🔗 Share this article

A Democratic Party representative has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an investigation into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Testimony

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his dealings with Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who died by suicide 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 expect any reasonable individual to honor that request,” the minister said.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Probe Developments

Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department 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 House investigation has thus far resulted in the release of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative lacks the authority to subpoena 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.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

“This is what my effort with Congressman Massie has been about: transparency and justice for the survivors who have been bravely sharing their stories,” 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 inauguration by the Speaker. However, the House leader has declined to act until the House reconvenes, and says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.