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A Democratic congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the US House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an inquiry into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Evidence

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, 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 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 formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would anticipate any decently minded person to honor that request,” the minister 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 with Epstein.”

Political Landscape and Probe Progress

GOP members control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Interest in the case surged in July, after the Department of Justice revealed that a widely speculated 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 thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal Efforts and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be interviewed.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. The two congressmen have circulated a discharge petition that will force a vote on the bill, if a majority of representatives sign it.

“This is what my campaign with Congressman Massie has been about: transparency and justice for the victims who have been bravely sharing their stories,” the lawmaker said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by the Speaker. However, the House leader has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.