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A Democratic Party representative has demanded the former prince Andrew Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an inquiry into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the House oversight committee, follows a British trade official, Chris Bryant, suggested that since Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of his royal status, he should respond to requests for details 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 formal requests from overseas of this kind, I would expect any decently minded person to honor that request,” the minister 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 alongside Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Investigation Developments

Republicans control the majority in the House of Representatives, but amid public outcry over former President Trump’s management of the Epstein matter approved an inquiry by the House committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The House investigation has thus far resulted in the release of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Actions and Obstacles

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to compel Mountbatten Windsor’s testimony. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. The two congressmen 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 petition has been endorsed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration 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 come back to the capital until the Senate approves a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.