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A Democratic Party representative has demanded the former prince Andrew Windsor to testify before the House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an investigation into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Bipartisan Demands for Evidence

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, follows 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 alleged sex trafficker who took his own life while in government custody six years ago.

“Just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would expect any decently minded person to comply with that request,” the minister said.

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

Partisan Landscape and Investigation Progress

GOP members control the majority in the House, but following public pressure over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the government handled his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department revealed that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s sex trafficking clients did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

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

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna 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 Representative Massie has been about: transparency and accountability for the survivors 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 final required signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who was elected 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 says he will not tell lawmakers to return to Washington until the Senate approves a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.