tatler | The news comes following a public back and forth between the US
Department of Justice and Prince Andrew’s legal team over the royal’s
alleged lack of cooperation in the ongoing investigations into Epstein.
But one of the US prosecutors leading the enquiries, Geoffrey Berman,
has now been sacked from his role as Attorney for the Southern District
of New York by Donald Trump after refusing to stand down.
According to the Times, the US Attorney General,
William Barr, asked President Trump to remove Berman – who had also
overseen the prosecution of a number of Trump’s associates. Berman
initially responded by stating that he had ‘no intention of resigning’
after Trump ally Barr unexpectedly announced that Berman was ‘stepping
down’.
Earlier in June it was reported that the US Department
of Justice had asked the Home Office to help it question Andrew over his
links to Epstein. The Duke of York’s legal team accused the DoJ of
‘breaching their own confidentiality rules’, claiming that the royal had
‘offered his assistance as a witness’ on at least three occasions this
year.
Berman retaliated by stating that Andrew had
‘yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and
willing to cooperate.’ He added that in fact, the Duke ‘has not given an
interview to federal authorities, has repeatedly declined our request
to schedule such an interview, and nearly four months ago informed us
unequivocally – through the very same counsel who issued today's release
– that he would not come in for such an interview… If Prince Andrew is,
in fact, serious about cooperating with the ongoing federal
investigation, our doors remain open, and we await word of when we
should expect him.’
It was subsequently reported that
Andrew would not cooperate with the Epstein investigation unless
American investigators offer him ‘an olive branch’. The Duke of York has
consistently denied any wrongdoing in regards to his links with his
former friend.
