British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apologized to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as the U.K.’s ambassador to Washington<\/b>
\nBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologized Thursday to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as the U.K.’s ambassador to Washington despite his ties to the disgraced financier.
The prime minister said Mandelson had \u201cportrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew.\u201d In a speech on Thursday, he said \u201cI am sorry \u2026 for having believed Mandelson\u2019s lies and appointed him.\u201d
Starmer fired Mandelson in September after emails were published showing that he maintained a friendship with Epstein following the late financier\u2019s 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019, while awaiting trial on U.S. federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls.
Starmer never met Epstein and is not accused of any wrongdoing. But the prime minister is under intense pressure over the appointment after newly released documents revealed new details of Mandelson\u2019s close relationship with Epstein.
\u201cI was lied to,\u201d Starmer said.
\u201cIt had been publicly known for some time that Mandelson knew Epstein, but none of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship», he added.
British police are investigating Mandelson over potential misconduct in public office. He is not accused of any sexual offenses.
Documents published last week by the U.S. Department of Justice contain new revelations, including papers suggesting Mandelson shared sensitive government information with Epstein after the 2008 global financial crisis. There are also scores of chatty, jokey messages pointing to a much closer relationship than Mandelson had previously disclosed.
The newly released files also suggest that in 2003 to 2004, Epstein sent three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva, now his husband.
Mandelson, 72, has been a major, and contentious, figure in the Labour Party since the 1990s. He twice had to resign from senior posts in previous administrations because of scandals over money or ethics.
He was chosen as ambassador because his trade expertise, network of contents and mastery of the political \u201cdark arts\u201d were considered assets in dealing with President Donald Trump’s administration.
Critics say Mandelson\u2019s ties with Epstein made his appointment too risky and Starmer was, at best, na\u00efve.
\u201cI think the prime minister has shown that his judgement is questionable,\u201d Labour lawmaker Paula Barker said. \u201cI think he has questions to answer. I think he has a very long way to go to rebuild trust and confidence with the public, and trust and confidence within our party.\u201d<\/p>\n