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A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the ex-royal 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.

Bipartisan Demands for Evidence

The statement from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, he should answer demands for information about his connections to Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who took his own life 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 anticipate any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

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

Partisan Landscape and Investigation Developments

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest surged 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 congressional probe has so far led to the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legal Efforts and Challenges

As a member of the minority, the representative lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the ex-royal should be questioned.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure 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 force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

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

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the speaker has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.