House Committee Asks for Interview with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative committee looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its inquiry.
The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will investigate allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, associates, 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 details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any misconduct.
Content of the Communication
“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 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 announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Collaboration
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the committee. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the authority to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The lawmaker said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide redress for the victims. The committee will not halt fighting for answerability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.