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

Bipartisan Pressure for Evidence

The statement from Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative 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 respond to requests for details 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 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,” Bryant said.

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

Partisan Landscape and Probe 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 prosecutions. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has so far led to the publication of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legal Actions and Obstacles

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

The Democrat 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. The two congressmen have circulated a discharge petition that will force a vote on the bill, if a majority of representatives endorse it.

“This is what my effort with Congressman Massie has been about: openness and justice for the survivors who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by Johnson. 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 approves a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.