Congressional Committee Asks for Deposition with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A American legislative committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo questioning as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a document released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation.
The official demand to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and consented to surrender his property in Windsor.
Files and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The panel will investigate claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct.
Details of the Communication
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of assaulting minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A statement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.
Earlier Remarks and Cooperation
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the panel. The citizens should be able to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not have the ability to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a foreign national.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided absolutely no cooperation”.
Calls for Transparency
The lawmaker said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the affected individuals. Oversight Democrats will not halt advocating for answerability and transparency for those affected of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”
Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue justice. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles suggest there is more to this case.”
The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.