Congressional Panel Requests Deposition with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Probe
A American legislative committee looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its investigation.
The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Records and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.
Details of the Communication
“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been alleged that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Cooperation
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the committee. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not have the power to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided absolutely no cooperation”.
Appeals for Justice
The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and deliver justice for the victims. We will not stop pushing for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the ongoing inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles suggest there is more to this case.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – 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.
