🔗 Share this article House Panel Requests Deposition with the Duke of York in Epstein Inquiry A US congressional committee investigating pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations. In a letter made public on Thursday, a US representative, the senior Democrat on the House oversight committee, asked that King Charles III’s younger brother help with its inquiry. The official demand to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his princely title and opted to vacate his leased home in Windsor. Records and Claims Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and aviation records secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of misconduct. “The panel will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request details on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s long-term and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement. It sought particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has always categorically denied any impropriety. Details of the Request “It has been documented that your friendship with Mr Epstein commenced in 1999 and that you stayed connected through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for commercial sex acts,” the letter said. It added: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming minors. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the freshly uncovered 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our belief that you may have key insights about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.” A statement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November. Previous Remarks and Assistance The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the committee. The citizens deserves to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.” However, the lawmaker does not have the power to subpoena the duke and Congress itself cannot force statements from a non-US citizen. In 2020, US officials said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond to US requests for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that authorities and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to follow up on his earlier promise that he was “ready to help any suitable law enforcement agency”. “It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given zero cooperation”. Calls for Accountability The lawmaker said in a comment that “rich and powerful men have evaded accountability for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the option to come clean and deliver redress for the victims. We will not stop pushing for accountability and clarity 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 survivors, as well as media coverage of released files, “it is essential that Andrew works together with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can vindicate himself.” The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will show that, and the affected individuals will receive belated redress. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his honors show there is further to this story.” The letter was issued on the same day the British king publicly removed 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 monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.