New documents have revealed that former UK prime minister Tony Blair met with Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street
According to newly released papers from the National Archive, Blair met met with the late pedophile following a recommendation from Lord Peter Mandelson.
After Mandelson’s suggestion, Epstein visited Blair on 14 May 2002
The Guardian reports: Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador in September after new information emerged about how close he was to the convicted sex offender.
At the time of the recommendation, Mandelson was a backbench Labour MP but still served as a trusted ally to Blair. Just over a year earlier he had resigned from government a second time amid controversy. He had described Epstein to Powell as “safe” and a “friend” in an email before the meeting.
Powell is now Keir Starmer’s national security adviser. His role has been questioned in the collapse of a Chinese spying case.
According to papers released to the BBC, a briefing memo by the senior civil servant Matthew Rycroft described Epstein as a friend of Mandelson and the then US president Bill Clinton, as well as being close to Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.
A spokesperson for Blair said the meeting was “long before his [Epstein’s] crimes were known of and his subsequent conviction”.
A government spokesperson said Powell had only forwarded the request in his role as chief of staff.
Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008. He died in prison in 2019.
The release of the documents had been blocked by government officials over concerns it may affect UK-US relations. However, the National Archives has now released the document as a result of a freedom of information request.
The BBC reported that an email from Mandelson to Powell a week before the meeting said: “Do you remember when Clinton saw TB [Tony Blair] he said he wanted to introduce his travelling friend, Jeffrey Epstein, to TB?
“This was frustrated – TB said at the time – in the office for reasons (he says) he was unclear about. I think TB would be interested in meeting Jeffrey, who is also a friend of mine, because Jeffrey is an active scientific catalyst/entrepreneur as well as someone who has his finger on the pulse of many worldwide markets and currencies.
“He is young and vibrant. He is safe (whatever that means) and Clinton is now doing a lot of travelling with him.”
Mandelson went on: “I mentioned to TB that Jeffrey is in London next week and he said he would like to meet him.