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A Democratic congressman has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, he should answer demands for information about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who died by suicide while in federal custody six years ago.

“Just as with any regular citizen, if there were formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would anticipate any reasonable individual to honor that request,” the minister said.

The congressman stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Probe Progress

Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest flared in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including a lewd drawing reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legal Actions and Obstacles

As a member of the minority, Khanna does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

“This is what my campaign with Congressman Massie has been about: transparency and accountability for the victims who have been bravely sharing their stories,” the lawmaker said.

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the House leader has refused to do so until the House reconvenes, and says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.