LONDON: Lawyers for Britain's Prince Andrew on Monday (Jun 8) hit back at claims the royal was not cooperating with US prosecutors investigating the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, suggesting they were seeking publicity rather than his help.
US investigators want to interview Andrew, Queen Elizabeth's second son, about his friendship with Epstein, who was found dead in prison last year while awaiting charges of trafficking minors.
"The Duke of York has on at least three occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness to the DOJ (Department of Justice)," Andrew's lawyers Blackfords said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, the DOJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own confidentiality rules and claiming that the Duke has offered zero cooperation. In doing so, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered," the statement said.The lawyers said the DOJ had only requested Andrew's help on Jan 2 and had stated that he had never been a target of their investigation and they merely wanted his cooperation.
They said statements by Berman that Andrew had given "zero cooperation" were "inaccurate and should not have been made".
Britain's Sun newspaper reported the DOJ had sent British authorities a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) request, used in criminal investigations to gather material from other states which cannot readily be obtained on a police cooperation basis.
A US law enforcement official, who has direct knowledge of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity, said such a request had been submitted.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment and Britain's Home Office said it did not comment on the existence of any MLAT requests. Buckingham Palace is not commenting on the legal case.
If the MLAT request is granted, US prosecutors could ask for Andrew, who stepped down from public duties because of the furore over his links to Epstein, to voluntarily attend an interview to give a statement or potentially force him to attend a court to provide evidence under oath.
"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," Blackfords' statement said.
A US Federal Bureau of Investigation probe is focusing on British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein's, and others who facilitated his alleged trafficking of underage girls, law enforcement sources told Reuters in December.
Maxwell, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, has denied the allegations against her.