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A Democratic representative has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Bipartisan Pressure for Evidence

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative who is a member of the investigative 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 connections to 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 requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any decently minded person to honor that request,” Bryant said.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Political Landscape and Probe Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Interest in the case surged in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has so far led to the publication of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, 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 sign it.

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

The petition has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who was elected in Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by the Speaker. However, the speaker has refused to do so until the House reconvenes, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.