evidence: In the wake of Bill and Melinda French Gates’s recently announced divorce, questions about the Microsoft co-founder’s friendship with convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein have resurfaced. Multiple reports allege that Melinda had long disapproved of Bill’s relationship with Epstein and that it was a source of tension in their marriage. According to the New York Times, French Gates hired divorce lawyers in October 2019, after her then-husband’s friendship with Epstein became public. [...] Sources have alleged Gates met up with Epstein dozens of times after their initial meeting, including at least three visits to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and 2013 trip to New York in which Epstein and Gates "met for dinner and discussed the Gates Foundation and philanthropy." Earlier that year, Gates reportedly flew on Epstein’s private jet, though spokespeople for Gates claim he was unaware the plane belonged to Epstein. [...] When Gates’s encounters with Epstein surfaced in 2019, he downplayed the relationship. When asked about Epstein in a September 2019 interview with the WSJ, Gates said, "I met him. I didn’t have any business relationship or friendship with him."