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A Democratic Party representative has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives committee that is currently conducting an inquiry into the official handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, follows a British trade official, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince 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 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 comply with that request,” the minister said.

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

Partisan Landscape and Probe Developments

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

The congressional probe has thus far resulted in the release of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch apparently made by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from ex-government leaders.

Legal Actions and Challenges

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to compel the former prince’s appearance. Representatives for the committee’s Republican chair, Chairman Comer, did not respond to questions about whether he thinks the ex-royal should be questioned.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to force the release of files related to Epstein, but House Speaker Johnson, a key presidential supporter, has blocked a vote on it. The two congressmen have distributed a petition that will force a vote on the bill, if a majority of representatives endorse it.

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

The appeal has been signed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is expected to be Representative-elect Grijalva, who was elected in Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the House leader has declined to act until the House comes back into session, and has stated he won’t instruct representatives to return to Washington until the Senate passes a measure to end the ongoing government shutdown.