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A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an inquiry into the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Bipartisan Demands for Evidence

The statement from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, follows a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his connections to Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who took his own life while in federal 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 honor that request,” the minister said.

Khanna stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Probe Developments

Republicans hold the majority in the House, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Interest in the case flared in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has so far led to the publication of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Actions and Obstacles

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, 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 sign it.

“This is what my campaign with Congressman Massie has been about: openness and justice for the victims who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.

The petition has been signed 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 inauguration by Johnson. However, the speaker has declined to act until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.