House Committee Seeks Questioning with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A US congressional panel probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a communication released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its probe.
The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and consented to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The panel will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s network, network, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any misconduct.
Details of the Letter
“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.
Past Remarks and Collaboration
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to appear before the panel. The public deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the authority to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to check on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.
Calls for Justice
The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and deliver accountability for the victims. We will not halt fighting for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors indicate there is additional to this case.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
