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A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Evidence

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California 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 status, he should respond to requests for details about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who died by suicide 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 reasonable individual to comply with 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 Investigation Progress

Republicans hold 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 authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest flared in July, after the justice department revealed that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, 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 depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be interviewed.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will require the bill be voted on, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

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

The petition has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the House leader has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and says he will not tell representatives to return to Washington until the Senate approves a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.