Congressional Panel Seeks Interview with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative body looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a document published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s brother assist with its inquiry.
The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will probe allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Content of the Request
“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.
Earlier Remarks and Cooperation
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the committee. The public has the right to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not have the power to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.
Demands for Accountability
The congressman said in a comment that “rich and influential men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide accountability for the survivors. The committee will not stop advocating for answerability and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles indicate there is further to this story.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
