House Committee Requests Interview with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry

A American legislative panel investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling help with its investigation.

The formal request to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and agreed to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Records 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 accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The oversight committee will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s activities, circle, and connections based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any misconduct.

Content of the Communication

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for sex work,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been claimed 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 alleged of harming minors. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

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

However, the congressman does not possess the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US demands 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 earlier promise 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 no cooperation”.

Demands for Transparency

The lawmaker said in a comment that “wealthy and influential men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and deliver justice for the victims. We will not stop fighting for answerability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing investigation. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed redress. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors suggest there is more to this story.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.