🔗 Share this article House Committee Requests Deposition with the Duke of York in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation A US congressional panel investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has reached out to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he undergo a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations. In a communication released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, requested that King Charles III’s younger brother cooperate with its investigation. The written appeal to provide testimony comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was relieved of his princely title and consented to give up his property in Windsor. Files and Claims Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in documents and travel logs secured from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been alleged by one of Epstein’s survivors, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault. “The panel will examine claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will request information on Epstein’s operations, circle, and associates based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement. It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on particulars of his association with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing. 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 trafficking underage girls for commercial sex acts,” the letter said. It stated further: “It has also been reported that you traveled with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s estate at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the newly disclosed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further bolsters our concern that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.” A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a answer by 20 November. Past Remarks and Cooperation The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee commented: “Andrew should be asked to give evidence before the oversight committee. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and minors alongside Epstein.” However, the representative does not possess the authority to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot oblige testimony from a overseas individual. In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US demands 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 previous pledge that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”. “It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that pledge,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered absolutely no cooperation”. Calls for Justice The congressman said in a statement that “affluent and well-connected men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and deliver redress for the affected individuals. We will not cease fighting for answerability and clarity for victims of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.” Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after receiving accounts to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is essential that Andrew assists with the current inquiry. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.” The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our probe will reveal that, and the survivors will receive much-delayed redress. The Royal Family’s actions removing Andrew of his styles indicate there is more to this story.” The letter was issued on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the change – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the royal office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.