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A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the US House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who took his own life 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.

The congressman commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Developments

Republicans control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed 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 congressional probe has so far led to the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th 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 subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the ex-royal should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has blocked a vote on it. 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 effort with Congressman Massie has been about: transparency and accountability 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 GOP members. The final required signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the speaker has declined to act until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to return to Washington until the Senate passes a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.