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A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an inquiry into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Testimony

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative 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 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 anticipate any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

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

Political Environment and Probe Progress

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the government handled his prosecutions. Interest in the case surged in July, after the justice department revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The House investigation has thus far resulted in the release of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a member of the minority, the representative does not have the power to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the former prince should be questioned.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if a majority of representatives sign it.

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

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The 218th 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 refused to do so until the House reconvenes, and says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.