House Panel Asks for Deposition with Prince Andrew in Epstein Investigation

A US congressional committee 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 inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a communication published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its inquiry.

The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and opted to surrender his rented residence in Windsor.

Files and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and travel logs secured 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 abuse.

“The panel will probe allegations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s activities, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has always vehemently rejected any impropriety.

Content of the Request

“It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our suspicion that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.”

A announcement regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November.

Past Statements and Assistance

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to give evidence before the panel. The people has the right to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

However, the representative does not hold the power to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot oblige evidence from a foreign national.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US appeals 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 check on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.

“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided absolutely no cooperation”.

Calls for Accountability

The lawmaker said in a statement that “affluent and powerful men have avoided justice for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to be honest and deliver redress for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not cease pushing for responsibility and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the current probe. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles indicate there is additional to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III officially 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 official public record.