Congressional Committee Asks for Deposition with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A US congressional body looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.
In a communication made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its probe.
The official demand to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and consented to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Files and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The panel will investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any impropriety.
Details of the Communication
“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been reported that you traveled 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 charged of abusing underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have key insights about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.
Earlier Comments and Collaboration
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the committee. The citizens has the right to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not hold the authority to legally require the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a foreign national.
In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US demands for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to check on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable 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”.
Appeals for Transparency
The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and well-connected men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and deliver redress for the survivors. We will not halt pushing for answerability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.”
Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is vital that Andrew works together with the current inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue redress. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles show there is more to this case.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.
