House Panel Seeks Deposition with Prince Andrew in Epstein Probe
A US congressional committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a letter released on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its investigation.
The official demand to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The committee will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association 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 widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our belief that you may have important details 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 reply by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Assistance
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the committee. The people has the right to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.
Appeals 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 option to be honest and secure accountability for the victims. The committee will not stop pushing for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his gang of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors show there is further to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
