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

Bipartisan Pressure 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, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his connections to 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 formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would expect any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” the minister said.

The congressman 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 Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Interest in the case surged 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 thus far resulted in the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including a lewd drawing reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the former prince should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have circulated a discharge petition that will require the bill be voted on, if a majority of representatives endorse it.

“This is what my effort with Representative Massie has been about: transparency and justice for the victims who have been bravely sharing their stories,” Khanna said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four GOP members. The final required signature is expected to be Adelita 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 passes a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.