Congressional Panel Asks for Deposition with Andrew in Epstein Probe
A US congressional panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a letter released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its probe.
The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and consented to give up his property in Windsor.
Files and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The committee will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s operations, network, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Content of the Request
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.
Previous Remarks and Assistance
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the committee. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not have the authority to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected 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 lawyers to inquire on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”.
Calls for Justice
The representative said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide accountability for the victims. We will not stop fighting for answerability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue redress. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors suggest there is additional to this situation.”
The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
