House Committee Requests Questioning with Prince Andrew in Epstein Inquiry

A American legislative committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

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

The official demand to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to surrender his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Accusations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in records and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct.

“The oversight committee will examine allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, associates, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has consistently vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Content of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your association with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of assaulting minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a reply by 20 November.

Previous Comments and Cooperation

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the panel. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the congressman does not hold the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to check 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 pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The representative said in a statement that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and deliver accountability for the victims. We will not stop fighting for accountability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the current investigation. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our examination will reveal that, and the victims will receive long overdue redress. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his honors suggest there is further to this story.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the crown office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.