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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 official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Evidence

The statement from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the House oversight committee, follows 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 took his own life while in government custody six years ago.

“Just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would anticipate any decently minded person to honor 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 exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Probe Developments

Republicans control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case approved an inquiry by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Interest in the case flared in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, 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 a lewd drawing reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

As a member of the minority, the representative does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the former prince should be questioned.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of Epstein-related documents, 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 force a vote on the bill, if a majority of representatives endorse it.

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

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in 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 bill to resolve the federal shutdown.