Cars are pictured at the entrance to the Royal Lodge, a 30-room property and former residence to Britain's former prince Andrew, at Windsor Great Park in Windsor, Berkshire on February 19. Photo / Getty Images
As the United States Justice Department demurs from new inquiries linked to the Epstein files, the approach by European authorities stands in stark contrast.
On the other side of the Atlantic, governments are promising to hold the wealthy, powerful and politically connected to account.
Under public scrutiny, officials in Britain, France, Norway and beyond have opened a flurry of investigations and independent commissions to look into evidence of potential crimes in more than three million files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that were released last month by congressional order.
In three weeks, the revelations have prompted resignations, raids and other legal actions, none more notable than the detention of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles, on suspicion of misconduct in office.
“Nobody is above the law,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on television shortly before the arrest.
Starmer delivered that statement even as the tide of accountability knocked at the door of 10 Downing Street.
Communications made public in the files showed that Peter Mandelson, a former British ambassador to the United States selected by Starmer, maintained closer ties to Epstein than previously disclosed.
Those revelations sparked a flurry of calls for Starmer’s resignation - including from within his own Labour Party.
The fallout in Britain comes as a former Norwegian prime minister, a former French minister and other prominent figures on the continent face new investigations in what is fast shaping up to be a European exercise in accountability.
As the Trump Administration has portrayed Europe as in decline, some observers see the European response as evidence of the relative robustness of the rule of law in the continent’s democracies, compared with the concentration of power in Trump’s America.
“In Norway and across Europe, the instinct has been transparency and formal investigations,” said Julie Stuestol, a member of Norway’s parliament who serves on its justice committee.
“In the US, it looks more like containment.”
She added that “the contrast is striking”.
Senior Democratic lawmakers in Washington are comparing the broad legal action across the Atlantic to the muted response in the US.
“The DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files is a travesty,” Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) said in a post on X.
“The White House press secretary says, ‘We are moving on.’ But, in France, the Paris prosecutor’s office just opened two investigations based on new leads from the released files. And in Britain, former prince Andrew has been arrested over ties to Epstein. When will there be justice in America?”
Some analysts point out that the Epstein case has rocked the US for years while the impact in Europe has been more of a slow burn that ignited with the release of the latest files.
“One interpretation is that accountability still means something more in Europe than in America,” said Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs.
“A less generous interpretation is that it is a newer shock in Europe than in the US.”
The disclosures shook the country “to its core”, said Stuestol, the Norwegian lawmaker whose party advocated for an independent commission. “People are tired of elites protecting elites behind closed doors”, which has made objections to the proposal untenable, she said.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two charges of soliciting prostitution, including one involving a minor. He was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 and died in federal custody later that year. His death was ruled a suicide.
Judges and lawmakers say that over decades, Epstein abused, trafficked and molested scores of girls, many of whom have come forward in court and in other public forums.
Some prominent figures in the US have resigned from their jobs or lost business after the documents revealed their relationships with Epstein, but none is known to have faced criminal charges.
In Washington, efforts to hold people accountable for their involvement with Epstein have at times also fallen along partisan lines.
US President Donald Trump in November called on the Justice Department to examine the relationships between Epstein and several prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton. Attorney-General Pam Bondi tapped federal prosecutors in Manhattan to take on the job, but the Justice Department has not announced charges related to the inquiry.
“I can’t talk about any investigations, but I will say the following, which is that in July, the Department of Justice said that we had reviewed the files, the Epstein files, and there was nothing in there that allowed us to prosecute anybody,” Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche said in an interview with CNN this month. “The entire world can look at and see if we got it wrong.”
British authorities have not detailed the allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, whom police released after officials searched two addresses in Norfolk and Berkshire.
The new Epstein documents include photographs that appear to show Mountbatten-Windsor, who has denied any wrongdoing, crouched over a woman on a floor. They also indicate that he provided confidential government materials to Epstein at a time when the former prince was representing Britain as a trade envoy. The actions came months after he was stripped of his royal titles as a result of his ties to Epstein.
The British Government is considering whether to introduce legislation that would remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of royal succession “regardless of the outcome of the police investigation”, the BBC reported, citing Defence Minister Luke Pollard. Mountbatten-Windsor is eighth in line to the throne.
Following the arrest, King Charles issued a statement assuring the British public that the “the law must take its course” in the investigation of his brother.
“There is a great irony that in the year we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the American republic, the British monarchy is one that gives us a lesson in democracy,” said Dominique Moisi, a senior analyst of international affairs for the Institut Montaigne, a Paris-based think-tank.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said he supports investigating the links between prominent Norwegians and Epstein.
Like other European leaders, Store is under pressure to respond to voter outrage over the documents, which have implicated a global network of celebrities and politicians.
“I think it has been quite shocking for people to get this insight into this world and the connection between people with power. And how it has affected people without power, who have been abused and subjected to assault,” Store told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
This month, former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjorn Jagland was charged with aggravated corruption over Epstein links. Police have searched residences of Jagland, who formerly chaired the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Authorities also said they are investigating whether Jagland received gifts, travel or loans tied to his positions, including as head of the Council of Europe, the continent’s highest human rights watchdog.
The moves against him came as it emerged that he had planned visits to Epstein’s homes in Paris and New York, and that Epstein had visited Jagland’s residence in Strasbourg, France. Jagland, who has denied criminal liability and said he would co-operate with authorities, could face up to 10 years in prison.
Also this month, Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul resigned in the face of corruption charges after Norwegian media reported that Epstein left her children millions of dollars in his will.
Authorities are looking into Epstein’s links to Juul and her husband, who played a role in back-channel talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators that led to the Oslo accords. Juul has denied criminal liability.
Scandal hit the country’s stoic monarchy, too: Documents revealed that Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit had stayed at an Epstein property in Palm Beach, Florida, and exchanged scores of messages with the disgraced financier.
Her name appears repeatedly in the files, including after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor. The crown princess has expressed “deep regret” over her connection to Epstein.
Authorities in Latvia and Lithuania opened investigations into the possible trafficking of young women and girls by Epstein.
In Slovakia, the documents brought down Miroslav Lajcak, the prime minister’s national security adviser, who resigned over email exchanges with Epstein.
In France, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced two new investigations related to the Epstein files, one focused on sex-trafficking and the other on financial crimes.
French authorities were already looking into former French culture minister Jack Lang and his daughter over allegations of tax fraud and receiving money from Epstein. That inquiry followed an investigation by French news outlet Mediapart, which detailed close ties to Epstein.
Beccuau is calling for yet-unknown victims of Epstein to come forward.
- Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.
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