🔗 Share this article

A Democratic Party congressman has demanded the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Bipartisan Pressure for Evidence

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who serves on the House oversight committee, follows a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to 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 comply with that request,” Bryant said.

The congressman stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Probe Progress

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has so far led to the release of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna does not have the power 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 former prince should be interviewed.

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. Massie and Khanna 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 Congressman Massie has been about: openness and accountability for the survivors who have been courageously speaking out,” Khanna said.

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in the state of 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 return to Washington until the Senate passes a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.