House Panel Requests Deposition with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative committee looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a document released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.
The formal request to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and opted to vacate his leased home in Windsor.
Files and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The oversight committee will probe claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s network, associates, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.
Substance of the Communication
“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled 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 charged of abusing underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along 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 important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.
Previous Remarks and Assistance
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the oversight committee. The people has the right to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not hold the ability to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to cooperate 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 attorneys to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and deliver justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop pushing for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of partners.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this situation.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.