Ted Waitt, the billionaire cofounder of the Gateway computer company, told lawmakers during a closed-door interview that he was in a romantic relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell from 2004 to 2010, but said that “if I knew then what I know now about Ms Maxwell, I never would’ve befriended her or allowed her to be around my four children”, according to a transcript of his testimony released by the House oversight and reform committee.
“I never would’ve spent six years in a romantic relationship with her,” Waitt said in his opening statement before the committee on 30 April, according to the transcript released on Wednesday. His testimony provided new details about his relationship with Maxwell, and he also disputed Maxwell’s previous statements that their relationship ended after a mysterious blackmail attempt related to Epstein’s civil cases.
The committee had requested Waitt’s testimony as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, and his longtime associate, Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking-crimes in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022.
According to the transcript, Waitt, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, said that he first met Epstein and Maxwell at a large group dinner in Hong Kong in November 2003, which he said was also attended by former president Bill Clinton. Waitt recalled exchanging contact information with Maxwell, and said that they then “began communicating more regularly over the next several months”.
Waitt said that he does not remember having any conversation with Epstein at the dinner beyond a brief introduction, but recalled finding Epstein “somewhat arrogant” and “off-putting”.
According to Waitt, his relationship with Maxwell became romantic in 2004 and lasted until September 2010. Waitt said that throughout their relationship, he lived in San Diego and Maxwell lived in New York and that the two would split time between both places and traveled together, but also spent “frequent stretches of time apart”.
Waitt told lawmakers that he “avoided” Epstein during his relationship with Maxwell, “both because I found him off-putting, but mostly because he was my girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, not someone I was eager to spend time with”.
Waitt stated that he never entered any of Epstein’s homes and had not flown on his plane or visited Epstein’s private island. Waitt said that he last spoke with Maxwell in September 2010, when he ended their relationship, and the last time he saw her was a bit later than that, when they “unexpectedly ran into each other at an ocean conference”.
Waitt told lawmakers that he and Maxwell broke up because he “knew I was never going to marry her, and it was just one of those things”, adding: “It had run its course.”
Walt testified that Maxwell had described Epstein to him as a “brilliant investor, money manager” and that she told him that Epstein had ended their relationship on her 40th birthday in 2001.
When asked whether he ever had any concerns about Maxwell’s work or association with Epstein, Waitt said that in his opinion, Epstein “did seem to have significant influence over her, she did always kind of look up to him, and I was not comfortable with that”.
Lawmakers also questioned Waitt about whether in 2009 he was aware that Maxwell had been subpoenaed to testify in a civil case against Epstein which was brought by one of his accusers. The lawmakers said that at the time, Maxwell claimed she could not appear for a deposition because she was out of the country for family reasons.
Waitt said that he was unaware that she had been avoiding her appearance, and told the lawmakers that he and Maxwell had discussed the deposition briefly in “general terms” adding: “I remember it being an issue, but I don’t remember it being an issue at that time, I think it was later.”
Waitt said that around 2010, he recalls her being “quite stressed about a deposition subpoena”.
Waitt repeatedly told lawmakers that he had no knowledge of abuse or allegations of abuse by Epstein or Maxwell during his relationship with Maxwell. He also said that when he was with Maxwell, they briefly discussed Epstein’s 2008 conviction, and that Maxwell had “denied having any involvement with that”. Waitt told lawmakers that he regretted not doing more research on Epstein’s guilty plea at the time.
Lawmakers also examined financial transfers Waitt made to Maxwell during their relationship. He acknowledged providing her with monthly payments for parts of their relationship, and confirmed he transferred Maxwell $7.2m in September 2010, after their breakup.
“This would have been at the end of our relationship,” Waitt said. When asked what the reason for the payment, Waitt said that “Maxwell was devastated by our breakup” and that he just “felt it was the right thing to do, not uncommon for people in my situation to do that”.
“We lived a fairly extravagant life” he added. “In hindsight, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t have done it.”
In his testimony, he also said he doesn’t recall Maxwell ever “communicating financial troubles” but said: “I don’t believe she had significant resources.”
Waitt also said that he remembers someone on his staff telling him that Maxwell was “very unhappy with the breakup and she was not in a good state” and “she was quite devastated by the breakup”, and he had his “team handle the final details” and he recalled “her not being happy with the amount, wanting more”.
One part of Waitt’s testimony appeared to conflict with statements Maxwell made last year to then deputy attorney general Todd Blanche.
Maxwell, who has said that she “fell very much in love” with Waitt, alleged in her deposition that in 2009, not long before she and Waitt broke up, a law firm asked Waitt “for $10m to keep me out of any of Epstein’s civil suits” and she alleged that Waitt’s “people had been shown evidence that included the list, the flight logs and various other pieces of evidence”.
She described the situation as “blackmail” and said it contributed to the end of her and Waitt’s relationship.
But when questioned about the alleged incident, Waitt told lawmakers that he had no recollection of that happening or any such demand.
A lawyer for Maxwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
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