US Lawmaker Urges Former Prince Andrew to Testify in Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an investigation into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Cross-Party Demands for Evidence
The statement from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to 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 requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would anticipate any decently minded person to comply with that request,” Bryant said.
The congressman stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”
Partisan Landscape and Investigation Developments
Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the government handled his prosecutions. Public interest flared in July, after the justice department revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.
The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the publication of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.
Legislative Actions and Challenges
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, declined to comment about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.
Khanna and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. The two congressmen have circulated a discharge petition that will force a vote on the bill, if a majority of representatives endorse it.
“This is what my effort with Congressman Massie has been about: transparency and accountability for the victims who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.
The appeal has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is expected to be 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 has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.