Washington , 24 October (H.S.): A U.S. congressional committee investigating the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal is escalating its efforts to secure testimony from Britain’s Prince Andrew regarding his association with the late disgraced financier.
In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam confirmed that the committee is pushing to formally invite the prince to answer questions about his connections to Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The House Oversight Committee, which is examining the prosecution of Epstein’s case, has expressed a strong, bipartisan interest in hearing from Prince Andrew.
Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch stated that committee members who have heard from Epstein’s survivors are increasingly determined to speak with everyone who was involved.
We would be extremely interested in hearing from Prince Andrew regarding his involvement in all this, Lynch told the BBC, adding he was sure an invitation would be issued.
Prince Andrew has consistently and vehemently denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes. The pressure from U.S. lawmakers comes amid renewed scrutiny of the prince’s conduct. In 2022, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual assault when she was a minor trafficked by Epstein.
While Prince Andrew admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, he acknowledged Giuffre’s suffering as a victim.The prince has since stepped back from all royal duties and recently relinquished his Duke of York title following new revelations about his continued contact with Epstein after he had claimed to have cut ties.
The developments in the U.S. add to the considerable pressure he faces in the UK, where there are calls for him to be stripped of his remaining titles and for his personal finances to be investigated by Parliament.
While the congressional committee can extend a formal invitation, it remains unclear what power it would have to compel a foreign royal to testify, making the potential request a highly unusual and diplomatically sensitive move.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
