Within hours of the DOJ dropping 3.5 million pages of Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday, a post claiming Bill Gates asked Epstein for antibiotics to secretly dose his wife after catching an STD from “Russian girls” had racked up over 2.5 million views.
There was just one problem: no one paid attention to who actually wrote the email.
The Email Was From Epstein — to Epstein
BREAKING: Epstein files show Bill Gates asking Epstein for “antibiotics” to give his wife, Melinda because he contracted an STD from “Russian girls.” pic.twitter.com/oBTpTNjd5F
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) January 30, 2026
The email at the center of the viral post was not written by Bill Gates. It was written by Jeffrey Epstein — to himself.
Both the “From” and “To” fields list Epstein’s personal Gmail address. The message appears to be a draft, written during a period when Epstein’s relationship with Gates had deteriorated. In it, Epstein alleges that Gates asked him to delete messages related to an STD. But the document does not show Gates making that request, nor does it provide independent confirmation that any of the claims are true.
It reads like Epstein venting. It is not Gates confessing.
The Gates Foundation responded by calling the allegations “absolutely absurd and completely false,” adding that the documents reflect “Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”
By the time that clarification emerged, the screenshot had already spread widely across social platforms.
Put plainly, the document is not evidence of misconduct by Bill Gates. It is a self-authored draft by Jeffrey Epstein — and treating it as anything else misrepresents what the file actually contains.
The FBI ‘Bombshells’ Are Unverified Public Tips
The Gates-related claim was not the only misreading to go viral.
Another widely shared document — a spreadsheet of FBI tips — has been cited online as proof of sweeping criminal conspiracies involving Donald Trump, including allegations of murder and child trafficking. What many posts omitted is a critical detail stated plainly by the DOJ itself: these entries are unverified complaints submitted by members of the public.
Here’s a video of the page, in case you prefer that @jaketapper pic.twitter.com/0o59ASCgdl
— MrWalnutzz (@MrWalnutzz) January 30, 2026
In its release, the DOJ warned that the production “may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos,” noting that everything sent to the FBI by the public was included without vetting. At least eight complainants did not provide contact information. Some tips were submitted days before the 2020 election.
The file was briefly removed from the DOJ’s website Friday afternoon before being restored, but that context did little to slow the spread of claims asserting the documents “prove” criminal wrongdoing.
They do not. They document what people reported — not what investigators confirmed.
What’s Actually Real in the Files
To be clear: there are real revelations in these files. The DOJ genuinely botched its redactions, accidentally exposing photos and names of Epstein’s employees. Worse, attorneys for survivors say victim identities that were never public are now out there. “We are getting constant calls from victims,” attorney Brad Edwards told ABC News. “It’s literally thousands of mistakes.”
BREAKING: The Trump DOJ screwed up the release of the Epstein files so badly, that they seem to have accidentally allowed the photos and text to be displayed — divulging the ID’s of Epstein’s employees and girlfriends.
(Left is redacted / Right is unredacted). pic.twitter.com/DRghh23bKq
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 30, 2026
There are new photos of Epstein with public figures. There’s a 2015 text exchange where Woody Allen jokes he’d “never get past security” at the White House given his “rap sheet.” There’s documentation showing the FBI was tipped off about Epstein’s crimes in 1996 — nearly a decade before his first arrest — and apparently did nothing.
That’s the story. But it’s getting drowned out by misreadings and misinformation spreading faster than anyone can correct them.
The Real Problem With the Epstein Files
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche seemed to anticipate this. “There is a hunger or thirst for information,” he said Friday, “that I do not think will be satisfied by the release of these documents.”
He’s probably right. Just not for the reasons he thinks.
People aren’t unsatisfied because there’s nothing in the files. They’re unsatisfied because they’re reading the headlines instead of the documents — and the headlines are wrong.
