Melinda Gates Says Bill Gates Needs to Answer Questions About Epstein Files

Melinda French Gates says reading about her ex-husband Bill Gates' numerous mentions in the Epstein Files makes her unbelievably sad for the alleged victims and brings to mind some terrible personal moments ... and some uncomfortable questions.

The philanthropist spoke about the recent release of documents by the Department of Justice in a promo for the new episode of NPR's "Wild Card" podcast ... in which she says no girl should ever be put in this torturous position by a powerful person like Jeffrey Epstein -- and people, including her ex-husband, need to answer questions about their interactions with the convicted sex offender and pedophile.

MG elaborates … "Whatever questions remain there -- I can't even begin to know all of it -- those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband, they need to answer to those things. Not me."

Melinda says details in the files bring to mind "memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage. But I have moved on from that. I purposely pushed it away and I moved on."

Melinda says she's in a very beautiful place in her life ... and she no longer feels she needs to address the scandal -- that's up to Bill and other people in the files to do.

Basically ... Melinda feels for the victims -- but, she's washing her hands of the whole situation and telling people to go talk to Bill if they want information.

Remember ... Melinda and Bill announced their divorce in 2021 -- though reports indicate Melinda started speaking to divorce lawyers two years earlier after rumors about her husband's association with Epstein came out. She's publicly said she told Bill she didn't like his working relationship with Epstein.

As for the new allegations against Bill, they're pretty major -- with a draft of an email written by Epstein claiming Gates got a sexually transmitted disease from a Russian girl ... and planned to slip Melinda some antibiotics to stop her from realizing she caught anything.