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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.

Bipartisan Demands for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles, he should answer demands for information about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, an accused 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 anticipate any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” the minister said.

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

Political 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 case 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 provide no additional information on the case.

The House investigation has thus far resulted in the release of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to subpoena Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Representatives for the Republican committee chairman, Chairman Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the former prince 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 key presidential supporter, has refused to bring it up for a vote. Massie and Khanna have distributed a petition that will require the bill be voted on, if 218 members of the House endorse it.

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

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, 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 Johnson. However, the speaker has declined to act until the House reconvenes, and says he will not tell representatives to return to Washington until the Senate passes a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.