House Democrats ask former Prince Andrew to appear for questioning about Jeffrey Epstein

London – Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to former Prince Andrew on Thursday, now Andrew Mountbatten Windsordemanding that the disgraced British royal appear before Congress to be questioned over his former ties to the late sex offender. Jeffrey Epstein.

“The Committee seeks to uncover the identities of Mr. Epstein’s co-conspirators and accomplices and to understand the full extent of his criminal operations,” said the letter, signed by the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia, and 14 others.

“Well-documented allegations against you, as well as your long-standing friendship with Mr. Epstein, indicate that you may have knowledge of his activities relevant to our investigation. In the interest of justice for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we ask that you cooperate with the Committee’s investigation by assisting with a transcribed interview with the Committee,” the US lawmakers said.

Neither Garcia nor the committee have the authority to subpoena Andrew, who was officially stripped of the title of prince on Thursday.

No Republicans on the House committee signed the letter.

The communication cited Andrew’s widely reported friendship with Epstein, which continued after the American financier’s 2008 conviction for recruiting minors for prostitution. It also mentions Andrew’s visits to Epstein’s residences in New York and the US 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 suspicions that you may have valuable information about the crimes committed by Mr. Epstein and his co-conspirators,” the letter states.

It also cites a number of allegations made by the late Virginia Giuffre, including that she was “loaned” to Andrew by Epstein on several occasions.

“In response to a subpoena to the Epstein estate, the committee identified financial records containing notations such as ‘massage for Andrew’ that raise serious questions about the nature of your relationship with Mr. Epstein and associated financial transactions,” the letter states.

House Democrats also pointed to Giuffre’s memoir, published posthumously this year, in which she expressed fear of retaliation from Andrew if she made allegations against him public.

“This fear of retaliation has been a persistent obstacle for many of those who have been victimized in their fight for justice. In addition to Mr. Epstein’s crimes, we are investigating any attempts to silence, intimidate, or threaten victims, and we are interested in any leads that may shed light on these activities,” the letter said.

Andrew was asked to respond to the letter by November 20, “due to the urgency and seriousness of this matter.”

He was stripped of his titles of “Royal Highness” and “Prince” on Thursday, and last month he gave up other royal titles, including “Duke of York.”

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

After letting his younger brother slowly and willingly renounce his royal honors for months, King Charles III announced abruptly on October 30 – after further revelations about Andrew’s past ties to Epstein – that he would be stripped of his titles and evicted from his longtime 30-room mansion on the Windsor estate.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on US lawmakers’ request for the former prince to make official remarks, and Andrew did not immediately respond to a CBS News request for comment on the matter.