Washington: Republican Representative Nancy Mace has publicly called for the prosecution of Britain's Prince Andrew for his alleged involvement in crimes on American soil connected to the infamous financier Jeffrey Epstein. The appeal comes in the wake of the recent release of extensive files related to Epstein's case.

According to Philippines News Agency, Mace took to the US social media platform X, expressing her stance by questioning, "So, when do we prosecute Prince Andrew for potential crimes on US soil? Seems like the right next step (after we release the files)." In another post on her personal account, Mace depicted a scenario with Prince Andrew in handcuffs, suggesting it would "send the right message."

The allegations against Prince Andrew surfaced publicly in 2011 when Virginia Giuffre, a survivor of Epstein's sex trafficking network, accused the British royal of abusing her at the age of 17. Giuffre had been trafficked by Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Prince Andrew has consistently denied these allegations but opted to settle the matter out of court with Giuffre in 2022. Tragically, Giuffre passed away by suicide earlier this year at the age of 41.

Mace, who has recently been involved in discussions with Epstein's victims during a closed-door session at the Capitol, left early due to a panic attack. She later explained her departure, citing personal experiences as a recent survivor of sexual assault, which made the testimonies particularly challenging for her to hear.

In a related legislative development, Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California have introduced a bipartisan initiative aimed at forcing a House vote to make all remaining Epstein files public. This comes after the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released over 33,000 pages of records obtained from the Department of Justice. However, Democrats on the committee have criticized this move, noting that most of these documents were already accessible to the public, cautioning citizens not to be misled by the release.

Epstein's case continues to stir controversy years after his death in a New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. He had previously been convicted in 2008 for procuring a minor for prostitution.