Congressional Committee Seeks Deposition with the Duke of York in Epstein Probe
A US congressional body probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a document published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its probe.
The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will probe accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s network, circle, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct.
Details 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 guilty verdict for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been alleged 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 accused of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Remarks and Collaboration
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the committee. The people deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not possess the authority to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a foreign national.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The lawmaker said in a announcement that “rich and influential men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and deliver accountability for the survivors. We will not cease fighting for responsibility and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this situation.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
