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A Democratic congressman has demanded the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an inquiry into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Bipartisan Demands for Testimony

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, 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 Jeffrey Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who died by suicide while in government custody six years ago.

“Just as with any regular citizen, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would anticipate any reasonable individual to honor that request,” the minister said.

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

Political Environment and Probe Progress

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest flared in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, 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 reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal Efforts and Obstacles

As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a key presidential supporter, 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 justice for the victims who have been bravely sharing their stories,” the lawmaker said.

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by Johnson. However, the speaker has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.