House Committee Seeks Questioning with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation

A American legislative body probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he submit to an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a communication published on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, asked that King Charles III’s brother cooperate with its probe.

The formal request 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.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in documents and travel logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The committee will investigate allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s operations, network, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Content of the Communication

“It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been claimed that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Earlier Comments and Assistance

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the panel. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not possess the authority to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any relevant 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 “offered zero cooperation”.

Demands for Accountability

The representative said in a comment that “rich and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and secure justice for the affected individuals. The committee will not stop fighting for responsibility and openness for victims of Epstein and his group of partners.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will show that, and the affected individuals will receive belated justice. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his honors indicate there is more to this case.”

The letter was sent on the same day the British king officially removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.