U.S. prosecutors accused Britain’s Prince Andrew on Monday of evading their efforts to question him over his contacts with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, but lawyers for the prince accused them of seeking publicity rather than his help.
U.S. investigators want to interview Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, about his friendship with Epstein – who was awaiting trial on charges of trafficking minors when he died last August in a New York City federal prison – as part of their inquiry into possible co-conspirators.
The Manhattan-based federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, said Andrew had “sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate” but had given no interview to federal authorities and had repeatedly declined such requests.
Berman was responding to a report by Britain’s Sun newspaper, confirmed to Reuters by a U.S. law enforcement official, that U.S. authorities investigating Epstein’s life and death had sent the British government a formal request, known as a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) submission, asking for access to the prince.
No extradition
Andrew had re-iterated his will to cooperate with any “appropriate law enforcement agency”. But in March, Berman said the prince had “shut the door on voluntary cooperation and our office is considering its options”.
In answer to a question U.S. Attorney General William Barr told Fox News in an interview on Monday there were no plans to extradite Andrew.
“I don’t think it’s a question of handing him over. I think it’s just a question of having him provide some evidence,” he said.
If the MLAT request is granted, U.S. prosecutors could ask for Andrew, who stepped down from public duties because of the furore over his links to Epstein, to voluntarily attend an interview to give a statement or potentially force him to attend a court to provide evidence under oath.
A U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation probe is focusing on British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein’s, and others who facilitated his alleged trafficking of underage girls, law enforcement sources told Reuters in December.
Reuters / France 24
