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

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to 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 requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any reasonable individual to honor that request,” the minister said.

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

Partisan Landscape and Probe Developments

GOP members hold the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest flared in July, after the Department of Justice revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has thus far resulted in the release of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements 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, declined to comment about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, 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 a majority of representatives endorse it.

“This is what my effort with Representative Massie has been about: openness and justice for the survivors who have been bravely sharing their stories,” the lawmaker said.

The petition has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by the Speaker. However, the speaker has refused to do so until the House reconvenes, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.