Could a link to Jeffrey Epstein still be haunting British politics decades later? New documents suggest so.
Bank statements recently released by the US Department of Justice show Epstein made three payments of $25,000.
The payments, totaling $75,000, were to accounts connected to Lord Peter Mandelson.
These payments were made between 2003 and 2004.
Mandelson, the former Labour MP and later UK ambassador to Washington, said he has no record or memory of receiving the money.
He questioned the documents’ authenticity.
He reiterated his regret for “ever having known Epstein” and offered an “unequivocal” apology to the women and girls who suffered.
The release also included images of Mandelson in his underwear alongside a woman whose face was redacted.
On these, he said: “I cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were.”
Being named or pictured, experts stress, is not evidence of wrongdoing.
Epstein Ties Resurface
According to the statements, Epstein’s payments were made to accounts linked to Mandelson and his partner at the time, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
It remains unclear if the funds ever reached the intended accounts.
Other emails show Epstein giving da Silva £10,000 in 2009 for an osteopathy course.
Mandelson’s Epstein ties eventually led to his 2025 sacking as UK ambassador to the US.
He has called his friendship with Epstein a “terrible mistake” but denies involvement in any illegal activity.
He insists he was kept separate from Epstein’s criminal conduct.
Even decades on, Epstein’s shadow seems to linger—raising questions about influence, accountability, and the price of proximity to power.
