🔗 Share this article

A Democratic Party representative has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives investigative panel that is currently conducting an inquiry into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Testimony

The statement from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his dealings with Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who died by suicide 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 expect any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

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

Partisan Landscape and Investigation Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest flared in July, after the Department of Justice revealed 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 release of tens of thousands of pages – including a lewd drawing reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the ex-royal should be interviewed.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure 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 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: openness and accountability for the victims who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who was elected in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the House leader has declined to act until the House reconvenes, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to return to Washington until the Senate approves a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.