US Congressman Calls On Ex-Royal Andrew to Provide Testimony in Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
A Democratic Party congressman has demanded the ex-royal Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an investigation into the official handling of the Jeffrey 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, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who took his own life 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 decently minded person to comply with that request,” the minister said.
Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”
Political Landscape and Investigation Progress
GOP members control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest surged in July, after the Department of Justice announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would provide no additional information on the case.
The House investigation has so far led to the release of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.
Legal Efforts and Obstacles
As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, Chairman Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.
The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. The two congressmen have distributed a petition that will require the bill be voted on, if a majority of representatives endorse it.
“This is what my effort with Representative Massie has been about: transparency and justice for the survivors who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.
The petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election 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 measure to resolve the federal shutdown.
