House Panel Asks for Deposition with the Duke of York in Epstein Inquiry
A American legislative panel looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a letter made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its investigation.
The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.
“The oversight committee will investigate accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety.
Content of the Communication
“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Remarks and Assistance
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the panel. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the representative does not possess the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to check on his public commitment that he was “prepared to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”.
Appeals for Justice
The congressman said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver redress for the victims. 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 evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the active inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive long overdue justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this case.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
