LONDON: The Metropolitan Police on Tuesday released former British ambassador Peter Mandelson on bail after arresting him on suspicion of misconduct in public office, in an investigation linked to the late US financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Police detained Mandelson, 72, around 1700 GMT on Monday following allegations stemming from a newly released batch of documents connected to Epstein. He was released approximately nine hours later pending further investigation.
“A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation,” the Metropolitan Police said in an early Tuesday statement, without naming the suspect.
Television footage showed Mandelson being driven away from his north London residence accompanied by two individuals, according to AFP.
Earlier this month, officers from the Met’s specialist crime team conducted searches at two of his properties — one in London and another in Wiltshire in western England.
The arrest comes days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — better known as Prince Andrew — was detained last Thursday in a separate misconduct in public office investigation also tied to the latest Epstein-related disclosures. He was subsequently released under investigation.
Mandelson, a prominent Labour figure and former European Union trade commissioner, is being investigated over allegations that he shared sensitive government documents with Epstein during his time as a cabinet minister, including during the 2008 global financial crisis. Authorities have not specified which documents are under scrutiny.
The veteran politician was dismissed as the UK’s envoy to Washington by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in September after earlier document releases revealed the depth of his relationship with Epstein.
His appointment had already triggered a political storm, leading to the resignation of two senior aides to the prime minister.
Starmer later apologised to Epstein’s victims for appointing Mandelson and accused the former envoy of misleading officials about the extent of his ties to the disgraced financier during the vetting process.
In a statement issued earlier this month, law firm Mishcon de Reya, representing Mandelson, said he “regrets, and will regret until his dying day, that he believed Epstein’s lies about his criminality.”
“Lord Mandelson did not discover the truth about Epstein until after his death in 2019,” the firm said, adding that he was “profoundly sorry that powerless and vulnerable women and girls were not given the protection they deserved.”
The British government has announced plans to release tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents relating to Mandelson’s vetting process for the Washington post, a move that could intensify political pressure on Starmer and senior ministers.
Government minister Darren Jones said Monday that the first tranche of documents will be published in early March.
Earlier this month, Starmer resisted calls to resign after acknowledging he was aware of Mandelson’s continuing friendship with Epstein, even after the financier’s 2008 conviction for child prostitution.
Mandelson recently stepped down from the House of Lords, parliament’s unelected upper chamber.
Meanwhile, his advisory firm Global Counsel — which he co-founded — reportedly ceased trading last week and entered administration in a bid to salvage assets.
Several major clients, including Barclays, Tesco and the English Premier League, have severed ties with the firm in recent weeks, according to media reports. The investigation remains ongoing.
