The war of words between Prince Andrew and the U.S. Department of Justice has been reignited Monday, on which Prince Andrew's lawyer team claimed that the Duke of York volunteered himself as a witness "on at least three occasions" this year, accusing the Justice Department of "seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance provided."

This comes months after the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York slammed the royal for offering "zero cooperation" with their Epstein investigation.

Hours after Prince Andrew's claim, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, issued a statement saying the prince had tried to "falsely portray himself to the public" as a cooperative.

"Today, Prince Andrew yet again sought to falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate" with the Epstein investigation, Berman wrote. "The Prince has not given an interview to federal authorities, has repeatedly declined our request to schedule such an interview, and nearly four months ago informed us unequivocally that he would not come in for such an interview."

"If Prince Andrew is, in fact, serious about cooperating with the ongoing federal investigation, our doors remain open, and we await word of when we should expect him," Berman said.

Andrew, 60, who is accused of having sexual relations with one woman when she was 17, publicly defended his friendship with Epstein in a BBC television interview last year, prompting outrage from his victims, and leading him to quit frontline royal duties.

In his statement, he said claims that he had stonewalled investigators were untrue, and accused the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) of chasing headlines.

"The Duke of York has on at least three occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness to the DoJ. Unfortunately, the DoJ has reacted to the first two offers by breaching their own confidentiality rules and claiming that the Duke has offered zero co-operation," the statement said.

"In doing so, they are perhaps seeking publicity rather than accepting the assistance proffered."

Epstein was accused in 2005 of a litany of sex crimes involving underage girls, but plead guilty to only two minor charges, and was found dead in his cell on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial for sex trafficking "dozens" of minors for sex.

Prince Andrew was reported a close friend of Epstein, and has been accused of having sex with a teenage girl provided to him by Epstein. The woman, Virginia Giuffre, alleged she was trafficked under-age to have sex with Prince Andrew for three times, which he categorically denied and still maintains he doesn't remember the meeting with the victim.

Despite the cloud of suspicion over Andrew, and despite the U.S. Justice Department summoning him for interview in the UK, Attorney General William Barr told Fox News Monday that Andrew would not be extradited to the U.S.

"I don't think it's a question of handing him over. I think it's just a question of having him provide some evidence," he said.

Reuters reported that U.S. authorities investigating Epstein's life and death had sent the British government a formal request, known as a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) submission, asking for access to the prince.

The MLAT is a procedure used in criminal investigations to gather material from foreign countries which cannot readily be obtained on a police cooperation basis.

If the MLAT request is granted, U.S. prosecutors could ask for Andrew to voluntarily attend an interview to give a statement or potentially force him to attend a court to provide evidence under oath. Britain's Home Office (interior ministry) said it did not comment on the existence of any MLAT requests. Buckingham Palace is not commenting on the legal case.

"Any pursuit of an application for mutual legal assistance would be disappointing, since the Duke of York is not a target of the DOJ investigation and has recently repeated his willingness to provide a witness statement," the statement from the prince's lawyers said.

(With input from agencies)