🔗 Share this article Congressional Panel Asks for Deposition with Andrew in Epstein Inquiry A American legislative body probing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has formally written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, asking that he submit to a deposition as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s criminal operations. In a communication made public on Thursday, a US representative, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, urged that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its investigation. The official demand to respond to queries follows a week after Mountbatten Windsor was lost his HRH style and opted to surrender his leased home in Windsor. Documents and Claims Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in papers and flight logs obtained 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 abuse. “The oversight committee will examine accusations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s activities, circle, and accomplices based on the men’s longstanding and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a announcement. It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on details of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has always strongly denied any wrongdoing. Details of the Letter “It has been widely reported that your relationship with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you continued associating through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said. It stated further: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York property, the Queen’s home 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 electronic correspondence in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further supports our concern that you may have key insights about the wrongdoings 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. Earlier Remarks and Collaboration The letter arrives a week after another Democrat on the committee stated: “Andrew should be called to appear before the oversight committee. The citizens should be able to know who was harming women and young girls alongside Epstein.” However, the lawmaker does not have the power to subpoena the former prince and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a overseas individual. In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not respond 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 inquire on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any relevant law enforcement agency”. “It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that assurance,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered zero cooperation”. Calls for Justice The lawmaker said in a comment that “rich 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 survivors. We will not halt pushing for responsibility and openness for survivors of Epstein and his gang of partners.” Another endorser, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing testimony to the committee from Epstein’s victims, as well as media coverage of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing probe. If he is blameless, then he can clear his name.” The lawmaker added: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the affected individuals will receive much-delayed justice. The monarchy’s actions removing Andrew of his honors show there is additional to this story.” The letter was issued on the same day the British king formally removed Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III formally made the adjustment – which had been announced a week ago – by issuing a “royal decree” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.