Congressional Panel Seeks Interview with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A American legislative panel looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its probe.
The formal request to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and consented to give up his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The panel will probe claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing.
Details of the Communication
“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.
Previous Remarks and Collaboration
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The people deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.
Appeals for Accountability
The congressman said in a comment that “wealthy and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and secure justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease fighting for accountability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this case.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
