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Prince Andrew reportedly 'willing' to talk to FBI about Jeffrey Epstein after critics pounce on his latest statement

San Jose Mercury News - 8/26/2019

Aug. 26--Prince Andrew issued yet another statement over the weekend in an attempt to assure the world that he never witnessed or had anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex trafficking operation.

Buckingham Palace also said in a separate statement that Andrew was willing to cooperate with the FBI and authorities on both sides of the Atlantic in their investigations of the deceased and disgraced financier. In a statement to the Daily Mail, palace aides said, "Members of the royal family family would always co-operate with the police in an appropriate way."

The FBI is investigating the circumstances surrounding Epstein's Aug. 10 suicide in a Manhattan jail, where he was awaiting trial on new sex trafficking charges. Despite Epstein's death, the U.S. Attorney's Office has pledged to continue its investigation into Epstein's alleged operation, including an inquiry into any of the multimillionaire's alleged accomplices.

Last week, Channel 4 News in the United Kingdom reported that London'sMetropolitan Police had decided not to investigate claims made in 2015 that the prince had sex with a 17-year-old girl who was an alleged victim of Epstein's sex trafficking.

Lawyers for Epstein's alleged victims have urged Andrew to help them by telling the authorities what he knows, the Daily Mail reported.

Until this statement about Andrew's supposed willingness to cooperate, he has given off the impression that the royal family hopes to shield him from further scrutiny of his Epstein ties -- and therefore hopes the problem will go away. But that's unlikely to happen.

In what was his most detailed denial to date, the embattled Duke of York again tried to downplay the idea that he was ever really friends with Epstein, referring to his "association or friendship" with the financier and saying he only saw him one or two times a year. Andrew also insisted that he knows it was "a mistake and an error" to continue seeing Epstein after the convicted pedophile was released from a Florida jail in 2009.

But Andrew's carefully worded statement was immediately derided by royal observers and journalists closely following revelations about Epstein that have emerged since the multimillionaire's suicide.

The revelations have included information about: the multiple flights Andrew took with Epstein on the financier's private jets; a 2001 photo of the duke with a 17-year-old girl he has been accused of having sex with; Andrew's reported decision to host Epstein at Queen Elizabeth's Balmoral estate in 1999 and then to have him as a guest at his 40th birthday party at Windsor Castle in 2000 with the queen and Prince William; Andrew's six-day visit to Epstein's Manhattan mansion in December 2010, during which he was seen by a literary agent getting foot massages by two attractive young Russian women.

To royal observers, these sorts of encounters suggest that Andrew and Epstein enjoyed more than an "association" and that the friendship continued after Epstein got his "sweetheart" plea agreement with federal prosecutors in 2008. Columnists also pointed to some claims in Andrew's statement that contradict available evidence in court documents.

For example, Andrew claimed that he did not meet Epstein until 1999, but Daily Mail writers Rebecca English and Daniel Bates said flight logs in court documents show that Epstein met Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, in the Bahamas in 1998, and that she was accompanied by Andrew and their daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie.

The flight logs also suggest that Andrew was on good terms with Epstein before 1999, English added. In February 1999, Andrew was invited to stay at Epstein's Caribbean island Little St. James -- known by locals as "Pedophile Island" -- for three days.

Andrew's statement also failed to answer other questions raised by the duke's behavior, including his frequent visits to Epstein's many homes, English and Bates said. Many of Epstein's acquaintances have said he flaunted the fact he was often accompanied by girls and women, according to the two journalists.

"The statement released yesterday by Prince Andrew was staggeringly arrogant, disingenuous and dishonest," added Daily Mail columnist Angela Levin. "Ask yourself this: How many associates do you have at your significant birthday celebrations and family events? But it gets worse. In the autumn of that year, Andrew flew to New York and attended a Halloween 'hookers and bondage' party in Manhattan hosted by Epstein."

Daily Beast writer Tom Sykes and editor Tim Freeman challenged Andrew's assertion that "at no stage during the limited time" he spent with Epstein did he "see, witness or suspect any behavior of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction."

They wrote: "Andrew, there is a photograph of you with your hand around the exposed midriff of a 17-year-old Epstein transported to London by private jet to be part of your party."

The 17-year-old in question is Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged in a 2011 Daily Mail interview and in a 2015 lawsuit that Epstein and Maxwell directed her to have sex with Andrew three times in 2001. Through various statements issued by Buckingham Palace, Andrew has repeatedly denied any "sexual contact" with Giuffre.

Giuffre's claims prompted two separate complaints to London'sMetropolitan Police. It's not clear who made the first complaint in 2015; Channel 4 described the person as "an unconnected third party." Giuffre's attorneys independently contacted Met Police in 2016, Channel 4 said.

Lawyers for Giuffre told Channel 4 News that she now is "hopeful" that "the London authorities will view the abuse she suffered while in London ... as a serious investigative matter." She has said she was subject to repeated sexual abuse, sex trafficking and exploitation by Epstein and his "sexual abuse ring" from 1999 until 2002.

Sykes and Freeman also referred to a report in the Sunday Times that said Andrew took a private jet with Epstein and a 27-year-old model in 1999, and another report in the New Republic said that literary agent John Brockman saw Andrew at Epstein's mansion in 2010, receiving a foot massage from "two young well-dressed Russian women."

"Double-hander foot massages from young women are usually a red flag, and given that this well-staffed foot rub took place after Epstein had been found guilty of soliciting a minor for prostitution, and jailed for it, how can you claim you didn't even suspect there was anything up?"

Sykes and Freeman also said that Andrew's latest statement once again avoids addressing his friendship with socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, an ex-girlfriend of Epstein's who allegedly procured girls and young women for Epstein to have sex with. Reports say that Maxwell introduced Andrew to Epstein, and that she was a regular guest at Andrew's private apartment at Buckingham Palace.

"Was Ghislaine a regular visitor to your home?" Sykes and Freeman asked. "She provided sexual partners for Epstein. What did she provide for you?"

After telling Channel 4 they decided not to conduct "a full investigation," the Met Police refused to answer detailed questions about the allegations and whether they ever spoke to Epstein, Andrew, Maxwell or anyone from the royal household.

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