Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Peter Mandelson of “betraying our country” by leaking information to Jeffrey Epstein and said the former Labour grandee “lied repeatedly” during the process that led to his appointment as U.K. ambassador to the United States.
Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister and ex–EU trade commissioner, resigned from the House of Lords on Tuesday. Hours later, British police said they were investigating “misconduct in public office offences” linked to the matter.
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Starmer said he regretted naming Mandelson as ambassador and added that he and King Charles had agreed that Mandelson should be removed from the formal advisory body to the monarch over his links to Epstein.
The prime minister’s remarks followed the latest release of millions of documents connected to Epstein by the U.S. Justice Department. Records suggested that in 2009, while serving as business secretary, Mandelson forwarded an economic briefing intended for then–Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Epstein. The files also indicated Epstein appeared to have transferred $75,000 in three payments to accounts linked to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004. Additional images released included photographs of Mandelson in his underpants.
The scandal has widened far beyond Westminster. In Washington, President Donald Trump urged Americans to move on from the Epstein saga, asserting he had been vindicated by the newest trove of files. “Nothing came out about me other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that it was “time now for the country to maybe get on to something else like health care.” He also sought to shift focus to Democrats, calling the controversy “not a Republican” problem.
Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, and former President Bill Clinton are scheduled to testify this month in a U.S. House investigation into Epstein on Feb. 26 and 27. Neither Trump nor the Clintons has been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein’s activities.
Mandelson’s own trajectory has been upended by Epstein disclosures before. He appeared in the Oval Office in May 2025 and shook hands with Trump as they announced a trade deal, but was sacked in September over earlier revelations about his Epstein ties.
In the U.K., the new document release has renewed scrutiny of former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles last October. British police said they were “assessing” claims by a second woman who said she had been trafficked to the U.K. for a sexual encounter with Andrew. Images in the latest files showed Andrew kneeling on all fours over a woman lying on the floor.
Andrew, 65, has consistently denied wrongdoing. He paid a multimillion-pound settlement in 2022 to Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre without admitting liability; Giuffre died by suicide last year. The former prince’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has also been drawn in via a series of embarrassing emails to Epstein; her charity, Sarah’s Trust, said Wednesday it is shutting down.
Andrew has moved out of Royal Lodge, his home of two decades on the Windsor estate, amid the latest fallout, the BBC reported. He left under cover of darkness on Monday, The Sun added.
The cascading disclosures underscore how the Epstein files—emails, correspondence and images spanning political, business and social circles—continue to exert pressure on public figures from London to Washington. As the Metropolitan Police inquiry begins and parliamentary and congressional scrutiny intensifies, Starmer’s condemnation of Mandelson marks a new peak in the political reckoning over Epstein’s far-reaching network.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
