Federal prosecutors investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring are asking British officials to turn over Prince Andrew for questioning, The Sun reported.
This report comes nearly six months after Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Andrew had provided “zero cooperation” with their probe into Epstein, who sexually abused scores of underage girls.
According to The Sun, the U.S. Department of Justice “has formally told the UK [that] the Duke of York is now caught up in a criminal probe for the first time.” (Prince Andrew and Buckingham Palace have denied the 60-year-old royal was involved in the sex ring.)
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The Daily Beast left a message for the Queen’s chief press secretary, who referred requests for comment to Prince Andrew’s lawyers. A source close to the Duke’s legal team told The Daily Beast: “Legal discussions with the DOJ are subject to strict confidentiality rules, as set out in their own guidelines.”
“We have chosen to abide by both the letter and the spirit of these rules,” the source added, “which is why we have made no comment about anything related to the DOJ during the course of this year. We believe in playing straight bat.”
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a victim of Epstein, has long claimed that the financier forced her to have sex with Andrew (who has denied this, including in a BBC interview where he suggested a photo of himself with Giuffre was doctored).
In Netflix’s Epstein docu-series released last month, one former employee of the perverted money-manager claimed he saw Andrew “grinding” on a topless girl during a visit to Epstein’s private isle in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Sun reported the DOJ filed a “mutual legal assistance” request—which are used in criminal cases pursued by foreign authorities—to the British government’s Home Office. This request could lead to Andrew providing witness testimony in a British court, in a written or oral statement under oath, according to the tabloid.
Meanwhile, Giuffre hasn’t backed down from accusing the prince of sexual misconduct and has thanked supporters for writing to their Members of Parliament over the accusations.
