Lawyers for Prince Andrew Berate the DOJ of the US Over MLA Request

Lawyers for Prince Andrew have issued a statement regarding the MLA request by the US Department of Justice.

The legal representatives for the Duke of York, allege that the request was a publicity-seeking stunt given that the Prince had offered to help on three separate occasions in the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein trial.

It can be recalled that last year, Prince Andrew, after an interview about his relationship with the billionaire peadophile Epstein, said he was “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required”.

The news of the MLA request by the US DOJ, prompted a response from Blackfords LLP, the firm representing Prince Andrew. They accused the US justice department of “misleading media briefings” in the statement released.

“Prince Andrew has offered to assist the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as a witness in Epstein’s investigations on at least three occasions this year”

“Unfortunately, the DOJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own confidentiality rules and claiming that the Duke has offered zero co-operation.”

“In doing so, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered,” they said.

“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.

“It is hoped that this third offer has not been the cause of the most recent leak about the Duke of York

News broke on earlier that the DOJ submitted a mutual legal assistance (MLA) request to the UK Home Office to question the prince as a witness in a criminal investigation into Epstein, a convicted paedophile who died in a US prison while awaiting a trial for sex trafficking charges.

The MLA request is used to obtain help in an investigation or prosecution of criminal offences involving allies US and UK, generally when co-operation cannot be obtained by law enforcement agencies.