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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 committee that is currently conducting an inquiry into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Evidence

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, follows a British trade official, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, an accused 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 requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any decently minded person to honor that request,” Bryant said.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Probe Progress

Republicans hold the majority in the House, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department announced 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 so far led to the publication of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal Actions and Obstacles

As a minority party member, Khanna does not have the power to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. The two congressmen have circulated a discharge petition that will require the bill be voted on, if 218 members of the House sign it.

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

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who was elected in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the House leader has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.