Lawyer’s for Britain’s Prince Andrew are claiming that he has tried to assist US authorities in their probe into the late Jeffrey Epstein, but that they rejected his multiple offers of assistance and opted for “publicity” instead.
US prosecutors said in January that the Duke of York had offered “zero cooperation” with their investigation into Epstein – but it turns out Andrew has been trying to help all along, if his lawyers are to be believed.
In a statement on Monday, the British royal’s legal team said that he had offered himself as a witness to the US Department of Justice “on at least three occasions” this year.
They also accused the DOJ of “breaching their own confidentiality rules” by publicly claiming that the duke had been uncooperative. This is a sign that they are “perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered.”
Statements and press briefings from US authorities have given the world “an entirely misleading account” of the situation, they claimed.
The furious response from Andrew’s team comes amid reports that he has been summoned by the DOJ via a Mutual Legal Assistance request (MLA) filed by the UK Home Office to answer questions about his relationship with the pedophile Epstein, who ended his own life in prison last year while awaiting trial.
If the request is approved, Andrew could be forced to provide testimony under oath to a UK court. If he refuses, he could end up being summoned to answer investigators’ questions in person in the US.
Despite his supposed enthusiasm to help, Andrew’s lawyers said the MLA request was “disappointing” since he is “not a target” of the investigation and has offered his assistance as a witness.
Andrew has denied that he witnessed crimes during his friendship with prolific sex pest Epstein, but Virginia Roberts Giuffre has accused him of having sex with her three times when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein.
The duke’s attempts to distance himself from Epstein’s lifestyle took a bizarre turn last November after a car crash BBC interview, during which he claimed to remember “weirdly distinctly” that he took his daughter to a Pizza Express restaurant on one of the days Giuffre claims he had sex with her. He also claimed he had “no recollection of ever meeting” his accuser, despite the fact that he was pictured in a photograph with her.
Shortly after that disastrous interview, Andrew announced he would “step back from public duties” to deal with the controversy.
