LONDON (AP) — Documents released Wednesday by the British government show officials believed there was a “reputational risk” to appointing Peter Mandelson as the U.S. ambassador because of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave Mandelson the job anyway, only to fire him nine months later when new details of the relationship with Epstein emerged. Starmer now faces a political storm over the decision.
Concerns were raised in a document sent to Starmer in December 2024 when he was considering appointing Mandelson, seen as vital to establishing a good relationship with the administration of President Donald Trump.
Advice to the prime minister from the head of the civil service summarized Mandelson's relationship with Epstein over two decades, noting that “Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein’s house while he was in jail in June 2009” for sexual offenses involving a minor.
It also spelled out other, unrelated reputational issues over Mandelson’s work in a previous Labour government — when he twice had to resign over financial matters — and his work at Global Counsel, a lobbying firm he co-founded.
Lawmakers have forced Starmer’s government to disclose thousands of files about the decision to name Mandelson to the key diplomatic post at the start of Trump’s second term.
Authorities published the first batch — more than 140 pages of documents — related to those ties on the government website on Wednesday.
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, said the due diligence on Mandelson “did not expose the depth and extent” of his friendship with Epstein, and said Mandelson lied to Starmer about the friendship.
“Peter Mandelson should never have been afforded the privilege of representing this country,” Jones told lawmakers in the House of Commons. “I reiterate for the House that the prime minister deeply regrets taking him at his word. It was a mistake to do so.”
The documents are being published in batches after review by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee. Police have asked the government not to release files that could compromise their criminal investigation into Mandelson.
The documents published Wednesday note that Epstein was asked questions about his relationship with Epstein, and say the prime minister's communications director was "satisfied with his responses.”
The responses themselves have not been published because of the police probe.
Mandelson, 72, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, was arrested Feb. 23 at his London home on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues.
He has previously denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.
Starmer fired Mandelson in September after an earlier release of documents showed he had maintained contact with Epstein after the financier's 2008 conviction for sexual offenses involving a minor.
Further details about Mandelson's ties with Epstein, revealed in a huge trove of files published by the U.S. Department of Justice in January, drove opponents and even some members of Starmer’s Labour Party to call for the prime minister’s resignation. Starmer survived the immediate danger, but his position remains fragile, even though he never met Epstein and is not implicated in his crimes.
The Epstein files suggest that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the U.K. government’s business secretary after the 2008 financial crisis. That includes an internal government report discussing ways the U.K. could raise money, including by selling off government assets.
Mandelson also appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.
Starmer has apologized to Epstein’s victims and said he was sorry for “having believed Mandelson’s lies.”
Mandelson is also facing a separate probe by the European Union’s anti-fraud office for the time he spent as the bloc’s trade representative.
