House Democrats ask former Prince Andrew to take questions about Epstein

2 hours ago 6

London — Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter on Thursday to the former Prince Andrew, now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, requesting that the disgraced British royal appear before Congress for questioning over his former ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"The Committee is seeking to uncover the identities of Mr. Epstein's co-conspirators and enablers and to understand the full extent of his criminal operations," said the letter, which was signed by the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia, and 14 others.

"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. 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," the American lawmakers said.

Neither Garcia nor the committee has the power to subpoena Andrew, who was formally stripped of the title of prince on Thursday.

No Republicans on the House committee signed the letter.

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The communication cited Andrew's widely reported friendship with Epstein, which continued after the American financier's 2008 conviction for procuring minors for prostitution. It also mentioned Andrew's visits to Epstein's residences in New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Epstein's trip to the late Queen Elizabeth II's residence at Balmoral in Scotland.

"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 letter said.

It also cited a number of allegations by the late Virginia Giuffre, including that she was "lent out" to Andrew by Epstein on a number of occasions.

"In response to a subpoena issued to the Epstein estate, the Committee has identified financial records containing notations such as "massage for Andrew" that raise serious questions regarding the nature of your relationship with Mr. Epstein and related financial transactions," the letter said.

The House Democrats also mentioned Giuffre's memoir, which was published posthumously this year, in which she mentioned her fear of Andrew retaliating if she publicized allegations against him.

"This fear of retaliation has been a persistent obstacle to many of those who were victimized in their fight for justice. In addition to Mr. Epstein's crimes, we are investigating any such efforts to silence, intimidate, or threaten victims, and are interested in any avenues that may further shed light on these activities," the letter said.

Andrew was asked to respond to the letter by Nov. 20th, "due to the urgency and gravity of this matter."

He was stripped of both his "Royal Highness" and "prince" titles on Thursday, and last month he gave up other royal titles, including "Duke of York."

He had already stepped down from public duties as a member of the royal family in 2019, after a disastrous interview with the BBC about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

After allowing his younger brother to slowly and voluntarily give up his royal honors for months, King Charles III announced abruptly on October 30 — after more revelations about Andrew's past ties to Epstein — that he would be deprived of the titles and evicted from his long-time, 30-bedroom mansion on the Windsor estate.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the request from U.S. lawmakers for the former prince to give on-the-record remarks, and there was no immediate reply from Andrew to a CBS News request for comment on the matter.