What do the Epstein files reveal that led to the arrest of former Prince Andrew?
Some official documents were shared by Andrew with the pedophile just minutes after he received them.
LondonBefore January 30, when the more than 3.5 million files from the Epstein caseIt was believed – and it was no small thing – that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's connection with the pedophile It was all about parties and sex orgies exploiting and raping women—in some cases minors—according to the victims themselves, who had been recruited by the financier's former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell.
To the shame of the UK police system, the accusations of Virginia Giuffre, who had accused Andrew of abuse, were never considered. But the new revelations have finally broken the lock that had been used to try to contain the scandal. Some of the known emails support the suspicion of malfeasance in the exercise of public office, while Andrew served as the UK's trade envoy during the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
In October 2010, Mountbatten-Windsor forwarded official reports of his visits to Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen, China, written by Amit Patel, then his special assistant. The reports were sent to Epstein just minutes after he received them from Patel. In his interview on the program Newsnight According to a 2019 BBC interview, the former prince claimed he last saw Epstein in early December 2010 to tell him he was ending their friendship. However, documents released by the US Department of Justice show that on Christmas Eve of that same year, he sent Epstein a message and a confidential report on investment opportunities in Helmand province, Afghanistan, where reconstruction was being funded by the UK government. With the subject line "Helmand: High-Value Business Opportunities for Foreign Investment," dated December 19, 2010, the memorandum revealed that the province's major cities, Lashkar Gah and Gereshk, "have secure industrial parks in the design and development phase by the DF," business opportunities including "significant high-value mineral deposits," and the "potential for low-cost extraction" of raw materials such as gold, iridium, uranium, thorium, marble, oil, and gas.
According to the rules governing the conduct of UK trade envoys, they have a duty of confidentiality that continues even after leaving office. Mountbatten-Windsor served in an official capacity between 2001 and 2011. And some of the emails appear to indicate that he and Epstein planned to set up a joint business in China years after Epstein was convicted of a sex crime involving soliciting a minor for prostitution and while he was in prison. Business discussions between the two, channeled through an intermediary named David Stern, apparently continued for more than five years after Epstein's release from prison.
Gordon Brown's role
Epstein was not the only person who allegedly received confidential information from Mountbatten-Windsor during his time as trade envoy. In February 2010, the then Duke of York asked Amanda Thirsk, his deputy private secretary, to obtain an internal government memo about the Icelandic financial crisis. Thirsk sent an email to Michael Ellam, Director General of International Finance at the Treasury, requesting a briefing note. At the time, the UK and Iceland were engaged in a diplomatic dispute over British deposits lost during the 2008 banking crisis.
On February 8, 2010, Thirsk wrote: "The Duke of York met with the Prime Minister of Iceland in Davos and Davos and Davos Iceland regarding deposits and the deposit guarantee scheme." A week later, Thirsk received the briefing note from another Treasury official and forwarded it to Mountbatten Windsor. Two hours later, he sent it to Jonathan Rowland, a close friend and former chief executive of Banque Havilland, a bank that the previous year had acquired assets from a failed Icelandic entity. Andrew wrote: "I'm passing this on to you for your comments and suggestions or solutions. The gist is that Amanda is getting signals that we should allow the democratic process to run its course before you make your move. I'm interested in your opinion. A[ndrew]."
Aside from these communications, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a statement this Thursday at midday informing that he has sent a five-page memo to five police forces, including Scotland Yard, with "additional information of great relevance" that could be key to the "Unit" investigation, focusing particularly on Stansted, where young women were allegedly moved under the radar of the authorities, according to his own conclusions after a detailed analysis of the documentation. This new documentation is in addition to what he already delivered last week to other police forces, in which he expressed his "deep concern" about the need to ensure justice is served for the girls who were victims of sex trafficking.
Brown's intervention is especially significant because of the political and moral weight the former Labour leader still carries. Beyond the issue of trafficking in women, Brown has expressed profound personal and political outrage upon discovering indications that suggest a member of his own cabinet, Peter MandelsonHe may have leaked highly sensitive financial information to Jeffrey Epstein during the 2008 financial crisis, including details about the euro bailout, the sale of state assets, and the British government's tax plans. Gordon Brown has described these alleged leaks as a betrayal of the country and a direct personal betrayal, openly acknowledging that it was a mistake to appoint Mandelson to the position after he had been dismissed twice during Tony Blair's government.