House Panel Requests Questioning with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication released on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s brother assist with its investigation.
The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to give up his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and travel logs secured 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 misconduct.
“The committee will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety.
Substance of the Request
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you went 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 charged of harming minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms 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 endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Assistance
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the panel. The people should be able to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the authority to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US requests for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.
Appeals for Justice
The lawmaker said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and provide justice for the victims. The committee will not cease advocating for responsibility and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his group of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current investigation. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive belated justice. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this story.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.