Andrew asked to submit to questioning by US congress over Jeffrey Epstein relationship

California congressman Robert Garcia said in a statement that 'rich and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the survivors'

The panel demanded information from Andrew Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Mountbatten Windsor has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

A US congressional panel investigating paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has written to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Britain’s Prince Andrew, to ask him to submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Epstein’s criminal operations.

In a letter published on Thursday, California congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the house oversight committee, requested that Charles’s younger brother help with its inquiry.

The formal request to answer questions comes a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and agreed to give up his leased home in Windsor.

Mountbatten Windsor’s name appears in documents and flight logs subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate and publicly released by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims of assault, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.

"The oversight committee will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a press release.

It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019. Mountbatten Windsor has always strongly denied any wrongdoing.

“It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Epstein began in 1999, and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for prostitution,” the letter said.

“It has also been reported that you travelled with Epstein to his New York residence, the queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors. 

Email exchange

"This close relationship with 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 Epstein and his co-conspirators," the letter added.

A notification of the the letter said it was co-signed by 13 other Democrats on the committee, and requests a response by November 20.

The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee, Ro Khanna, told The Guardian: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.” 

However, Mr Garcia does not possess the power to subpoena the former prince and the US congress itself cannot compel testimony from a foreign national.

In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor failed to respond to US requests for an interview. 

Geoffrey Berman, then US attorney for the southern district of New York, said that prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his previous pledge that he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has followed through with that public commitment,” Mr Berman said, adding that to date he had “provided zero co-operation”.

Mr Garcia said in a statement that “rich and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the survivors. 

"Oversight Democrats will not stop fighting for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.” 

The letter came on the same day the British king officially stripped Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title of prince. Charles formally made the change — which had been announced a week ago — by issuing a “letters patent” which the crown office published in the Gazette, Britain's official public record.

• Guardian