Congressional Panel Asks for Interview with the Duke of York in Epstein Investigation
A American legislative body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a letter released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its investigation.
The formal request to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Records and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The panel will examine accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.
Substance of the Communication
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a response by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public should be able to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not possess the power to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given zero cooperation”.
Appeals for Transparency
The representative said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and secure redress for the affected individuals. We will not stop fighting for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the affected individuals will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this situation.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
