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A Democratic congressman has demanded the former prince Andrew Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an inquiry into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Evidence

The statement from Ro 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 respond to requests for details about his connections to 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 formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would expect any reasonable individual to honor that request,” the minister said.

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

Political Landscape and Probe Developments

Republicans control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Interest in the case flared in July, after the Department of Justice 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 congressional probe has so far led to the release of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legal Efforts and Obstacles

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

Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, 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 a majority of representatives sign it.

“This is what my effort with Congressman Massie has been about: openness and justice for the victims who have been bravely sharing their stories,” the lawmaker said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by the Speaker. However, the speaker has declined to act until the House reconvenes, and says he will not tell lawmakers to return to Washington until the Senate approves a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.