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

Cross-Party Demands for Evidence

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Jeffrey 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 anticipate any decently minded person to comply with that request,” the minister said.

The congressman commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Developments

Republicans control the majority in the House, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest flared in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has so far led to the release of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna does not have the power to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will require the bill be voted on, if a majority of representatives sign it.

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

The petition has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by the Speaker. However, the speaker has refused to do so 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.