House Committee Seeks Interview with Andrew in Epstein Investigation
A American legislative body looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a communication published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its inquiry.
The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to surrender his property in Windsor.
Records and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The oversight committee will examine accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any misconduct.
Details of the Communication
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have valuable information 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 response by 20 November.
Previous Remarks and Collaboration
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the committee. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not hold the authority to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US appeals 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 legal team to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.
Appeals for Justice
The lawmaker said in a announcement that “affluent and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and provide accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease fighting for responsibility and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing probe. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the victims will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles indicate there is more to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
