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

Cross-Party Demands for Evidence

The statement from Ro 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 the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who died by suicide while in federal custody six years ago.

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

The congressman commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the investigative committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls with Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Progress

Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients was non-existent, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The House investigation has thus far resulted in the release of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

As a minority party member, 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 former prince should be questioned.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release 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 force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

“This is what my effort with Representative Massie has been about: transparency and accountability 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 GOP members. The 218th signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the speaker has declined to act until the House comes back into session, and says he will not tell lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.