House Panel Requests Interview with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A US congressional body looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry.
The official demand to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and agreed to give up his property in Windsor.
Documents and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will probe accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any misconduct.
Content of the Communication
“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been claimed that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November.
Past Comments and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the panel. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.
Demands for Justice
The representative said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide accountability for the victims. We will not cease pushing for accountability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the survivors will receive long overdue justice. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles indicate there is additional to this story.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
