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A Democratic representative has demanded the former prince Andrew Windsor to appear before the US House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an investigation into the government’s 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 House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, 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.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Probe Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House of Representatives, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the oversight committee into how the government handled his prosecutions. Interest in the case surged in July, after the justice department announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, 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 reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Actions and Obstacles

As a member of the minority, the representative lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he believes the ex-royal should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has refused to bring it up for a vote. The two congressmen have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if 218 members of the House sign it.

“This is what my campaign with Representative Massie has been about: transparency and accountability 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 Republicans. 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 inauguration by Johnson. However, the speaker has declined to act 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.