Prince Andrew has been arrested for passing documents to Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. BBC. 

Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested for passing documents to Jeffrey Epstein. BBC. Andrew, who had his titles revoked for his association with Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse, was not charged for sex crimes, but arrested for abuse of office. Under UK laws, police are allowed to arrest suspects before formal charges have been filed. Files released from the FBI's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein showed that Andrew had passed on information on state visits and investment opportunities while performing his role as the UK's trade envoy. Andrew was accused by Virginia Giuffre, who died in 2025, of sexual assault, but settled those allegations out of court. 

My Comment:

A quick note on criminal justice in the UK. Unlike the United States, police in the UK can arrest and hold people before formal charges while an investigation is still ongoing. Obviously, this is not how it works in the United States, and it is very possible, though unlikely, that Andrew could still avoid charges. 

With that being said, the facts of this case does not seem to be in dispute. Andrew, in the role as trade delegate, passed information onto Epstein, information that Epstein had no right to. I don't think anyone has denied that Andrew passed these documents to Epstein and there really wasn't any reason for him to do so. 

But the case might not be as open and shut as we think. Andrew does have the defense that these documents weren't technically classified and sending them to Epstein wasn't damaging. Without a full review of those documents, I am not sure if that is a correct reading or not, but right now the chances of acquittal are not zero, along with the fact that he might not even be formally charged at all. 

Greatly complicating things is the fact that a lot of people that could potentially serve on his Jury are going to be very aware of the other accusations against him. Epstein was credibly accused of sexual misconduct by two separate people, an anonymous 22 year old woman and Virginia Giuffre. Andrew probably should have been charged in both cases, but was not (and will not in Giuffre's case after her death last year). Though Andrew is likely to get a fair trial and media coverage will be limited in the UK at least, I can't help but to think that the jury will convict if this ever goes to trial for that reason alone. 

Of course, it's very possible and even likely that Andrew will plead guilty. Plea deals work differently in the UK, but he would be able to cut quite a bit of his time off simply by pleading guilty at the first opportunity. Doing so would make this case go away and it is probably the most likely and welcome outcome for Andrew. The general public would not like it though, and would perceive any deal as favoritism, even though Andrew is obviously in the outs with the Royal Family. 

I had said for awhile that it was pretty likely that this arrest, along with a possible one of Lord Mandelson who also passed documents to Epstein and even collected money from him, were going to be the only ones we see as a result of the Epstein files. Though the demand for scalps for sexual crimes is high, the evidence just isn't there. Very few of Epstein's victims named names and many of them are not reliable themselves, including the late Virginia Giuffre. She did name names but ended up having to settle with Alan Dershowitz for defamation when she accused him of misconduct. Not to mention, many of the players are dead, with Epstein and Jean-Luc Brunel dying in prison and Bill Richardson and Marvin Minsky dying of natural causes. Not to mention Giuffre herself. 

The UK cases though are a lot easier to prosecute. There isn't any he-said she-said uncertainty here and there is likely to be physical evidence. Even if no new evidence is discovered, the evidence is solid. The emails are real and aren't really in dispute. The main questions are going to be if it meets the standards of the Misconduct in Public Office crime, not if he actually sent the information. 

Will this cause the Epstein issue to go away in the United States or get worse? I am not sure. Prince Andrew was the most high profile person in the entire Epstein scandal that was actually credibly accused of misconduct (Obviously Bill Clinton and Donald Trump were higher profile, but neither of them have any credible accusations against them). Arresting him will be seen as a victory. 

On the other hand, many of the folks out there have legitimately gone insane over the Epstein issue. I had one person threaten to throw me into a woodchipper on social media the other day after I said we shouldn't execute people without evidence. These are no longer rational people and they won't be satisfied by anything other than seeing whoever they hate the most getting lynched, regardless of what the evidence actually shows. I don't think there is any hope for these people, but they are thankfully a small minority. 

Regardless, I am glad to see Andrew crash and burn. Even if he somehow avoids getting charged and imprisoned, his reputation has been destroyed. I have always believed that the sexual misconduct accusations against him were among the most convincing in the Epstein case and I have little doubt he is guilty of them. I also believe he was guilty of passing documents to Epstein as well and I am happy he is going to face justice.