🔗 Share this article Congressional Panel Asks for Interview with Andrew in Epstein Probe A US congressional body looking into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he participate in a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s illegal activities. In a letter released on Thursday, a California congressman, the leading Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its probe. The written appeal to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his princely title and agreed to vacate his property in Windsor. Documents and Claims Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault. “The committee will investigate allegations of misconduct by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek data on Epstein’s activities, network, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and extensively reported friendship,” the committee said in a announcement. It sought information from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any wrongdoing. Content of the Request “It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 sentencing for soliciting minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said. It stated further: “It has also been reported that you journeyed 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 harming young girls. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern 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 supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a answer by 20 November. Past Comments and Assistance The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The people deserves to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.” However, the representative does not possess the power to compel the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot compel testimony from a non-US citizen. In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to cooperate to US appeals for an meeting. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had approached Andrew’s legal team to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “prepared to help any appropriate 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 “provided zero cooperation”. Appeals for Transparency The representative said in a comment that “wealthy and well-connected men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, one-time Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide redress for the victims. Oversight Democrats will not halt fighting for answerability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.” Another signatory, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the active investigation. If he is not guilty, then he can clear his name.” The lawmaker added: “And if not, our probe will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive long overdue accountability. The monarchy’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is further to this case.” The letter came on the same day the British king publicly stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.