Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ignores invite to appear before Congress over Epstein links
Andrew was stripped of all his royal titles over links to the sex trafficker
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has ignored an invitation by Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee to speak to Congress about his connections to infamous paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
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The former Duke of York, who recently had all his royal titles stripped over his connection to the late sex offender, was invited to sit for a deposition by the committee as they continue to investigate Epstein’s crimes.
Andrew decided to ignore the invitation, which had a deadline of November 20.
Expressing her disappointment, Suhas Subramanyam, one of the 13 members of Congress who signed the invite, accused Andrew of “hiding.”
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“I think he will continue to try to hide from people doing meaningful investigations of this matter,” he added.
In their original letter to Andrew, the 13 members of Congress wrote: “It has been publicly reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for procuring minors for prostitution.
“It has also been reported that you travelled with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing minors,” they added.
“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.”
As Andrew is not a US citizen, Congress is unable to force him to give a statement and with the Republicans refusing to sign the invite, it was always unlikely he would respond.
It comes after newly released emails sent by Epstein said "had consensual sex" with an employee of Jeffrey Epstein, according to an email sent to the dead paedophile released by American lawmakers.
Former New York Times reporter Landon Thomas Jr warned Epstein that his relationship to the former prince was "keeping the story [of his misconduct] alive”.
The private emails, released by the American House Oversight Committee, show Thomas Jr saying that: “I mean in the end he had consensual sex with [redacted]. And [redacted] worked for you. The rest is atmospherics."
Andrew has always strenuously denied having any knowledge of Epstein's sex crimes.
Thomas Jr is understood to have been close friends with Epstein.