Bail Bombshell: Lord Mandelson Freed After Arrest
Former UK ambassador Peter Mandelson, 72, arrested in a misconduct in public office probe linked to Jeffrey Epstein, released on bail pending police investigation.
Peter Mandelson has been arrested by detectives investigating claims that he engaged in impropriety in his government position while befriending convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Video footage shows the former British ambassador to the US being taken away by plainclothes officers from his London home in an unmarked police car for questioning shortly after being arrested.
Just after 2 a.m., the Metropolitan Police announced that Mandelson had been released on bail pending further investigation.
A police spokesperson said, "We cannot provide any further information at this time so as not to prejudice the integrity of the investigation."
The Met is investigating allegations that he leaked Downing Street emails and market-sensitive information to the disgraced US financier during his time as Business Secretary. Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing.
His arrest, just days before a crucial by-election in Gorton and Denton, Greater Manchester, will serve as a stark reminder of what critics say was one of Keir Starmer's biggest mistakes in office: his decision to appoint him to Washington.
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The Prime Minister has apologized to Epstein's victims for choosing Mandelson, saying the former Labour peer lied about the extent of his relationship with the late sex offender and was fired when this was discovered.
But Starmer faced intense anger from his own MPs over the decision, which threatened his authority over his party again and led to the resignation of his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.
Mandelson's arrest came just days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor became the first member of the royal family to be taken into police custody in modern times. Emails revealed that the former prince had been sharing confidential information with Epstein while working as a British trade envoy.
Thames Valley Police, which is investigating the Mountbatten-Windsors, said the search of Royal Lodge in Windsor, where the King's brother lived, continued for a fifth day. A search of their current home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk concluded on Thursday. Downing Street has been forced to release documents related to Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador in December 2024 to Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee to ensure greater transparency about the vetting process and what the government knew about his friendship with Epstein.
MPs were told on Monday that the first tranche of thousands of documents would be released in early March, but it would not include conversations between Starmer and Mandelson about his connections to Epstein until the police investigation is complete.
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Metropolitan Police officers investigating him have spoken with lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime Division, which prosecutes criminal cases in England and Wales.
Conversations so far have been described as informal, and no formal preliminary investigation advice has been sought or given.
The CPS's Special Crime Division is also the part of the Prosecution Service that will consider the case of misconduct in public office against Mountbatten-Windsor.
After Mandelson was photographed leaving his North London home on Monday, a police spokesperson said: "Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
"He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, February 23, and taken to a London police station for interview. This followed search warrants executed at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas."
Earlier this month, a police investigation was launched after files related to the disgraced financier were released. Mandelson is believed to maintain no guilt.
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At the time, Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Hayley Siewert said: "This will be a difficult investigation that will require considerable evidence gathering and analysis. It will take some time to fully complete this work."
The revelation of Mandelson's links to Epstein has already put Starmer under immense pressure. The Prime Minister admitted that he knew – as widely reported in the media – that Mandelson and Epstein were in contact after Epstein was jailed for child sex crimes in 2008.
The Lib Dems will use their opposition day debate on Tuesday to demand the release of documents related to Mountbatten-Windsor's appointment as trade envoy in 2001, including any correspondence with Mandelson on the issue.
They will present a "courtesy speech," the same parliamentary method used by the Tories to release documents on the former US ambassador's appointment.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “We are bringing an urgent motion to call the government to the surface. We need to see the vetting files, due diligence reports, and correspondence to understand how this appointment came about, and whether clear warning signs were ignored.”
Allegations of wrongdoing in public office surfaced when the US Department of Justice released millions of documents related to Epstein last month. Emails from 2009 reveal that Mandelson, who was Business Secretary at the time, was providing a confidential assessment of potential policy measures to an adviser to then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Mandelson, who had previously been fired from government twice, was also seen discussing a tax on bankers' bonuses and confirming an impending bailout package for the euro a day before it was announced in 2010.
Mandelson, the grandson of former Labour Home and Foreign Secretary Herbert Morrison, has been a key figure in the Labour Party for the past five decades. In 1990, he was selected as the party's candidate for the safe seat of Hartlepool, and won the seat in the 1992 general election.
An early supporter of Tony Blair, he was considered one of the key architects of New Labour and became director of Labour's 1997 general election campaign before moving on to various roles in government.
The Epstein revelations and the resulting uproar led him to leave the Labour Party. He also resigned from the House of Lords.
Global Counsel, the consultancy he co-founded in 2010, went into administration after several clients cut ties with the company over the former ambassador's links with Epstein.
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