Epstein celebrated Brexit and ‘return to tribalism’, newly released emails suggest

Jeffrey Epstein celebrated Britain’s decision to leave the European Union in the wake of the 2016 referendum, hailing a “return to tribalism”, newly released documents suggest.

The latest tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice, part of the Epstein files, appears to show the convicted paedophile emailing tech billionaire Peter Thiel, describing Brexit as “just the beginning”.

The publication of more than three million documents relating to Epstein included several shocking revelations, including accusations that Labour peer Peter Mandelson leaked sensitive information from the heart of government to Epstein and told him he would lobby ministers over a tax on bankers’ bonuses in 2009.

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On June 26 – just three days after Britain voted to leave the EU – Epstein appears to have written an email to Mr Thiel, saying: “Brexit, just the beginning.”

The venture capitalist appears to respond: “Of what,” to which Epstein says: “Return to tribalism, counter to globalisation, amazing new alliances.”

He added: “You and I both agreed zero interest rates were too high, and as I said in your office. finding things on their way to collapse, was much easier than finding the next bargain.”

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Thiel.

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Millions of emails released on Friday show the influence of the disgraced paedophile over the world’s most powerful political figures.

There are now growing calls for former government minister, Lord Mandelson, to face a criminal investigation over his links with Epstein after emails emerged suggesting he forwarded him an internal No 10 email sent to then prime minister Gordon Brown by one of his special advisers.

The note, which included an assessment of the state of the UK economy in the wake of the financial crisis, suggested the government had “saleable assets” that could be sold to the private sector to reduce debt.

Both Reform UK and the SNP have reported the 2009 email to the police.

In a statement released on Monday evening, the Met Police said they would examine a number of reports of alleged misconduct in a public office. The reports will be reviewed to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.

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The release of files also show that Epstein spent years trying to win an audience with Vladimir Putin, with the Russian president mentioned 1,055 times in the latest release.

The Liberal Democrats have now called for a statutory inquiry into how Epstein was able to “gain access to the heart of the British political establishment”.

Party leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The victims of this scandal and their families deserve the full truth and to see those responsible held to account.

“The government should launch a full statutory inquiry into how a convicted paedophile with suspected ties to Vladimir Putin was able to gain access to the heart of the British political establishment.

“Epstein was leaked highly market-sensitive information by a minister in Whitehall, leaving our institutions dangerously exposed and posing a grave threat to national security.

“A full public inquiry with powers to compel witnesses and access messages and emails is essential.

“Only complete transparency can restore public trust, deliver justice for victims and prevent this level of corruption from ever happening again.”