Congressional Committee Asks for Interview with the Duke of York in Epstein Inquiry
A US congressional body probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a document published on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s brother assist with its probe.
The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and travel logs secured 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 sexual assault.
“The committee will probe accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any misconduct.
Content of the Request
“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting minors. This strong bond 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 key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.
Previous Comments and Collaboration
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the ability to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to 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 approached Andrew’s legal team to check on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate 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 “offered no cooperation”.
Calls for Justice
The congressman said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and secure justice for the victims. We will not halt pushing for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles show there is more to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. 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 government journal.