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A Democratic 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 Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a British trade official, Chris Bryant, suggested that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal status, he should answer demands for information about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker who died by suicide while in federal custody six years ago.

“Just as with any regular citizen, 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 commented: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Investigation Developments

GOP members control the majority in the House, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the House committee into how the government handled his prosecutions. Interest in the case surged in July, after the Department of Justice announced that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The House investigation has so far led to the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legal Efforts and Obstacles

As a member of the minority, Khanna lacks the authority to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the former prince should be interviewed.

Khanna and Republican Congressman Massie have proposed legislation to mandate the disclosure of Epstein-related documents, 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 Congressman Massie has been about: openness and justice for the survivors who have been courageously speaking out,” the lawmaker said.

The petition has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The final required signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who was elected in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by the Speaker. However, the speaker has declined to act until the House reconvenes, and says he will not tell representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.