Congressional Committee Requests Questioning with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A US congressional committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s brother assist with its inquiry.
The formal request to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to vacate his leased home in Windsor.
Files and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and aviation records subpoenaed 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 data on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing.
Substance of the Letter
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.
Past 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 deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not possess the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a foreign national.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to 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 reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.
Calls for Accountability
The representative said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop advocating for accountability and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the active probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles suggest there is additional to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.