Congressional Panel Seeks Interview with Andrew in Epstein Investigation
A US congressional panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication published on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s brother help with its investigation.
The formal request to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and agreed to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Records and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The committee will probe accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.
Content of the Letter
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.
Past Comments and Cooperation
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not have the ability to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.
Calls for Accountability
The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver justice for the affected individuals. We will not stop advocating for answerability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this story.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally 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.
