House Panel Requests Deposition with Prince Andrew in Epstein Probe
A American legislative committee probing pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling help with its investigation.
The written appeal to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to vacate his property in Windsor.
Documents and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.
Details of the Communication
“It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.
It stated further: “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 private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A announcement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.
Previous Remarks and Cooperation
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The public has the right to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not possess the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.
Calls for Justice
The congressman said in a statement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and deliver redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not stop pushing for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.”
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 essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing investigation. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles show there is more to this situation.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.
