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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 carrying out an inquiry into the official handling of the Epstein case.

Bipartisan Demands for Testimony

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, suggested that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, he should respond to requests for details about his connections to 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 requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any reasonable individual to honor that request,” Bryant said.

The congressman stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The public deserves to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Partisan Environment and Probe Progress

Republicans hold the majority in the House, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein matter authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his prosecutions. Public interest surged in July, after the Department of Justice revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the publication of tens of thousands of pages – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a member of the minority, the representative does not have the power to compel the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he believes the former prince should be interviewed.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. Massie and Khanna have circulated a discharge petition that will require the bill be voted on, 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 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 expected to be Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by Johnson. However, the House leader has declined to act until the House reconvenes, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to come back to the capital until the Senate passes a bill to resolve the federal shutdown.