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A Democratic Party congressman has demanded the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify 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 Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California 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 died by suicide 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,” the minister said.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls with Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Developments

Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest flared in July, after the justice department revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

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

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative lacks the authority to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the ex-royal should be questioned.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has blocked a vote on it. 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 courageously speaking out,” Khanna said.

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in 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 approves a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.