Congressional Panel Seeks Questioning with Andrew in Epstein Inquiry
A US congressional committee looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a letter released on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s brother help with its inquiry.
The official demand to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.
Documents and Accusations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The panel will probe allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand details on Epstein’s operations, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any impropriety.
Content of the Request
“It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.
It stated further: “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 personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.
Past Comments and Assistance
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the oversight committee. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and minors alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not hold the power to legally require the duke and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any appropriate 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”.
Demands for Accountability
The congressman said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and provide justice for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for accountability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his group of accomplices.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew assists with the current investigation. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive long overdue justice. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is additional to this case.”
The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
