circulation. A relatively modest fire season can produce severe smoke episodes if winds carry the plume over densely populated areas. Conversely, enormous fires in remote regions may receive little attention if the smoke disperses harmlessly elsewhere. Smoke over Chicago, Milwaukee, or Buffalo tells us where the wind blew from. It does not tell us why the fire started, nor does it prove that climate change was the primary cause.

Good journalism should provide readers with both immediate news and historical context. Unfortunately, wildfire coverage increasingly follows a predictable formula: smoke appears, climate change is declared the culprit, and the broader evidence rarely enters the discussion.

The public deserves far better than reporting by following a script.

Wildfires are serious. Smoke poses real health risks. Those realities don't require exaggeration or selective reporting. Before every smoky summer is presented as another chapter in an inevitable climate catastrophe, readers deserve to know the full picture, including the parts that don't fit the prevailing narrative.

Because good science depends on evidence, good journalism should too.

Anthony Watts (awatts@heartland.org)) is a Senior Fellow for Environment and Climate at The Heartland Institute and has over 40 years of weather reporting experience in radio, television, and print.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/24/2026 - 21:45

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