Congressional Committee Requests Deposition with Prince Andrew in Epstein Probe

A US congressional panel looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to an interview as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a letter released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation.

The formal request to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and agreed to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The panel will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Substance of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship 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 continued: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of harming minors. 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 confirms our belief that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

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

Previous Remarks and Collaboration

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the oversight committee. The people deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the authority to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national.

In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to reply to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to inquire on his earlier promise 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 “given zero cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The congressman said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease fighting for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his titles show there is more to this case.”

The letter came on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.