Lawyers for alleged victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday urged Britain’s Prince Andrew to embrace his “moral obligation” and help U.S. investigators, after a prosecutor said he had given “zero cooperation.”
U.S. lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents five women allegedly assaulted by Epstein, said the Duke of York must meet with the FBI and his failure to do so was “a disservice to the victims”.
“It’s long overdue for him to do it, or to explain why he will not do it, and he’s done neither,” she told BBC Radio. “If he’s done nothing wrong, which appears to be what he has claimed, then why won’t he talk to law enforcement?”
Allred said she had sent a letter to Prince Andrew’s home urging him to co-operate but hadn’t received a response.
“No response is the same as zero co-operation. This is ridiculous. It’s just not acceptable.”
She added: “Prince Andrew has a moral obligation to volunteer to speak to law enforcement – that’s what he said he would do.”
Andrew, 59, has strenuously denied claims he had sex with a 17-year-old girl procured by Epstein, a disgraced financier found dead in prison last August while awaiting charges of trafficking minors.
As Breitbart News reported, on Monday a U.S. prosecutor overseeing the sex trafficking investigation said Prince Andrew has been uncooperative in the inquiry so far.
Speaking at a news conference outside Epstein’s New York mansion, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said prosecutors and the FBI had contacted Prince Andrew’s lawyers and asked to interview him only to be disappointed.
“To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation,” Berman said.
Another lawyer representing five alleged victims added her voice to the calls for Prince Andrew to cooperate.
Lisa Bloom said the alleged victims were “outraged” by the Duke of York working with U.S. authorities.
She told BBC Newsnight: “I’m glad that Geoffrey Berman has gone public to try to embarrass Prince Andrew, who made one statement and then behind closed doors is doing something very different.
“The five Epstein victims who I represent are outraged and disappointed at Prince Andrew’s behaviour here.”
Last November an American woman who claims she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew also criticised the Royal’s litany of “ridiculous excuses.”
Virginia Giuffre called on the British public to support her as she dismissed claims initially made by the prince’s backers that a photograph apparently showing him with his arm around her might not be genuine.
“The people on the inside are going to keep coming up with these ridiculous excuses like his arm was elongated or the photo was doctored,” she told the BBC’s Panorama program.
“I’m calling BS (bullshit) on this. He knows what happened, I know what happened. And there’s only one of us telling the truth.”