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

Bipartisan Pressure for Testimony

The statement from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who is a member of the House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, 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 regular citizen, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would anticipate any reasonable individual to honor that request,” the minister said.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls with Epstein.”

Political Environment and Probe Progress

GOP members hold the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest flared in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has so far led to the publication of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Efforts and Challenges

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

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will require the bill be voted on, if a majority of representatives sign it.

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

The appeal has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by the Speaker. However, the speaker 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 approves a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.