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A Democratic representative has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Testimony

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an accused 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 comply with that request,” Bryant 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 control the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case approved an inquiry by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The House investigation has thus far resulted in the release of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal 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, declined to comment about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be questioned.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, 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 endorse it.

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

The petition has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The 218th 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 House leader 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 passes a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.