Prince Andrew has "shut the door" on voluntary cooperation in Epstein investigation, prosecutors say
Britain's Prince Andrew has "shut the door" on voluntary cooperation with the Southern District of New York in their investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's alleged co-conspirators, said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman on Monday. Authorities have previously publicly criticized Andrew for not cooperating with the sex trafficking investigation, despite claiming in November he would.
Berman said Monday at an unrelated press conference that his office is "considering their options."
"Contrary to Prince Andrew's very public offer to cooperate 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 cooperation," Berman said.
Andrew, the queen's second son, and eighth in line for the throne, said in a statement in August that he didn't know anything about Epstein's criminal behavior.
"At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behavior of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction," the statement said, referring to Epstein's 2008 conviction after he pleaded guilty to state charges relating to prostitution of a minor. He also expressed "tremendous sympathy" for Epstein's victims.
Court documents unsealed after Epstein's death alleged Andrew had sex in three locations with a woman who says she was "trafficked" by Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, when she was underage. The allegations were made by Virginia Giuffre, then Virginia Roberts, who is seen in a 2001 photograph with Andrew. In the picture, Andrew has his arm around the then-17-year-old's waist.
Giuffre spoke out in an interview with BBC News in November, during which she detailed the alleged abuse and explained what Andrew may perhaps know about Epstein.
"I had just been abused by a member of a royal family," Giuffre said, fighting back tears. "It didn't last very long, the whole entire procedure. It was disgusting. Um, he wasn't mean or anything, but he got up and he said, 'thanks,' and walked out. And I sat there in bed just horrified and ashamed," she told the BBC.
Giuffre said she met Andrew at properties owned by Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender who was found dead in his New York jail cell earlier this year. She said she was made to dance with the duke at a London nightclub.
Andrew had said he would cooperate with investigators, but in a now-infamous interview with BBC News in November, he said nobody had reached out to him. He also denied ever meeting Giuffre, despite the photograph of them together.
"I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady," he said.
Since that interview, Andrew has stepped aside from his duties as a member of the royal family.
Epstein was facing charges of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking with underage females when he died in an apparent suicide in his New York prison cell, according to federal officials. He had pleaded not guilty to all counts