Rep. Melanie Stansbury said a closed-door deposition of Bill Gates on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein will now lead to a push for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to testify under oath in July, arguing that explosive New York Times reporting shows Blanche at t
For Rep. Melanie Stansbury, the most important moment in Wednesday’s closed-door Oversight Committee deposition of Bill Gates wasn’t what Gates said about Epstein—it was what it signaled would come next.
Speaking to Capitol Hill reporters after she sat in on the deposition, the Democratic congresswoman said the committee’s investigation will next look to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“We are all glad to hear that Mr. Comer has had a change of heart in making sure that Todd Blanche is brought before this committee,” Stansbury began, referring to Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY). Comer had said hours earlier that he would like to see Blanche testify before the committee in July.
Stansbury pressed that the demand should be more than procedural. She said Blanche “must be brought before the committee under oath in a deposition that is recorded for the American people to see,” adding that the appearance would be “separate from his confirmation process.”
Stansbury’s argument then turned to what she called the heart of the cover-up—backed. she said. by what she described as “explosive” New York Times reporting about White House situation room meetings. She said the coverage showed Todd Blanche—described by her as the president’s personal attorney and deputy AG—was working with others. including the vice president. to help try to cover up the case.
In that account, Stansbury tied Blanche’s alleged involvement to a larger pattern of alleged obstruction around the Epstein investigation.
Hours earlier, Comer publicly said he agreed Blanche must appear, a shift captured in a June 10, 2026 post by Stansbury herself. In her tweet that day, she wrote: “Comer has agreed Todd Blanche must appear in @OversightDems . With explosive reporting from @nytimes on the White House coverup and multiple Situation Room meetings — this is looking more like a Watergate-style coverup every day.”.
Against that backdrop, Stansbury said Wednesday’s Gates deposition offered investigators a clearer view of how Gates described his relationship with Epstein—especially around the motives Gates attributed to their interactions.
Stansbury said Gates “saw this as an opportunity to interact with a financial advisor who had access to vast amounts of wealth.” She said she learned that Gates was interested in potentially forming partnerships “to bring donors into his global health work.”
“He saw his relationship and conversations with Jeffrey Epstein as a means to potentially get wealthy donors to donate philanthropically to Mr. Gates’ global health,” Stansbury continued.
She also said Gates “admitted that he knew of Mr. Epstein’s reputation. ” and “admitted that he knew that he had been convicted of a sexual crime.” Yet. in Stansbury’s telling. she said Gates described his view of the relationship as acceptable—“a means to access wealthy donors”—despite that knowledge.
“So obviously we have a lot of questions,” Stansbury said, “but we’re glad that he’s cooperating with the investigation.”
The sequence of what comes next is now laid out on a tight timeline: a committee deposition that Stansbury attended. followed by a renewed push for Blanche to testify in July—this time under oath. recorded. and directed to the public—after Stansbury pointed to the New York Times reporting she says places Blanche “at the heart” of the cover-up she believes the investigation is uncovering.
Melanie Stansbury Todd Blanche James Comer Oversight Committee Bill Gates deposition Jeffrey Epstein New York Times reporting Situation Room meetings Acting Attorney General House investigation Capitol Hill