House Committee Asks for Deposition with Prince Andrew in Epstein Probe
A American legislative body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a communication made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its investigation.
The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and agreed to give up his rented residence in Windsor.
Documents and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The committee will investigate accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s activities, circle, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Content of the Letter
“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
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 Comments and Assistance
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to give evidence before the panel. The citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not hold the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.
Appeals for Accountability
The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and deliver justice for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for accountability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his network of accomplices.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing 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 redress. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles suggest there is further to this case.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly 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 royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
