Congressional Panel Seeks Deposition with the Duke of York in Epstein Probe
A US congressional panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a letter published on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation.
The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Files and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed 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 survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The committee will probe claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any misconduct.
Details of the Request
“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein started 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 stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November.
Previous Remarks and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided zero cooperation”.
Appeals for Transparency
The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver redress for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not halt pushing for accountability and openness for victims of Epstein and his network of partners.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is additional to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
