Prince Andrew Lobbied U.S. Government For Epstein
Newsweek – Prince Andrew helped secure Jeffrey Epstein’s plea deal by lobbying the U.S. Government, newly unsealed legal papers claim.
The Duke of York famously said he did not regret his friendship with the New York pedophile during a BBC interview last year.
He now faces allegations he used his position as a member of the royal family to try to get a lenient sentence for Epstein, though friends say he denies the allegation.
Prince Andrew Lobbied U.S. Government For Epstein
During a 2015 libel case, two women named only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 attempted to force the release of paperwork proving the prince intervened to help his friend.
The women were both among those who accused Epstein of abusing them.
A motion submitted by their lawyers reads: “[They are] seeking documents regarding Epstein’s.
lobbying efforts to persuade the government to give him a favorable plea arrangement, including efforts on his behalf by Prince Andrew and former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz.
“They have alleged these materials are needed to prove their allegations that, after Epstein signed the non-prosecution agreement his performance was delayed while he used his significant social and political connections to lobby the justice department to obtain a more favorable plea deal.”
A friend of the prince told Newsweek: “This allegation is a straightforward untruth. No ifs, no buts.”
Andrew is still in a stand-off with the U.S. Department of Justice over whether and how he will testify to the Epstein investigation.
He was close friends with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, who is awaiting trial on child grooming and perjury offenses in July 2021.
Epstein’s sweetheart plea deal has been criticized for being too lenient, after it saw him sentenced to 18 months in 2008.
Prosecutors also agreed not to pursue charges against the rich and powerful men alleged to have had sex with his victims.
Virginia Giuffre claims she was made to have sex with Andrew in New York, London and on Epstein’s private island.
The duke was heavily criticized for going to stay with the New York financier after his 2008 conviction.
Prince Andrew told BBC journalist Emily Maitlis he only went in order to break up their friendship in person, claiming if anything he was “too honorable.”
Prince Andrew Lobbied U.S. Government For Epstein
He said: “At the end of the day, with a benefit of all the hindsight that one can have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do.
“But at the time I felt it was the honorable and right thing to do and I admit fully that my judgment was probably colored by my tendency to be too honorable but that’s just the way it is.”
He also claimed he broke off contact with Epstein in 2006 after learning he was under investigation.
He told the BBC: “Well I ceased contact with him after I was aware that he was under investigation and that was later in 2006 and I wasn’t in touch with him again until 2010.
“So just it was one of those things that somebody’s going through that sort of thing well I’m terribly sorry I can’t be… see you.”
