US
‘Silence speaks volumes’: Andrew criticised by US politicians after missing interview deadline
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been criticised by US politicians after he failed to respond to their request for an interview.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had asked the former prince to cooperate with its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operations.
Andrew was told in a letter: “Allegations against you, along with your long-standing friendship with Mr Epstein, indicate that you may possess knowledge of his activities.”
He was asked to reply by 20 November – but two of the committee’s members say the 65-year-old has not complied with this deadline.
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What’s at stake for Andrew at Congress?
Ranking member Robert Garcia and Congressman Suhas Subramanyam said Andrew’s silence “speaks volumes”.
In a statement, they warned: “The documents we’ve reviewed, along with public records and Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s testimony, raise serious questions he must answer, yet he continues to hide.
“Our work will move forward with or without him, and we will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status, or political party. We will get justice for the survivors.”
As our royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills noted earlier this week, Andrew is not legally obliged to talk to Congress.
“The only time he has spoken at length about the allegations against him and his relationship with Epstein was that Newsnight interview in 2019, and we all know how much of a disaster that was,” she wrote in an analysis piece on Thursday.
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Releasing the Epstein files: How we got here
Virginia Giuffre died by suicide in April – and last month, her posthumous memoir detailed alleged sexual encounters with Andrew when she was a teenager.
She also spoke of her battle to escape the control of Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
“In my years with them, they lent me out to scores of wealthy, powerful people. I was habitually used and humiliated – and in some instances, choked, beaten, and bloodied,” Ms Giuffre had written in her book Nobody’s Girl.
Andrew has always vigorously denied all the accusations against him – and was formally stripped of his titles as prince and Duke of York earlier this month.
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The new Epstein files: The key takeaways
Damaging newspaper allegations have also emerged that he tried to get the Metropolitan Police to dig up dirt for a smear campaign against Ms Giuffre.
The force previously said it was looking into the reports after The Mail on Sunday claimed he had passed her date of birth and social security number to his taxpayer-funded bodyguard in 2011 and asked him to investigate.
Earlier this week, Congress voted to force the US justice department to release all its files related to Epstein.
Donald Trump, who has changed course and now describes these files as a Democratic “hoax”, has signed a bill that will pave the way for these documents to be made public within 30 days.
Emails, photos and other documents released by Congress in recent weeks have included references to Mr Trump, the UK’s since sacked US ambassador Lord Mandelson, and Andrew.
Like Mr Trump, both Britons have denied any wrongdoing and expressed regret about their relationship with Epstein.