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

Bipartisan Demands for Evidence

The statement 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 titles, he should answer demands for information about his connections to Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who took his own life while in federal custody six years ago.

“Just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any decently minded person to honor that request,” the minister said.

Khanna stated: “Andrew should be called to testify before the investigative committee. The people have a right to know who was exploiting women and minors with Epstein.”

Political Landscape and Probe Progress

GOP members hold 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 oversight committee into how the government handled his prosecutions. Public interest surged in July, after the justice department revealed that a widely speculated list of Epstein’s associates did not exist, and it would share nothing further on the case.

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the release of tens of thousands of pages – including a lewd drawing apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as depositions from ex-government leaders.

Legislative Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, the representative does not have the power to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks 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 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 a majority of representatives sign it.

“This is what my effort with Representative Massie has been about: openness and accountability for the survivors who have been courageously speaking out,” Khanna said.

The appeal has been signed by all 213 Democratic representatives, as well as four GOP members. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits swearing in by the Speaker. However, the speaker has declined to act until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.