Prince ‘has offered to help Epstein prosecutor’
The Duke of York’s legal team has claimed Andrew has made three offers of help to US authorities investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
US officials have previously accused the royal of providing “zero co-operation”.
But in a statement yesterday, Andrew’s lawyers suggested the US department of justice was seeking publicity rather than accepting the offer of help.
The Duke of York’s legal team has hit back at allegations that he provided “zero co-operation” to US authorities investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, claiming he has made three offers of help.
America’s department of justice (DOJ) has submitted a mutual legal assistance (MLA) request to the Home Office to question Andrew as a witness in a criminal investigation into the disgraced financier’s offending.
But the duke’s legal team said: “The Duke of York has on at least three occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness to the DOJ.
“Unfortunately, the DOJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own confidentiality rules and claiming that the duke has offered zeroco-operation.indoingso, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered.”
Andrew’s public life was left in tatters after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein, which saw him accused of showing little empathy for the financier’s victims.
In the programme’s aftermath, the duke stepped back from royal duties but became the focus of US authorities who wanted to question him about the financier, who killed himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. Four days after last year’s interview, the duke said in a statement he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required”.
But Geoffrey Berman, who is leading the Epstein inquiry, told reporters in March: “Contrary to Prince Andrew’s very public offer to co-operate with our investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary co-operation and our office is considering its options.”
An MLA request made by foreign countries is a formal process used to obtain help in an investigation or prosecution of criminal offences, generally when co-operation cannot be obtained by law enforcement agencies.
The process is normally secret but with reports on both side of the Atlantic about the request, Andrew’s legal team stressed its “commitment to confidentiality” and went on to make accusations of “misleading media briefings” against US prosecutors.
One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked by the financier, also alleges the duke had sex with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law. The duke denies he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre.