House Committee Seeks Deposition with Andrew in Epstein Probe
A American legislative committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a document released on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.
The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to give up his property in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and aviation records secured 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 sexual assault.
“The panel will investigate claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.
Content of the Request
“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating 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 property, 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 underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The public deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not have the ability to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to check on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any suitable 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 “provided zero cooperation”.
Calls for Justice
The representative said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver redress for the victims. We will not halt fighting for accountability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is additional to this situation.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
