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A Democratic congressman has publicly called for the former prince Andrew Windsor to testify before the US House of Representatives investigative panel that is carrying out an inquiry into the government’s handling of the Epstein case.

Cross-Party Pressure for Testimony

The declaration from Congressman Khanna, a California Democratic representative who is a member of the investigative House oversight committee, comes after a UK trade minister, Chris Bryant, indicated that since the former prince has been stripped of his royal titles, he should respond to requests for details about his dealings with Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who died by suicide while in government 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 anticipate any decently minded person to honor that request,” the minister said.

Khanna commented: “Andrew should be summoned to appear before the oversight committee. The public deserves to know who was abusing women and young girls alongside Epstein.”

Partisan 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 authorities managed his prosecutions. Interest in the case 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 House investigation has so far led to the publication of thousands of documents – including a lewd drawing reportedly drawn by Donald Trump for Epstein’s birthday – as well as sworn statements from former top government officials.

Legal Efforts and Obstacles

As a minority party member, 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 ex-royal should be interviewed.

Khanna and Thomas Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but Mike Johnson, a top ally of the president, has blocked a vote on it. 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 campaign 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 signed by all 213 House Democrats, 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 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 lawmakers to come back to the capital until the Senate approves a measure to resolve the federal shutdown.