Congressional Panel Requests Questioning with Andrew in Epstein Investigation
A US congressional body investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, asked that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.
The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and opted to give up his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The panel will investigate claims of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Content of the Request
“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for sex work,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming underage individuals. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Statements and Collaboration
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the panel. The people has the right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not possess the ability to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.
Calls for Justice
The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide justice for the survivors. We will not stop fighting for responsibility and clarity 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 accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive long overdue accountability. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors suggest there is further to this case.”
The letter came on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.
