The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired Lord Peter Mandelson as the ambassador to the United States, after damning information concerning the politician’s longtime friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was revealed in emails obtained by the Telegraph, which, among other things, showed Mandelson advising Epstein on responding to charges of soliciting a minor in 2008.
“The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment,” the Foreign Office said in their statement announcing the dismissal. “In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes he has been withdrawn as Ambassador with immediate effect.” James Roscoe, the deputy head of mission at the British embassy in Washington D.C., was named interim ambassador.
According to reporting by the BBC, the trove of 100 private emails show Mandelson’s close ties with Epstein. One email showed the politician outraged over his 2008 prison stint for that criminal charge of solicitation of a minor. “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened,” Mandelson wrote. The emails also show him communicating with Jay Lefkowitz, a defense lawyer for Epstein until 2015 and an aide to former President George W. Bush.
Mandelson was also seen referring to Epstein as his “best pal” in notes in a book celebrating Epstein’s 50th birthday obtained by the House Oversight Committee this week, which contains salacious letters and drawings from numerous figures including President Donald Trump. The book also contains a photo of Mandelson in a bathrobe with Epstein, laughing. The two also worked together on a business deal valued at $1.35 billion while Mandelson was working as a minister in Parliament. Mandelson had disavowed his relationship with Epstein in an interview with the Sun earlier in the week, stating, “Like very many people, I took at face value what he said.”
When questioned by reporters at No. 10 Downing Street, a representative for the Prime Minister said, “I think it’s self-evident that he found the content of these emails reprehensible.” The move comes as Trump is set to visit the United Kingdom for his second state visit, and further roils the government under Starmer and his Labour Party after his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, resigned over a tax complexity. Trump and Mandelson had a cordial relationship, with Mandelson becoming somewhat of a sympathetic interpreter for the president to European allies.
