Original documents would be needed to prosecute Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said.
London's most senior police officer has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to hand over the original evidence from the Epstein files, warning it is"necessary if we get to the stage of court cases" involving Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told ABC News that the redacted files released to the public would not be enough on their own to mount a prosecution of Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, and former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson. Both men deny wrongdoing related to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges. "Of course, there's a big body of that evidence in the United States in all those files, and at some stage we're going to need the unredacted evidence," Rowley said. "We need the original copy and where did it come from and that's going to be necessary if we get to the stage of court cases."Mountbatten-Windsor and Mandelson were arrested by U.K. police in February on suspicion of misconduct in a public office as part of separate investigations, both prompted by reports alleging they leaked confidential government documents to Epstein. Both men deny wrongdoing. Separately, Virginia Giuffre previously accused Mountbatten-Windsor of sexually assaulting her in 2001 after being trafficked by Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor settled a lawsuit with Giuffre for an undisclosed sum in 2022 while denying liability.Rowley's Metropolitan Police is leading the investigation into Mandelson, while Thames Valley Police is leading the investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor. He told ABC News that one aspect of his force's probe was looking at an email in which Mandelson appeared to confirm the timing of an impending bailout during the European Union's sovereign debt crisis. "It looks like it was shared with Epstein so we're looking at that as to whether that's a criminal offense and then colleagues in Thames Valley are looking at other documents that Andrew Mountbatten-Winsor potentially shared," Rowley said. Police, though, are not stopping at the allegations related to confidential information and are, Rowley said, considering"a whole range of suggested sexual allegations" to assess whether any"merit a criminal investigation." He also defended the Metropolitan Police's past decisions not to investigate Giuffre's trafficking allegations. "With Virginia Giuffre, we did four of those interviews with her," he said,"and those interviews didn't give us any evidence or any allegations of sexual offending or trafficking that we could investigate in the U.K. That's why that investigation didn't go forward." Giuffre said she was 17 when she was trafficked to London for sex with Mountbatten-Windsor, while the age of consent in Britain is 16. Modern sex trafficking laws had also not yet been introduced in 2001. Rowley, though, said he was undaunted by the prospect of prosecuting major names:"Those investigations all go wherever the evidence takes them—quite comfortable with investigating sort of famous or powerful people. I think it's really important for policing to do that, that sense of operating without fear or favor. The law applies equally to everyone, and those cases will go, say, wherever the evidence leads us to,"Rowley did not specify any particular route to getting the police to release the unredacted Epstein files, but one method is known as a Mutual Legal Assistance request, a formal legal mechanism that allows law‑enforcement authorities in one country to seek evidence or assistance from another country for use in criminal investigations or prosecutions. They can be used to obtain documents, witness statements, financial records, or other evidentiary material held overseas and not lawfully accessible unilaterally. The Department of Justice previously sought Mountbatten-Windsor's testimony as a witness, rather than a suspect, via a Mutual Legal Assistance request to the U.K. Home Office, though no confirmation ever emerged that an interview had taken place., ours is different: The Courageous Center—it's not"both sides," it's sharp, challenging and alive with ideas. We follow facts, not factions. If that sounds like the kind of journalism you want to see thrive, we need you., you support a mission to keep the center strong and vibrant. Members enjoy: Ad-free browsing, exclusive content and editor conversations.
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