LONDON — Former British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson was arrested by London police on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office following revelations of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He has since been released on bail, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson announced early Tuesday.
Mr Mandelson, 72, was fired from Britain’s most prestigious post in the diplomatic service in September when the depth of his friendship with Mr Epstein began to emerge.
Police launched a criminal investigation into Mandelson earlier this month after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government leaked communications between the former ambassador and Epstein.
Mr Mandelson, a veteran Labor politician, is accused of passing market-sensitive information to Mr Epstein while he was UK government’s business secretary.
Revelations from the latest part of the Epstein file prompted Mandelson to quit the Labor Party earlier this month and resign from the House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament, the same week.
The revelation of the Mandelson scandal threatens to topple Starmer as prime minister, with the bitter fallout leading to the resignation of key advisers and growing calls from Labor leaders for the British prime minister to resign.
British leaders faced questions about how much they knew about Mandelson’s intimate relationship with the late sex offender when they appointed him ambassador.
Mr Mandelson has not commented publicly on these latest allegations. He has previously apologized for his relationship with Epstein.
British MPs have been told that the first part of the document regarding Mr Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador is expected to be published “soon in early March”.
Related articles
Israeli settlers destroy mosque in West Bank
But Darren Jones, the Prime Minister’s chief secretary, told the House of Commons on Monday that some communications between former MPs and Downing Street would be delayed due to “Metropolitan police interests”.
Mandelson, widely known in political circles as the “Prince of Darkness” for his Machiavellian skills, rose to become Labour’s communications director in the 1980s. He helped transform the party into a globalist, pro-capitalist project known as New Labor, which ultimately won a landslide election victory in 1997 under Tony Blair.
His arrest comes after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of Britain’s King Charles III, was arrested on his 66th birthday last week following further revelations about the former prince’s relationship with Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor became the first member of the British royal family in modern history to be arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office following an early morning raid on his Sandringham estate.
The former prince was held for 10 hours at a police station in Norfolk, England, before being released late Thursday night “pending investigation.”
Police have not said what led to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, but have previously said they are investigating whether he shared confidential information with Mr Epstein during his 10 years as Britain’s trade envoy.
Misconduct in public office is a notoriously difficult law to prosecute, and experts have criticized it for lacking clarity. — Agency
