Congressional Panel Seeks Questioning with Andrew in Epstein Investigation
A American legislative body looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning 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 investigative committee, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its probe.
The formal request to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.
Documents and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The panel will probe accusations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, associates, 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 specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any wrongdoing.
Content of the Communication
“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming underage individuals. This close relationship 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 accomplices.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Cooperation
The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not have the authority to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.
Demands for Justice
The representative said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for responsibility and openness for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the active investigation. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles show there is further to this situation.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.
