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A Democratic Party representative has demanded the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives investigative panel that is currently conducting an investigation into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Bipartisan Pressure for Testimony

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who took his own life 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 reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

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

Political Environment and Probe Developments

Republicans control the majority in the House, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Interest in the case surged in July, after the Department of Justice announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the release of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal Efforts and Obstacles

As a minority party member, Khanna does not have the power to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the ex-royal should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House 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 endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of 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 says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.