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A Democratic Party representative has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an inquiry into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, follows a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, he should respond to requests for details about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an accused 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 requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would anticipate any reasonable individual to honor that request,” Bryant said.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The people have a right to know who was abusing women and young girls with Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Investigation Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest flared in July, after the Department of Justice revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The congressional probe has so far led to the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a member of the minority, the representative does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the former prince should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker 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 a majority of representatives sign it.

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

The appeal has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the speaker has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to return to Washington until the Senate passes a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.