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A Democratic Party congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an inquiry into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Bipartisan Pressure for Testimony

The declaration from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, 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 decently minded person to honor that request,” the minister said.

Khanna stated: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Partisan Landscape and Investigation Progress

Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the government handled his prosecutions. Interest in the case 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 provide no additional information on the case.

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

Legal Efforts and Challenges

As a member of the minority, the representative does not have the power to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna have circulated a discharge petition that will require the bill be voted on, if a majority of representatives sign it.

“This is what my campaign with Representative Massie has been about: transparency and accountability for the victims who have been courageously speaking out,” Khanna said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who was elected 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 reconvenes, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.