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

Bipartisan Demands for Evidence

The statement from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who is a member of the investigative 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 respond to requests for details about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who died by suicide while in federal custody six years ago.

“Just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would anticipate 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 with Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Probe Progress

GOP members 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 oversight committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the Department of Justice revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the publication of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch 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 lacks the authority to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have circulated a discharge petition that will force a vote on the bill, if a majority of representatives endorse it.

“This is what my campaign with Congressman Massie has been about: transparency and accountability for the survivors who have been bravely sharing their stories,” the lawmaker said.

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in 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 says he will not tell lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.