House Committee Requests Interview with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A American legislative committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a communication made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its probe.
The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.
Documents and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The committee will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s network, network, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any misconduct.
Details of the Request
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have key insights about the offenses 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.
Earlier Statements and Assistance
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not have the ability to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US appeals for an meeting. 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 earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.
Appeals for Transparency
The congressman said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have evaded the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and deliver justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew works together with the active investigation. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this case.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.
