Congressional Panel Asks for Interview with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry

A US congressional committee probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a letter published on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother help with its inquiry.

The written appeal to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Documents and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released 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 investigate allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s operations, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Request

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been reported that you traveled 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 assaulting young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the committee. The people deserves to know who was assaulting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not have the power to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a announcement that “rich and influential men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and provide justice for the survivors. The committee will not stop advocating for responsibility and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the current inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles show there is further to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.