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A Democratic Party congressman has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the US 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, suggested that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, he should respond to requests for details about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an accused 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.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Progress

GOP members control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Interest in the case flared in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has so far led to the release of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Actions and Obstacles

As a minority party member, Khanna does not have the power to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the former prince should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. The two congressmen have circulated a discharge petition that will require the bill be voted on, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

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

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