Congressional Committee Asks for Interview with the Duke of York in Epstein Probe
A US congressional panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a communication released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its investigation.
The written appeal to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Records and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The committee will probe allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any misconduct.
Content of the Request
“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been alleged that you traveled 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 underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.
Past Statements and Assistance
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the panel. The citizens should be able to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not possess the ability to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US demands 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 inquire on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The congressman said in a statement that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide justice for the survivors. We will not cease pushing for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the ongoing inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors show there is further to this case.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
