A Democratic Party congressman has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.
Bipartisan Pressure for Testimony
The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, follows a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an accused 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 formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would anticipate any decently minded person to comply with that request,” Bryant said.
Khanna stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”
Partisan Landscape and Investigation Progress
GOP members control the majority in the House, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the oversight committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department revealed that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.
The House investigation has thus far resulted in the publication of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.
Legislative Actions and Obstacles
As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the former prince should be interviewed.
The Democrat and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. The two congressmen have circulated a discharge petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House endorse it.
“This is what my campaign with Representative Massie has been about: transparency and justice for the survivors who have been bravely sharing their stories,” Khanna said.
The petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from 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 lawmakers to return to Washington until the Senate passes a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.
