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A Democratic Party representative has publicly called for the ex-royal Andrew Windsor to appear before the House of Representatives committee that is carrying out an investigation into the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Cross-Party Demands for Evidence

The statement from Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California who serves on 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 Epstein, an accused sex trafficker who died by suicide 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 anticipate any reasonable individual to comply with that request,” Bryant said.

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

Partisan Landscape and Investigation Developments

Republicans control the majority in the House, but following public pressure over Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein case authorized an investigation by the oversight committee into how the authorities managed his legal proceedings. Public interest surged in July, after the Department of Justice announced that a much-rumored list of Epstein’s associates was non-existent, and it would provide no additional information on the case.

The congressional probe has so far led to the publication of thousands of documents – including an explicit sketch reportedly drawn by Trump for Epstein’s 50th birthday – as well as depositions from former top government officials.

Legislative Actions and Obstacles

As a minority party member, Khanna lacks the authority to subpoena the former prince’s appearance. Spokespeople for the committee’s Republican chair, James Comer, declined to comment about whether he thinks the former prince should be questioned.

The Democrat and Republican Congressman Massie have proposed legislation to force the release of Epstein-related documents, but House Speaker Johnson, a top ally of the president, has refused to bring it up for a vote. The two congressmen 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 Congressman Massie has been about: transparency and accountability for the victims who have been courageously speaking out,” Khanna said.

The petition has been endorsed by all 213 House Democrats, as well as four Republicans. The 218th signature is anticipated to come from Representative-elect Grijalva, who won a special election in the state of Arizona last month, and awaits inauguration by Johnson. However, the House leader has refused to do so until the House comes back into session, and says he will not tell lawmakers to return to Washington until the Senate approves a bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.