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A Democratic congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Evidence

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, 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,” Bryant said.

The congressman commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the investigative committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Probe Progress

GOP members hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case 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 revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, 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 a lewd drawing apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Efforts and Obstacles

As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, Chairman Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be interviewed.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, but Mike 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 force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House sign it.

“This is what my effort with Representative Massie has been about: transparency and justice 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 GOP members. The final required signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the House leader has declined to act until the House reconvenes, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to return to Washington until the Senate approves a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.