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

Bipartisan Pressure for Evidence

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative who is a member of the House oversight committee, follows a British trade official, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who took his own life while in government custody six years ago.

“Just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

The congressman commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Political Landscape and Probe Progress

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Interest in the case surged in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored 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 release of tens of thousands of pages – including a lewd drawing reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Efforts and Obstacles

As a member of the minority, the representative lacks the authority to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the Republican committee chairman, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be interviewed.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. The two congressmen have distributed a petition that will require the bill be voted on, if 218 members of the House sign it.

“This is what my campaign with Representative Massie has been about: transparency and accountability for the survivors who have been courageously speaking out,” Khanna said.

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the House leader has declined to act until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to return to Washington until the Senate passes a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.