Officials at the Home Office voiced concerns that Andrew Moutbatten-Windsor could launch legal action against the UK Government at the High Court if they helped the FBI to summon him to testify, according to emails in the Epstein Files, it has been reported.
The former prince has not assisted the FBI with the Epstein probe, and repeatedly refused requests to attend a voluntary interview to reveal what he knew about the late convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, during the US investigation in 2020. Instead, his lawyers insisted he would only give a signed written statement.
Emails uncovered by The Sun show why the efforts ultimately failed. Civil servants in Whitehall feared that Blackfords, the law firm used by Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, would challenge any help they provided. An email states: “They [The UK Home Office] expect that once they approve the MLA and refer it to the police that the Blackfords will file a judicial review action.
“In that action, they believe Blackfords will claim that the Home Office failed to follow its internal guidelines on reserving MLA assistance to those instances in which voluntary cooperation is not possible.
“Blackfords will argue that since they have offered voluntary cooperation as recently as early June, the Home Office failed to properly apply its internal guidelines, and the court should direct the Home Office to vacate its approval of the MLA request and send it back to the US to engage on a voluntary basis with the Prince’s team.”
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