Democrats have summoned Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to the U.S. Congress to answer questions as part of an investigation into convicted sex offender and former New York City financier, Jeffrey Epstein.
In a letter to the former prince, 16 members of the House Oversight Committee requested that the disgraced royal attend an interview in an effort to help it “uncover the identities of Mr Epstein’s co-conspirators and enablers, and to understand the full extent of his criminal operations.”
As Andrew is not a U.S. citizen, Congress does not have the power to subpoena him for questioning.
Andrew was recently stripped of his titles by his brother, King Charles III, and ordered to vacate his home at the Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle in southern England as a result of his controversial ties to the late Epstein. The former royal has consistently denied the accusations against him.
The announcement from Buckingham Palace came weeks after Andrew had said he was giving up the use of the titles, including the Duke of York title given to him by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Congress’ letter referenced Andrew’s well-known ties to Epstein and his supposed encounter with Virginia Giuffre, whose recently published posthumous memoir cast renewed attention on intimate details of her alleged experience with Andrew when she was just 17 years old.
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Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41.
“Well-documented allegations against you, along with your long-standing friendship with Mr. Epstein, indicate that you may possess knowledge of his activities relevant to our investigation,” the letter reads.
“In the interest of justice for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we request that you cooperate with the Committee’s investigation by sitting for a transcribed interview with the Committee.”
It went on to reference various “publicly reported” trips with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral and to Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Andrew has been accused of abusing minors, as well as several flight logs placing Andrew on Epstein’s plane between 1999 and 2006, “while his criminal activities were ongoing.”
“This close relationship with Mr. Epstein, coupled with the recently revealed 2011 email exchange in which you wrote to him, ‘we are in this together,’ further confirms our suspicion that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr. Epstein and his co-conspirators,” the correspondence continues.
A photo showing then-Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre.
U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals
According to the BBC, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it was up to Andrew to consider the request.
“My view, and this is not about the individual case, more broadly, is that anybody who has relevant information should always be willing to give it to whatever inquiries need that information,” he said.
“But the individual decision is a matter for him.”
Anyone who agrees to give testimony in Congress must swear under oath to tell the truth, Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer who has represented numerous Epstein accusers, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program, adding that he did not think Andrew would “put himself at risk” by agreeing to the interview.
Andrew has until Nov. 20 to respond to the request.
— With files from Reuters
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