🔗 Share this article House Committee Seeks Deposition with Andrew in Epstein Probe A American legislative panel investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations. In a communication made public 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 official demand to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and opted to vacate his rented residence in Windsor. Documents and Accusations Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in records and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault. “The committee will investigate accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement. It requested information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his association with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any misconduct. Substance of the Request “It has been documented that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said. It stated further: “It has also been reported that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of assaulting underage individuals. 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 concern that you may have valuable information about the wrongdoings committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.” A announcement regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November. Previous Remarks and Collaboration The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the panel. The people has the right to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.” However, the lawmaker does not have the authority to compel the duke and Congress itself cannot compel statements from a foreign national. In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor neglected to respond to US demands for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had reached out to Andrew’s attorneys to check on his previous pledge 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 “given absolutely no cooperation”. Appeals for Justice The representative said in a comment that “affluent and influential men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and deliver accountability for the survivors. Oversight Democrats will not halt pushing for answerability and openness for survivors of Epstein and his network of co-conspirators.” Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the active inquiry. If he is innocent, then he can clear his name.” The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the affected individuals will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions stripping Andrew of his styles indicate there is additional to this situation.” The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III officially made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.