House Panel Asks for Interview with Prince Andrew in Epstein Inquiry
A US congressional panel probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out 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 communication released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother assist with its probe.
The formal request to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and agreed to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Files and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The panel will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s network, network, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any misconduct.
Content of the Communication
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange 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 partners in crime.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the panel. The people deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not possess the authority to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to check on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The lawmaker said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the affected individuals. The committee will not halt advocating for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is more to this situation.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.