House Committee Asks for Questioning with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a document released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s brother help with its probe.
The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to give up his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and aviation records subpoenaed 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 oversight committee will investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s network, circle, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Details of the Communication
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.
Past Statements and Collaboration
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not hold the power to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to check on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.
Demands for Justice
The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver justice for the victims. The committee will not halt pushing for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles indicate there is more to this story.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
