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A Democratic Party representative has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives investigative panel that is currently conducting an inquiry into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the House oversight committee, follows a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who took his own life while in government custody six years ago.

“Just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would anticipate any decently minded person to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Political Environment and Investigation Progress

GOP members hold the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the oversight committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, 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 a lewd drawing apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the former prince should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has blocked a vote on it. The two congressmen 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 Congressman Massie has been about: transparency and accountability for the survivors who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The final required 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 reconvenes, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to return to Washington until the Senate passes a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.