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A Democratic congressman has publicly called for the ex-royal Andrew Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The statement from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the 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 answer demands for information about his connections to Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who took his own life 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 called to testify before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Probe Progress

GOP members hold the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the government handled his prosecutions. Interest in the case surged in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, 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 Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a member of the minority, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the former prince should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna 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 campaign with Representative Massie has been about: openness and accountability for the victims who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the House leader 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 measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.