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A Democratic 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 Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Testimony

The statement from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, follows a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his dealings with Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who died by suicide while in government custody six years ago.

“Just as with any regular citizen, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any decently minded person to comply with that request,” the minister said.

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

Partisan Environment and Investigation Progress

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the Department of Justice revealed that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has so far led to the release of tens of thousands of pages – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Donald 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 does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, Chairman Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, 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 a majority of representatives sign it.

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

The petition has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. 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 speaker has declined to act until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.