The UK government has revealed new evidence from Epstein files that may implicate Peter Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister and prominent figure in the Labour Party, in a scandal involving the sharing of market-sensitive information with Jeffrey Epstein over 15 years ago.

In response, London’s Metropolitan Police have announced that they have reviewed allegations of misconduct connected to this case. After careful consideration, the authorities have determined that the claims warrant a thorough investigation.

Commander Ella Marriott of the Metropolitan Police confirmed, “We have initiated an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former government minister, on allegations of misconduct in public office.” This particular offence can lead to a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. However, it’s important to note that launching an investigation does not necessarily mean Mandelson will face arrest, charges, or conviction.

The controversy surrounding his friendship with Epstein has had significant consequences for Mandelson’s political career. In a statement released overnight, Mandelson announced his resignation from the House of Lords, where he has served since his appointment for life in 2008.

But his friendship with Epstein has now cost him his political career.

Mandelson said overnight he was resigning from the House of Lords, Parliament’s upper chamber, to which he was appointed for life in 2008.

The Speaker of the Lords, Michael Forsyth, said Mandelson had informed officials he will retire effective Wednesday.

The announcement came as the British government prepared legislation to eject Mandelson from the Lords and remove the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that came with his seat in the chamber.

Mandelson will retain the title after he retires unless lawmakers pass legislation to strip it from him – something that has not been done for more than a century.

A trove of more than three million pages of Epstein-related documents released by the US Justice Department has brought excruciating revelations about 72-year-old Mandelson, who served in senior government roles under previous Labour governments and was UK ambassador to Washington until Prime Minister Keir Starmer fired him in September over his ties to Epstein.

The newly released files contain emails from Mandelson to Epstein passing on nuggets of political information, some of which critics say may have broken the law.

Starmer told his Cabinet on Tuesday that he was “appalled” by the revelations in newly released Epstein files, and was concerned there are more details still to emerge.

Starmer spokesman Tom Wells said that the government had sent police its assessment that the Mandelson-Epstein documents contained “likely market-sensitive information” about the 2008 global financial crisis and its aftermath that shouldn’t have been shared outside of government.

In 2003-2004, bank documents suggest Epstein sent three payments totaling US$75,000 ($107,003) to accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Mandelson has said that he doesn’t remember receiving the money and will investigate whether the documents are authentic. But he resigned from the governing Labour Party on Sunday, saying he didn’t want to cause the party “further embarrassment.”

In 2008, Epstein avoided federal prosecution by pleading guilty to state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Emails and text messages show that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued after the financier’s sentence.

In 2009, Epstein sent da Silva £10,000 pounds ($19,527) to pay for an osteopathy course. Mandelson told The Times of London that “in retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer.”

Also in 2009, Mandelson, then business secretary in the UK government, appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.

The same year, Mandelson sent Epstein an internal government report discussing ways the UK could raise money after the 2008 global financial crisis, including by selling off government assets. Mandelson wrote: “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM.”

In May 2010, Mandelson messaged Epstein that “sources tell me 500 b euro bailout” is almost complete. The message was dated hours before day European governments announced a €500 billion ($842.42 billion) deal to shore up the single currency.

Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019, while awaiting trial on US federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein was “a betrayal on so many levels.”

“It is a betrayal of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein that he continued that association and that friendship for so long after his conviction,” Streeting told the BBC.

“It is a betrayal of not just one but two prime ministers” – Gordon Brown, the UK leader between 2007 and 2010, and Starmer.

An email requesting comment on the documents was sent to Mandelson through the House of Lords.

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