Congressional Committee Asks for Deposition with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Probe
A US congressional body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a letter made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling help with its investigation.
The official demand to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The panel will examine claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety.
Content of the Letter
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.
Past Comments and Assistance
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the committee. The people has the right to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not hold the power to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to check on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any suitable 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 zero cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and secure redress for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not halt pushing for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive long overdue justice. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles show there is more to this situation.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
