Legal representatives of the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, have lashed out at the US justice department over how it has treated their client in the investigation of late pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
According to Blackfords LLP, Prince Andrew has offered to assist the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as a witness in Epstein’s investigations on at least three occasions this year”, but that the DOJ was seeking publicity by officially asking the duke to be made available for questioning as a witness into the Epstein probe.
Shortly after an interview about his relationship with Epstein last year, the duke said he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required”.
And then in a bombshell report published on Sunday, it was revealed the DOJ submitted a mutual legal assistance (MLA) request to the UK Home Office to question the prince as a witness in a criminal investigation into Epstein, a convicted paedophile who died in a US prison while awaiting a trial for sex trafficking charges.
The report revealed that the MLA request, is used to obtain help in an investigation or prosecution of criminal offences involving allies US and UK, generally when co-operation cannot be obtained by law enforcement agencies.
Prince Andrew’s legal representatives have now responded to the report, saying they decided to make their first public statement on conversations with the US justice department following “misleading media briefings”.
”Prince Andrew has offered to assist the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as a witness in Epstein’s investigations on at least three occasions this year”
“Unfortunately, the DOJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own confidentiality rules and claiming that the duke has offered zero co-operation,” his lawyers said.
“In doing so, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered.”
Prince Andrew’s lawyers continued: ”Any pursuit of an application for mutual legal assistance would be disappointing, since the Duke of York is not a target of the DOJ investigation and has recently repeated his willingness to provide a witness statement.
“It is hoped that this third offer has not been the cause of the most recent leak about the Duke of York.”
