BRITAIN faces increased pressure from the US to hand over Prince Andrew for questioning over sex abuse claims.
President Biden’s office made a rare statement amid claims of frustration over the Duke of York’s stonewalling.
Officials want the UK to reaffirm its “close and resilient” evidence-sharing relationship. The Department of Justice sent a mutual legal assistance request to the Home Office last year to try to force Andrew’s cooperation.
Following enquiries about the Duke, a US government official said: “The US and the UK have a close, productive and resilient law enforcement and mutual legal assistance relationship.
“We remain in close contact on many active cases on a daily basis and will continue to seek assistance in criminal matters as we provide similar assistance in return.”
Andrew, 61, has resisted approaches to cooperate with a criminal investigation into dead billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged co-conspirators.
US prosecutors — who are unravelling Epstein’s sprawling underage sex trafficking operation — accused Andrew of “zero cooperation” last year.
News agency Reuters reported earlier this month that Andrew was a “person of interest” in the Epstein probe — led by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. He is being considered “at least” a witness.
As part of their investigation, Epstein’s alleged madam, Brit socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, has been charged with procuring girls for her former lover.
The Duke also faces a civil lawsuit from sex slave Virginia Giuffre in the US, over allegations he sexually assaulted her.
He has vehemently denied the claims in the past.
His representative declined to comment. The Home Office was also contacted for comment.
