Congressional Panel Seeks Deposition with Prince Andrew in Epstein Probe

A American legislative panel looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication released on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe.

The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and agreed to give up his rented residence in Windsor.

Records and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.

“The committee will examine allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s operations, network, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always strongly 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 guilty verdict for soliciting minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York residence, 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 underage individuals. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication 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 endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.

Earlier Comments and Assistance

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

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

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to 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 approached Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

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

Calls for Transparency

The congressman said in a statement that “wealthy and well-connected men have avoided accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and secure redress for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for answerability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.”

Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

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

The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his HRH style. Charles III officially made the alteration – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office published in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.