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A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an investigation into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Bipartisan Pressure for Evidence

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who serves on the House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with 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 requests from another jurisdiction 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 public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls with Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Probe Developments

Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest flared in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The congressional probe has so far led to the publication of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna does not have the power to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the ex-royal should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. The two congressmen have circulated a discharge 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: transparency and accountability for the survivors who have been bravely sharing their stories,” Khanna said.

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. 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 bill to resolve the federal shutdown.