Mandelson-Epstein latest: Police to review reports of alleged misconduct ‘after ex-minister leaked government email’

Lord Mandelson has explained why his husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva accepted money from Jeffrey Epstein to fund an osteopathy course.

Referring to the disgraced financier as the “bubonic plague”, he said “Epstein told Reinaldo that he had an educational foundation which gave bursaries or scholarships and offered one for an osteopathy course. I saw this as kindness, nothing more. It was a great help to Reinaldo and I thanked him.

“In retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer. At the time it was not a consequential decision.”

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Reinaldo.

In a new interview released by The Times, Lord Mandelson has compared losing his ambassadorship due to the Jeffrey Epstein files to a “drive-by shooting”.

“It was like a 5.30am drive-by shooting,” he told Katy Balls. “I was at the edge of something. Suddenly, I was put at the centre of it — as a result of historical emails of which I have no memory and no record.”

“It felt like being killed without actually dying,” he added, looking back at what he described as a “life-changing crisis”.

US president Donald Trump has said he was “never friendly” with Jeffrey Epstein.

In a social media post, the US president wrote: “So much for the Radical Left’s hope against hope, some of whom I’ll be suing.

"Additionally, unlike so many people that like to 'talk' trash, I never went to the infested Epstein island", he added.

Lord Peter Mandelson has almost six thousand entries referring to him in the Epstein library, a search by The Independent has found.

The Justice Department released more than 3 million pages of files related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein on Friday.

A search on the Department’s dedicated search tool of the Full Epstein Library shows 5,937 results for the term “Mandelson”, many of which referring to correspondence between the disgraced financier and the Lord.

The Metropolitan Police has said it will review reports into alleged misconduct in public office in light of the newly released Epstein files.

Commander Ella Marriott, of the Metropolitan Police, said on Monday: “We are aware of the further release of millions of court documents in relation to Jeffrey Epstein by the United States Department of Justice.

“Following this release and subsequent media reporting, the Met has received a number of reports relating to alleged misconduct in public office. The reports will all be reviewed to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.

"As with any matter, if new and relevant information is brought to our attention we will assess it, and investigate as appropriate."

Millie Cooke, political correspondent, reports:

Senior Labour backbencher Emily Thornberry has called for Lord Mandelson to be investigated by the police over suggestions he leaked internal government documents to Jeffrey Epstein.

She told the Commons: "These files seem to show that PM was given £50,000 by a notorious paedophile and a few years later he sent on market sensitive information to Epstein, who worked for JP Morgan about market bailouts, the prime minister's resignation, telling them that they should 'mildly threaten' the chancellor of the Exchequer and then told him about matters of national security.

"Surely this is not a matter of whether Peter Mandelson should be in the House of Lords, this is a matter of whether the police should be involved?"

Responding, chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones said it is a "matter for the prosecution services and the police".

But he said Ms Thornberry is "right that each individual issue is wholly unacceptable and cumulatively it is also unacceptable".

"The undeclared exchange of funds, the passing on of government information, let alone the fact that those exchanges were to a convicted paedophile are wholly unconscionable", Mr Jones said, adding: "And the house will know that if any of those activities were to take place today, ministers would be swiftly relieved of their duties and could be...removed from their constituencies too."