🔗 Share this article

A Democratic Party congressman has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an investigation into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Bipartisan Demands for Evidence

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on 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 dealings with Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who died by suicide while in federal 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 decently minded person to honor that request,” Bryant said.

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

Partisan Landscape and Investigation Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Interest in the case flared in July, after the justice department revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The congressional probe has so far led to the release of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but Mike Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna have circulated a discharge petition that will require the bill be voted on, 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,” Khanna said.

The petition has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by Johnson. 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 return to Washington until the Senate passes a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.