House Panel Requests Questioning with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A US congressional panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a document released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its probe.
The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and consented to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Records and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and travel logs subpoenaed 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 sexual assault.
“The panel will probe allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing.
Content of the Letter
“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the committee. The citizens should be able to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not possess the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not 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 legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.
Demands for Justice
The representative said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver accountability for the victims. The committee will not cease advocating for answerability and openness for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is additional to this situation.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.
