Congressional Committee Requests Deposition with Andrew in Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a letter made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its inquiry.
The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his royal title and consented to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Documents and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The oversight committee will probe claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s network, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any impropriety.
Content of the Letter
“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been claimed 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 alleged of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.
Past Remarks and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens should be able to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not possess the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate 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 “given no cooperation”.
Appeals for Justice
The representative said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver justice for the victims. We will not cease advocating for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles suggest there is further to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – 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.