🔗 Share this article House Committee Requests Questioning with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry A American legislative committee looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he undergo an interview as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings. In a document published on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s sibling assist with its investigation. The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and agreed to surrender his rented residence in Windsor. Documents and Allegations Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and flight logs secured from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault. “The panel will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s operations, associates, and connections based on the men’s long-term and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a press release. It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any impropriety. Content of the Letter “It has been documented that your association with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said. It continued: “It has also been alleged 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 charged of assaulting minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our suspicion that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.” A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November. Previous Remarks and Cooperation The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the committee. The public has the right to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.” However, the representative does not have the power to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a non-US citizen. In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US requests for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to check on his earlier promise that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”. “It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”. Calls for Transparency The congressman said in a statement that “rich and influential men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the chance to come clean and secure justice for the victims. We will not halt advocating for answerability and openness for those affected of Epstein and his network of accomplices.” Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the current investigation. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.” The lawmaker added: “And if not, our examination will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive belated accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is additional to this situation.” The letter came on the same day the British king publicly removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.