House Panel Asks for Interview with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Probe
A American legislative body investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a letter published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its inquiry.
The official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The oversight committee will investigate allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.
Substance of the Letter
“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the oversight committee. The people has the right to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not hold the ability to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a foreign national.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given zero cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and secure justice for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not halt pushing for accountability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the active inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue justice. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles suggest there is more to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.