US lawmaker calls for Prince Andrew's prosecution following release of epstein files

A US lawmaker has called for the prosecution of Britain's Prince Andrew in the wake of the latest release of documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina took to social media to state, "So when do we prosecute Prince Andrew for potential crimes on US soil? Seems like the right next step (after we release the files)." In a separate post, she expressed a desire to see the prince in "a cold dark cell" and in handcuffs, arguing it would "send the right message."

Mace's comments come after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released more than 33,000 pages of records provided by the Department of Justice. The released files include court documents, flight records, and video footage, though some Democrats on the committee have stated that most of the information was already public.

The call for prosecution follows a long history of allegations against Prince Andrew regarding his association with Epstein. Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of Epstein's sex trafficking ring who died in April, accused the royal of sexually abusing her when she was 17. Prince Andrew has consistently denied all allegations. He reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre in 2022, and the civil lawsuit filed against him in the US was dismissed.

Despite the settlement, some US authorities have previously expressed an interest in speaking with Prince Andrew. In January 2020, then-US Attorney Geoffrey Berman stated that the prince had provided "zero co-operation" with federal prosecutors, an accusation that Andrew’s legal team denied.