Congressional Panel Seeks Deposition with the Duke of York in Epstein Inquiry

A American legislative committee probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s illegal activities.

In a letter published on Thursday, a US representative, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, urged that King Charles III’s sibling help with its probe.

The official demand to respond to queries comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and opted to surrender his property in Windsor.

Documents and Claims

Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

“The panel will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand information on Epstein’s operations, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a statement.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any misconduct.

Substance of the Communication

“It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 sentencing for trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said.

It added: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of harming young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, coupled with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”

A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a response by 20 November.

Previous Statements and Cooperation

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

However, the representative does not possess the power to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige statements from a non-US citizen.

In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to inquire on his earlier promise 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 “offered no cooperation”.

Appeals for Transparency

The congressman said in a announcement that “affluent and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and secure accountability for the survivors. The committee will not cease pushing for responsibility and transparency for victims of Epstein and his gang of accomplices.”

Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as public reporting of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the ongoing inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can vindicate himself.”

The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The royal household’s actions stripping Andrew of his honors show there is further to this situation.”

The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office released in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.