US Lawmaker Urges Former Prince Andrew to Provide Testimony in Epstein Investigation

A Democratic Party representative has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Windsor to appear before the US House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an inquiry into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative who is a member of the House oversight committee, follows a British trade official, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information 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 formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would anticipate any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

Khanna stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Investigation Progress

GOP members control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest 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 House investigation has thus far resulted in the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal Actions and Obstacles

As a member of the minority, the representative lacks the authority to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be questioned.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release 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 circulated a discharge petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

“This is what my effort with Representative Massie has been about: openness and justice for the survivors who have been bravely sharing their stories,” the lawmaker said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who was elected in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the House leader has declined to act until the House comes back into session, and says he will not tell lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.