Epstein associate Lord Mandelson arrested in U.K.

Last week, the former prince Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office after the Epstein Files implied that he had shared privileged information with billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier today, Lord Mandelson was taken into custody under the same suspicion. Both men remained friends with Epstein after his child prostitution conviction in 2008, and Andrew was accused of sexual misconduct by trafficking victims. It's the leaking of secrets, though, which has them in legal jeopardy 15 years later.

Peter Mandelson was arrested at his home in Camden, north London, at around 16:30 GMT this afternoon. Mandelson was seen being led away by plain clothes police officers and put into the back of an unmarked car. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said a 72-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and has been taken to a London police station for interview. It says the arrest followed searches at homes in Wiltshire and Camden. Mandelson hasn't publicly commented in recent weeks on the Epstein files, but the BBC understands his position has consistently been that he has not acted in any way criminally and that he was not motivated by financial gain.

But he does appear to have received money from Epstein, through accounts associated with his husband.

Jeffrey Epstein sent thousands of pounds in bank transfers after his release from prison in 2009 to Peter Mandelson's husband, according to emails published by the US Department of Justice on Friday. The latest documents raise fresh questions about Epstein's relationship with Mandelson, who was sacked as the UK's ambassador to Washington when details of his support for the disgraced financier emerged in September. The latest dataset published on Friday shows that Mandelson's husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, emailed Epstein on 7 September 2009, about two months after Epstein was released from prison. Epstein had served 13 months of an 18-month sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender. Mandelson was business secretary at the time and in a relationship with da Silva. The pair married in 2023 after 27 years together.

Mandelson has long been a grey eminence of British politics, supposedly masterminding the Labour Party's move from left to center in the 1990s. Despite his gift for politics, prominent roles repeatedly ended in scandal, with his time as Britain's ambassador to the U.S. the latest, briefest and worst yet. The crisis almost brought down Prime Minister Keir Starmer's already-unpopular government; the arrests have Americans wondering why they can't have nice things.

Previously: Britain fires ambassador to U.S. over Epstein friendship