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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 committee that is carrying out an inquiry into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Evidence

The statement from Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative who serves on the House oversight committee, follows a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated 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 died by suicide 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 expect any decently minded person to honor that request,” Bryant said.

The congressman stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Investigation Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Interest in the case surged in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has so far led to the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, declined to comment 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 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 sign it.

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

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the speaker has refused to do so until the House reconvenes, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to return to Washington until the Senate approves a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.