Congressional Panel Requests Interview with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry

A American legislative body looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he undergo questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter made public on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its probe.

The written appeal to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to vacate his leased home in Windsor.

Files and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who took his own life 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 association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence 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 co-conspirators.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.

Previous Statements and Collaboration

The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the committee. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a overseas individual.

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 lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to check on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.

Appeals for Justice

The representative said in a announcement that “rich and well-connected men have escaped accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and provide redress for the survivors. We will not stop fighting for accountability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to testimony to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is crucial that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the affected individuals will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his styles indicate there is additional to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.