🔗 Share this article

A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the ex-royal Andrew Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an inquiry into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Bipartisan Demands for Evidence

The statement from Congressman 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 the former prince has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to Jeffrey 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 anticipate any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

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

Partisan Environment and Investigation Developments

Republicans hold the majority in the House, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Interest in the case surged in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

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

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

As a member of the minority, Khanna lacks the authority to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the former prince should be questioned.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but Mike Johnson, a key presidential supporter, 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 218 members of the House sign it.

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

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is expected to be 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 comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.