US prosecutors invite Prince Andrew to 'talk to us' after arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell

Authored by telegraph.co.uk and submitted by savuporo

US prosecutors have said they would "welcome" Prince Andrew's testimony after the FBI arrested his close friend Ghislaine Maxwell on charges of sex trafficking for the dead financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Ms Maxwell, a former girlfriend of the disgraced late financier, was picked up in a small town in New Hampshire on Thursday morning and charged with helping elicit underage girls to travel for sex and of lying to investigators about it later.

The arrest could have significant implications for the Duke of York, who is reported to have been introduced to Epstein in 1999 by his friend Ms Maxwell, as well as other high-profile associates of the pair going back decades.

Audrey Strauss, acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said she "would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk with us. We would like to have the benefit of his statement," prompting speculation that he may among those investigators focus their attention on next.

She alleged that Ms Maxwell recruited, groomed, and abused victims known to be minors as young as 14 and played a part in trafficking them across America, the UK and France. One of the girls was allegedly groomed and abused in London, according to an unsealed indictment filed in New York.

Ms Maxwell appeared via video link at a court hearing in New Hampshire on Thursday afternoon, where she read the charges against her.

Elbereth-Glithoniel on July 2nd, 2020 at 20:10 UTC »

Oh boy... Hopefully they watch her 24/7. Nobody wants another Epstein episode, right?

Hyperian on July 2nd, 2020 at 20:07 UTC »

So how is she gonna die accidentally?

edit: "what the hell did i say" when i saw the inbox!

Kittykatkid on July 2nd, 2020 at 19:49 UTC »

Hanging around with Epstein is in her future.