- US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoff Berman said Monday that Prince Andrew has not responded to requests to talk about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
- Prince Andrew stepped back from royal duties in November, after outcry over his disastrous BBC interview on Epstein.
- After the interview, he said he would be willing to "help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required."
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Prince Andrew doesn't appear to be following through on his promise to help US officials with their investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirators.
US Attorney Geoff Berman held a Monday morning press conference outside of Epstein's former Manhattan mansion. Berman told the media gathered that federal prosecutors and FBI investigators have reached out to the prince to talk about his one-time friend Epstein, but that he has not responded to their requests.
Epstein killed himself in August, while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in New York.
Federal prosecutors and the FBI have asked to interview Prince Andrew about Jeffrey Epstein but despite his public offer to cooperate he has not responded, US Attorney Geoff Berman said pic.twitter.com/GxufRQLjBH
— Aaron Katersky (@AaronKatersky) January 27, 2020
Prince Andrew was one of Epstein's influential connections, but after Epstein was first convicted of sex crimes in 2008, the prince sought to distance himself from the financier.
Prince Andrew spoke out about his friendship with Epstein for the first time in a BBC interview in November.
The interview was widely considered a PR disaster, since the prince showed little remorse for Epstein's victims. Shortly after, the prince released a statement saying that he would be stepping back from royal duties. In the statement, he said he would be "willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigation, if required."
Buckingham Palace sent Insider the following comment Monday afternoon:
"This issue is being dealt with by The Duke of York's legal team. Buckingham Palace will not be commenting further on this particular matter."
Experts said there are ways for US investigators to force the prince to talk
Legal experts told Insider in December that investigators in the US could force Prince Andrew to cooperate.
Dominique Penson, who has represented sexual abuse victims in the past, said investigators will likely want to talk to Prince Andrew because of the possibility he had "a close inside look into Epstein's sex-trafficking operation."
Penson added that Prince Andrew US investigators could even file a request through The Hague.
"If I were his lawyer and I thought, 'Gee, if they want it badly, they're telling me they're going to go through The Hague,' and I thought they're going to get it. Then — because you also have to have the public relations mind — probably better to cooperate," Penson said.
Juliet Sorensen, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches public corruption and international criminal law at Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, thought Prince Andrew may voluntarily talk to investigators to repair his damaged reputation.
"It appears that the scrutiny of him and the pressure on him is increasing," Sorensen said in December.
The experts said any talk is likely to happen in the UK, and with the terms of the talk heavily negotiated to protect the prince from the possibility of arrest. However, full immunity is unlikely to be offered, they said, and there's still the possibility that the US could request Prince Andrew's extradition if they find evidence he committed a crime.
But Sorenson said the US is unlikely to go after Prince Andrew because it could negatively impact the US-UK relationship.
"I think that's totally unlikely because the US has other fish to fry, and has intimate relations with the United Kingdom that arresting a member of the royal family would jeopardize," Sorensen said.
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- A British socialite who stayed at Jeffrey Epstein's apartment says she felt like she 'was being watched' by 'hidden cameras' during her visit
- Prince Andrew tried to discredit the Jeffrey Epstein victim who says she had sex with the Duke of York when she was 17. His alibis don't add up.
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