Congressional Committee Asks for Interview with Prince Andrew in Epstein Probe
A American legislative committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a letter published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe.
The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The panel will examine claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
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 consistently strongly denied any impropriety.
Content of the Request
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a response by 20 November.
Past Comments and Cooperation
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not have the authority to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US authorities 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 prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his previous pledge 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 pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.
Demands for Justice
The congressman said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and deliver accountability for the survivors. We will not halt fighting for accountability and openness for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the active investigation. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles suggest there is further to this story.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
