Chief Royal Correspondent
A Democrat surge in the midterms could create new problems for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, including the removal of redactions from the Epstein Files and a fresh push for documents from U.K. police, a former federal prosecutor toldNewsweek.
Donald Trump has previously dismissed the scandal related to Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of girls as a Democrat conspiracy to damage him. In July 2025, the president blamed public pressure over the issue on the "Lunatic Left" in a Truth Social post that read: "Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax."
Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, toldNewsweekthat if the Democratswin back the Houseof Representatives in November it "could potentially have a huge impact" on the investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor, as British police attempt to obtain key evidence from Trump's Department of Justice.
Mountbatten-Windsor has been under pressure over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein since 2011 and the publication of Virginia Giuffre's first interview with the media, given toThe Mail on Sunday. In time, she went on to accuse the royal of sexual assault and in 2021 sued at civil court in New York. Mountbatten-Windsor settled for an undisclosed sum while denying liability.
In February, he was arrested by Thames Valley Police in England on suspicion of misconduct in public office over separate allegations. Anti-monarchy campaigners reported him over emails that had just been released in the Epstein Files. He was accused of leaking confidential U.K. government documents to Epstein while a British trade envoy. He has always denied Epstein-related wrongdoing.
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Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice released more than 3 million pages of evidence it held following the FBI investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, including Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently in jail on sex trafficking charges. However, many documents were redacted and many others withheld. In total, there were 6 million pages, suggesting around half were released.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and interviewed over allegations that stemmed from the files but has not been charged. U.K. police would need access to the original, unredacted documents in order to use them as evidence in a prosecution of the former prince, should one be brought.
Rahmani said a Democrat-dominated Congress could push for more of those unreleased pages to be published or for redactions to be removed as well as creating pressure on U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to release the original documents to British detectives.
"We don't know what the DOJ withheld," he said. "We don't know what is under those redactions. To the extent that Todd Blanche has the documents that need to be produced, it's really up to Congress to push the department to do so.
"The easiest and cleanest path is for them to file a lawsuit, demand that the DOJ produce the documents to a judge here in the United States and the judge will either himself or herself or by appointing a special master, usually a retired judge, go through these documents. They will look to see whether redactions have been done on a legally legitimate basis.
"Usually the only legitimate basis should be to protect the identity of a victim of sexual abuse. So, we'll see how aggressive the House is."
This would be possible, Rahmani said, without support from the Senate, meaning a Democrat victory in the House of Representatives could potentially be enough.
"The House could subpoena it and conduct hearings," he said. "The House could do it on its own. This doesn't require a bill becoming a law. It doesn't have to pass both houses and be signed by the president."
