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

Bipartisan Pressure for Evidence

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

“Just as with any regular citizen, if there were formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would anticipate any decently minded person to honor that request,” the minister said.

Khanna stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Political Landscape and Investigation Progress

GOP members control 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 legal proceedings. Interest in the case surged in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

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

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a member of the minority, Khanna does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be interviewed.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure 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 require the bill be voted on, if a majority of representatives sign it.

“This is what my campaign with Representative Massie has been about: openness and justice for the survivors who have been bravely sharing their stories,” Khanna said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who was elected in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the speaker 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.