The New York lawyer leading the Jeffrey Epstein investigation has made it “virtually impossible” for the Duke of York to co-operate, sources have said. Escalating the extraordinary row between Prince Andrew and US attorney Geoffrey Berman, insiders on Tuesday hit back at claims that the 60-year-old royal has “repeatedly declined” the FBI’s requests for an interview. It came after Mr Berman’s office issued a hard-hitting statement on Monday night, accusing Andrew of “falsely portraying himself to the public as eager and willing to co-operate”, in response to suggestions that he had offered to assist the investigation three times this year. On Monday, the Duke complained through his lawyers that he was being treated as a second-class citizen by the US justice system, insisting it was “entirely misleading” to say he had offered “zero co-operation”. His fightback came after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a “mutual legal assistance” (MLA) request to the Home Office, formally seeking help to question him.
