LONDON
Former UK minister Peter Mandelson offered to help disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein obtain a Russian visa, the BBC reported, citing documents released by the US government.
Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party and the House of Lords recently following the latest tranche of files released by the US Department of Justice.
Although it is not clear what the reason was for Epstein's planned trip to Moscow in 2010, emails suggested he was going to meet women while there, the report said.
Another email dated Nov. 9, 2010 revealed that Epstein contacted Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate and modelling agent, to let him know he was thinking of travelling to Moscow the following week.
Brunel, who killed himself in 2022 while being investigated for the trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation, appeared to reply, saying: "I am getting my visa."
Emails from the same day show that Epstein asked Mandelson, who had left government six months before, if he could help in acquiring a Russian visa for him.
"I do not have a visa for Russia, it is a bank holiday in paris today...any ideas how i can get one," he said while in France.
Mandelson replied hours later, suggesting that he was willing to help.
The following day, he sent an email to Epstein again and said an associate of his was "helping on visas."
On the same day that he asked Mandelson for help, Epstein sent an email to a woman in Russia asking if they had any "news.”
Other emails also indicated that Mandelson visited Epstein in Paris.
Parliamentary committee not afraid to publish Mandelson material
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, Kevan Jones, chairman of the UK Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), said the committee, which is looking into the appointment of Mandelson as US ambassador and the depth of his relationship Epstein, will not be afraid to publish material that is embarrassing to the government.
There had to be "maximum transparency" about the vetting process that Mandelson went through before he was appointed as the UK ambassador to the US in December 2024 and what the government knew about his friendship with Epstein.
He said it was possible that the committee could publish documents that impacted international relations.
"In the past, for example, we’ve had disputes where things have potentially been embarrassing to governments, but we’ve put them in because it doesn’t jeopardize national security," he said.
Jones noted that the furor over the release of documents about Mandelson’s appointment had been badly handled.
"We do need to ensure that we get maximum transparency," he stressed.
Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was "sorry" for believing Mandelson's "lies" and appointing him as ambassador to the US as pressure continued to mount on him after he admitting to knowing about Mandelson's ties with Epstein.
UK police announced Tuesday that they had launched a criminal investigation into Mandelson following claims that he leaked government emails to Epstein.
The move came after the British government referred material to the police after an initial review of Mandelson’s emails.
Emails released Friday in the US revealed that Mandelson forwarded internal government information to Epstein while serving as business secretary in 2009.
Mandelson also stepped down from the House of Lords on Wednesday amid pressure over his links to Epstein.
The latest release of files also prompted Mandelson to resign Sunday from the Labour Party.
The US Justice Department recently released more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last November.
The materials include photos, grand jury transcripts and investigative records, though many pages remain heavily redacted. Epstein survivors and victims’ relatives say the release falls short of what the law requires and omitted much vital information.
Epstein was found dead by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
