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A Democratic congressman has demanded the former prince Andrew Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives investigative panel that is currently conducting an investigation into the official 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 Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who took his own life while in government 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 summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Probe Progress

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the Department of Justice announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has so far led to the release of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

As a member of the minority, Khanna does not have the power to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be questioned.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will require the bill be voted on, 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,” the lawmaker said.

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, 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 swearing in by Johnson. However, the House leader 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 approves a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.