Congressional Committee Seeks Interview with Andrew in Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative body probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a document made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its inquiry.
The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to give up his property in Windsor.
Documents and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The oversight committee will examine accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Details of the Letter
“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 sex work,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.
Past Remarks and Collaboration
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the oversight committee. The people has the right to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.
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 authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.
Demands for Justice
The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and secure redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for responsibility and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is additional to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.
