🔗 Share this article House Committee Seeks Deposition with Andrew in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation A US congressional committee investigating sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings. In a document published on Thursday, a California congressman, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its inquiry. The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his HRH style and consented to surrender his rented residence in Windsor. Files and Allegations Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault. “The panel will investigate claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s activities, network, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement. It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has consistently categorically denied any misconduct. Content of the Communication “It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began 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 stated further: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of abusing young girls. This strong bond with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have important details about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.” A notification regarding the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November. Past Comments and Assistance The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the oversight committee. The people should be able to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.” However, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot compel evidence from a overseas individual. In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to reply to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to check on his public commitment that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”. “It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”. Calls for Accountability The representative said in a statement that “wealthy and well-connected men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to tell the truth and provide redress for the victims. We will not halt pushing for responsibility and clarity for survivors of Epstein and his network of partners.” Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing accounts to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can prove his innocence.” The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the survivors will receive belated accountability. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this situation.” The letter came on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office released in the Gazette, the UK’s government journal.