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A Democratic congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an inquiry into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who is a member of the House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information 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 regular citizen, if there were formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would anticipate any reasonable individual to honor that request,” Bryant said.

The congressman stated: “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 hold the majority in the House, 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. Interest in the case flared in July, after the Department of Justice announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, 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 a lewd drawing apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

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

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

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

The petition has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the House leader 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 resolve the federal shutdown.