House Panel Seeks Interview with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A American legislative panel probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a letter made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s brother assist with its probe.
The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and consented to give up his property in Windsor.
Records and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The panel will probe allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s network, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.
Substance of the Letter
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Cooperation
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to appear before the committee. The people deserves to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not have the power to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.
Calls for Justice
The lawmaker said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and provide accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease advocating for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is further to this case.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
