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A Democratic Party representative has demanded the former prince Andrew Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an investigation into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Bipartisan Pressure for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, follows a British trade official, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, he should respond to requests for details about his dealings with Jeffrey 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 requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” the minister said.

The congressman commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Progress

Republicans control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Interest in the case surged in July, after the Department of Justice announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the Republican committee chairman, Chairman Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the former prince should be interviewed.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill 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. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if a majority of representatives endorse it.

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

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is expected to be 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 says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.