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A Democratic Party representative has publicly called for the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives investigative panel that is currently conducting an investigation into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Evidence

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who took his own life while in government 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,” the minister 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.”

Political Environment and Investigation Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the government handled his prosecutions. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has thus far resulted in the publication of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legislative Actions and Obstacles

As a minority party member, the representative lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the ex-royal should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas 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. The two congressmen have circulated a discharge petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House endorse 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,” 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 Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the House leader has declined to act 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.