A lawyer for the victims of the late Jeffrey Epstein says longtime friend Prince Andrew’s refusal to speak with the FBI is tantamount to a “torture chamber” for the victims.
“This is so hypocritical on the part of Prince Andrew. There is this drip drip drip and this torture chamber where he says he will speak to them, then he won’t, then he will with conditions. This does nothing but inflict more pain and suffering on the victims,” said Gloria Allred, who represents five women who were allegedly abused by the billionaire pedophile.
Allred also said claims that Andrew has not been contacted by the FBI are false.
“I understand he has been contacted by the authorities. I sent a letter to his home in December on behalf of the victims asking him to speak to the FBI. He doesn’t have to come here – he can speak to them in the U.K,” Allred said.
“Prince Andrew didn’t say what he meant or mean what he said when he was sympathetic to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and that he would speak to the authorities, the FBI and the Department of Justice if required. He’s shutting the door,” she said.
Meanwhile on Monday, Manhattan U.S. attorney Geoffrey Berman said: “Contrary to Prince Andrew’s very public offer to cooperate with our investigation into Epstein’s co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation and our office is considering its options.”
Said the UK’s Guardian newspaper: “Buckingham Palace said then it would not comment and the matter was being dealt with by the prince’s legal team. Contacted on Monday, a Palace spokeswoman said: ‘The issue is being dealt with by the Duke of York’s legal team.'”
Prince Andrew has been accused of having sex with a young woman provided by Epstein, which he denies.
Prince Andrew palled around with Epstein for years, visiting his Manhattan penthouse, his Florida mansion, and his private island in the Caribbean. At one point, when the two were together in London, the prince was pictured with Virginia Guiffre, who claims that he had sex with her when she was just 17 years old.
Last September, Guiffre said in an NBC interview that Prince Andrew was “pouring with perspiration” when they danced at a London club called Tramp in 2001. “He was a hideous dancer and he was sweating profusely all over me. I just remember like, ‘Ugh, I need a shower. This is disgusting.’ “
Andrew made a bizarre defense about the claim. During the BBC interview, interviewer Emily Maitlis asked the Prince about Guiffre’s account. “She described dancing with you… and you profusely sweating.”
Prince Andrew said that’s impossible, claiming that he had a medical condition at the time that made it so he did not sweat.
“There’s a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time. Yes, I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War, when I was shot at and I simply … it was almost impossible for me to sweat,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment