{"id":248620,"date":"2025-11-07T03:56:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T03:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/248620\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T03:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T03:56:09","slug":"us-lawmakers-call-on-uks-ex-prince-andrew-to-testify-over-epstein-ties-sexual-assault-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/248620\/","title":{"rendered":"US lawmakers call on UK\u2019s ex-prince Andrew to testify over Epstein ties | Sexual Assault News"},"content":{"rendered":"

United States lawmakers have written to Andrew, Britain\u2019s disgraced former prince, requesting that he sit for a formal interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>, a day after King Charles III formally stripped his younger brother of his royal titles.<\/p>\n

Separately, a secluded desert ranch where Epstein once entertained guests is coming under renewed scrutiny in the US state of New Mexico, with two state legislators proposing a \u201ctruth commission\u201d to uncover the full extent of the financier\u2019s crimes there.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

On Thursday, 16 Democratic Party members of Congress signed a letter addressed to \u201cMr Mountbatten Windsor\u201d, as Andrew is now known, to participate in a \u201ctranscribed interview\u201d with the US House of Representatives oversight committee\u2019s investigation into Epstein.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe committee is seeking to uncover the identities of Mr Epstein\u2019s co-conspirators and enablers and to understand the full extent of his criminal operations,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell-documented allegations against you, along with your longstanding friendship with Mr Epstein, indicate that you may possess knowledge of his activities relevant to our investigation,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

The letter asked Andrew to respond by November 20.<\/p>\n

The US Congress has no power to compel testimony from foreigners, making it unlikely Andrew will give evidence.<\/p>\n

The letter will be another unwelcome development for the disgraced former prince after a turbulent few weeks.<\/p>\n

On October 30, Buckingham Palace said King Charles had \u201cinitiated a formal process<\/a>\u201d to revoke Andrew\u2019s royal status after weeks of pressure to act over his relationship with Epstein \u2013 who took his own life in prison in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.<\/p>\n

The rare move to strip a British prince or princess of their title \u2013 last taken in 1919 after Prince Ernest Augustus sided with Germany during World War I \u2013 also meant that Andrew was evicted from his lavish Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor and moved into \u201cprivate accommodation\u201d.<\/p>\n

King Charles formally made the changes with an announcement published on Wednesday in The Gazette \u2013 the United Kingdom\u2019s official public record \u2013 saying Andrew \u201cshall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of \u2018Royal Highness\u2019 and the titular dignity of \u2018Prince’\u201d.<\/p>\n

Andrew surrendered his use of the title<\/a> Duke of York earlier in October following new abuse allegations from his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, in her posthumous memoir, which hit shelves last month.<\/p>\n

The Democrat lawmakers referenced Giuffre\u2019s memoir in their letter, specifically claims that she feared \u201cretaliation if she made allegations against\u201d Andrew, and that he had asked his personal protection officer to \u201cdig up dirt\u201d on his accuser for a smear campaign in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fear of retaliation has been a persistent obstacle to many of those who were victimised in their fight for justice,\u201d the letter said. \u201cIn addition to Mr. Epstein\u2019s crimes, we are investigating any such efforts to silence, intimidate, or threaten victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giuffre, who alleges that Epstein trafficked her to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, twice when she was just 17, took her own life<\/a> in Australia in April.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Andrew paid Giuffre a multimillion-pound settlement to resolve a civil lawsuit she had levelled against him. Andrew denied the allegations, and he has not been charged with any crime.<\/p>\n

\"FILEJeffrey Epstein\u2019s Zorro Ranch as seen on July 8, 2019 [KRQE via AP Photo]<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Democratic lawmakers also turned the spotlight on Zorro Ranch, proposing to the House of Representatives\u2019 Courts, Corrections and Justice Interim Committee that a commission be created to investigate alleged crimes against young girls at the New Mexico property, which Epstein purchased in 1993.<\/p>\n

State Representative Andrea Romero said several survivors of Epstein\u2019s abuse have signalled that sex trafficking activity extended to the secluded desert ranch with a hilltop mansion and private runway in Stanley, about 56 kilometres (35 miles) south of the state capital, Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis commission will specifically seek the truth about what officials knew, how crimes were unreported or reported, and how the state can ensure that this essentially never happens again,\u201d Romero told a panel of legislators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no complete record of what occurred,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Representative Marianna Anaya, presenting to the committee alongside Romero, said state authorities missed several opportunities over decades to stop Epstein.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven after all these years, you know, there are still questions of New Mexico\u2019s role as a state, our roles in terms of oversight and accountability for the survivors who are harmed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

New Mexico laws allowed Epstein to avoid registering locally as a sex offender long after he was required to register in Florida, where he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.<\/p>\n

Republican Representative Andrea Reeb said she believed New Mexicans \u201chave a right to know what happened at this ranch\u201d and she didn\u2019t feel the commission was going to be a \u201cbig political thing\u201d.<\/p>\n

To move forward, approval will be needed from the state House when the legislature convenes in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"United States lawmakers have written to Andrew, Britain\u2019s disgraced former prince, requesting that he sit for a formal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[924,591,59,57,58,50,6277,56,54,158,55,3544],"class_list":{"0":"post-248620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-crime","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-greatbritain","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-sexual-assault","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedkingdom","19":"tag-us-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}