Congressional Panel Requests Deposition with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative committee looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a document made public on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling help with its inquiry.
The official demand to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to give up his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The committee will investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s operations, network, and connections based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.
Details of the Request
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began 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 reported that you went 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 harming underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have key insights about the offenses 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 asks a answer by 20 November.
Previous Comments and Collaboration
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the committee. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not have the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US requests for an interview. 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 public commitment that he was “prepared 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 “provided zero cooperation”.
Calls for Accountability
The representative said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and secure accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease fighting for accountability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his network of partners.”
Another signatory, 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 vital that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will show that, and the affected individuals will receive belated accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is more to this story.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
