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

Bipartisan Pressure for Testimony

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his connections to Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who died by suicide while in government 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 comply with that request,” the minister said.

The congressman commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The people have a right to know who was abusing women and young girls with Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Progress

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest flared in July, after the Department of Justice announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has thus far resulted in the publication of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legal Efforts and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have circulated a discharge petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House sign it.

“This is what my effort with Congressman Massie has been about: openness and justice for the victims who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by Johnson. However, the House leader has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and says he will not tell lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.