Congressional Committee Requests Deposition with Prince Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A US congressional committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a communication released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its inquiry.
The official demand to answer questions follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and opted to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The oversight committee will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any wrongdoing.
Details of the Request
“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a reply by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Collaboration
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the panel. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not hold the power to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given no cooperation”.
Appeals for Justice
The representative said in a statement that “wealthy and powerful men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide accountability for the affected individuals. We will not cease advocating for answerability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is further to this story.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.
