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

Bipartisan Pressure for Evidence

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, follows a British trade official, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who died by suicide while in government custody six years ago.

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

The congressman stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Developments

Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Interest in the case flared in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the release of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Efforts and Obstacles

As a minority party member, Khanna does not have the power to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the former prince should be questioned.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House sign it.

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

The petition has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election 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 says he will not tell lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.