'Our doors remain open': Prosecutors say Prince Andrew still hasn't spoken to investigators about his Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell connections
- Prince Andrew has still not cooperated with federal prosecutors seeking to interview him about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Justice Department prosecutors said Thursday.
- The office of the US Attorney of the Southern District of New York reiterated its request to speak to the Duke of York on Thursday while announcing the arrest of Epstein's girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
- "We would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk with us," Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Thursday.
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Federal investigators have been trying to interview Prince Andrew about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for months, but have been rebuffed.
On Thursday, while announcing the arrest of Maxwell on charges that she groomed underage girls to be abused by Epstein, the office again addressed their interest in speaking to the Duke of York.
"We would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk with us," Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters. "Our doors remain open."
Prince Andrew had spent time with Epstein at several of the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender's luxurious properties. But prosecutors have said that he's been unwilling to speak with US Attorney's office about it.
A representative for Buckingham Palace declined to comment. A source close to the Duke of York's legal team didn't say whether Prince Andrew agreed to speak to investigators, and accused the Justice Department of ignoring them.
"The Duke's team remains bewildered given that we have twice communicated with the DOJ in the last month, and to-date, we have had no response," the representative said.
Prince Andrew's lawyers said he's been helpful to investigators. Prosecutors have denied that.
Justice Department investigators say they've repeatedly tried to interview Prince Andrew about Epstein.The two had been friends for 20 years, Andrew had defended Epstein following misconduct accusations, and Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre has also accused Andrew of having sex with her at one of Epstein's residences.
The Duke of York has previously said he would be "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigation," but former US Attorney of the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman, publicly said that wasn't the case.
Prince Andrew's legal team, though, maintains that their royal client was of assistance to the investigators on three occasions over the last year, but his involvement in the case was supposed to remain confidential.
"Unfortunately, the DOJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own confidentiality rules and claiming that the Duke has offered zero cooperation," the legal team has previously said.
Berman, who was replaced by Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss in June, said in a statement on June 9 that Prince Andrew has stonewalled them.
"Today, Prince Andrew yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate with an ongoing federal criminal investigation into sex trafficking and related offenses committed by Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, even though the Prince has not given an interview to federal authorities, has repeatedly declined our request to schedule such an interview, and nearly four months ago informed us unequivocally — through the very same counsel who issued today's release — that he would not come in for such an interview, " Berman said.
"If Prince Andrew is, in fact, serious about cooperating with the ongoing federal investigation, our doors remain open, and we await word of when we should expect him," the statement added.
Less than two weeks later, Attorney General William Barr asked Berman to step down from his job. When he didn't, President Donald Trump fired him, Barr said in a letter. (Trump has sought to distance himself from his own decision to fire Berman.)
On Thursday, Strauss said the new charges against Maxwell are "not at all" related to Berman's firing.
A lawyer for Epstein accusers said Maxwell might have information prosecutors want regarding Prince Andrew
Attorney Spencer T. Kuvin, who represents nearly a dozen of Epstein's accusers, told Insider Wednesday that in addition to the time he spent at Epstein's New York, Palm Beach, and Virgin Islands homes, there are connections between Maxwell's family and the Royal family.
"Ms. Maxwell, we know, her and her family have close ties to the Royal family dating back to when her father was in Parliament," he said. "It doesn't strain credulity to believe Ms. Maxwell may have information that there is direct relevance to whether or not Prince Andrew had any interaction with underage girls while he was with Mr. Epstein."
Kuvin doesn't represent the three victims involved in Maxwell's arrest, whose names remain under seal, as is standard for victims of sexual abuse.
"The ties are definitely there and now that Ms, Maxwell has been arrested, Prince Andrew really does need to finally step forward and tell the truth about what occurred those many years ago," Kuvin said.
- Read more:
- Ghislaine Maxwell, the woman suspected of helping Jeffrey Epstein run a sex-abuse ring, has been arrested by the FBI
- Jeffrey Epstein is the subject of a major Netflix docuseries. Here are the key moments from the convicted sex offender's past, famous connections, and controversial death.
- Here are all the famous people Jeffrey Epstein was connected to
- What to know about British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's alleged madam who was just arrested by the FBI