🔗 Share this article

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

Bipartisan Demands for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to 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 anticipate any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

Khanna stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was abusing women and young girls with Epstein.”

Partisan 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 matter approved an inquiry by the oversight committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest flared in July, after the Department of Justice revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the release of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legislative Efforts and Obstacles

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, but Mike 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 require the bill be voted on, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

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

The petition has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the House leader has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.