House Panel Requests Deposition with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation

A American legislative committee probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s wrongdoings.

In a communication made public on Thursday, a lawmaker, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s brother help with its inquiry.

The official demand to provide testimony follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Records and Allegations

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and aviation records secured 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 sexual assault.

“The committee will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s network, circle, and associates based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.

It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety.

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 trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.

It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have important details about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

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

Previous Statements and Cooperation

The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was assaulting women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”

However, the lawmaker does not have the authority to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot force statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had approached Andrew’s attorneys to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any appropriate 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 “provided no cooperation”.

Calls for Transparency

The congressman said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to be honest and deliver redress for the victims. The committee will not halt fighting for answerability and transparency for victims of Epstein and his group of co-conspirators.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.”

The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The Royal Family’s actions stripping Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this situation.”

The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the alteration – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.