House Committee Requests Interview with Prince Andrew in Epstein Investigation
A US congressional committee probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a letter released on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother assist with its inquiry.
The formal request to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.
Documents and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will probe allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Substance of the Request
“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 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 wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a response by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Collaboration
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not have the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.
Demands for Accountability
The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for accountability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles show there is further to this situation.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.