Congressional Committee Asks for Interview with Andrew in Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative panel probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its inquiry.
The formal request to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The panel will examine allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any impropriety.
Details of the Letter
“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said.
It added: “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 private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a response by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Cooperation
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the panel. The people has the right to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not hold the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.
Demands for Accountability
The lawmaker said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and deliver justice for the victims. The committee will not cease fighting for answerability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his group of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the active inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive belated justice. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles indicate there is further to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
