🔗 Share this article House Committee Asks for Questioning with Andrew in Epstein Probe A American legislative panel probing sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he submit to questioning as part of its probe into Epstein’s criminal operations. In a document published on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s younger brother assist with its probe. The formal request to respond to queries arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his royal title and consented to give up his property in Windsor. Records and Claims Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and aviation records subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse. “The committee will examine claims of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request data on Epstein’s operations, circle, and connections based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a press release. It requested particulars from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly strongly denied any impropriety. Content of the Request “It has been publicly reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for sex work,” the letter said. It continued: “It has also been alleged that you journeyed with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s personal island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been alleged of abusing minors. This intimate friendship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our belief that you may have valuable information about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his co-conspirators.” A announcement regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and requests a response by 20 November. Previous Comments and Assistance The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to testify before the panel. The citizens has the right to know who was assaulting women and young girls alongside Epstein.” However, the congressman does not possess the authority to compel the former prince and Congress itself cannot force statements from a foreign national. In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not reply to US appeals for an interview. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s attorneys to check on his previous pledge that he was “prepared to help any relevant law enforcement agency”. “It’s just for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “given absolutely no cooperation”. Calls for Accountability The representative said in a comment that “affluent and powerful men have escaped justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the chance to tell the truth and provide accountability for the survivors. The committee will not halt advocating for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his group of partners.” Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as public reporting of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the active probe. If he is innocent, then he can prove his innocence.” The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the victims will receive much-delayed justice. The Royal Family’s actions taking away Andrew of his titles indicate there is further to this situation.” The letter came on the same day the British king officially revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office made public in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.