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Documents released by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee reveal that Jeffrey Epstein paid for Lord Mandelson’s travel expenses on two occasions in 2003, totaling over $7,400 (£5,400).
Mandelson’s tenure as the UK’s ambassador to the U.S. concluded on Thursday amid scrutiny of his connections to the deceased convicted sex offender.
Government sources indicated that the “depth and extent” of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein were not fully known at the time of his appointment last year.
This marks the first instance of documented financial evidence directly linking Epstein to Mandelson’s travel arrangements. The BBC has reached out to Mandelson for comment.
The travel payments occurred shortly after Mandelson contributed a 10-page piece to Epstein’s 2003 “50th birthday book,” in which he described Epstein as his “best pal.”
Details regarding the destinations and specific dates of Mandelson’s travel remain unclear.
The initial travel payment from Epstein, amounting to $3,844.90, is dated April 4, 2003—prior to Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
A subsequent payment of $3,642.06 was made by Epstein one week later.
These travel receipts were included in the release of over 33,000 Epstein-related records earlier this month by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee, provided by the Department of Justice.
The documents detail Epstein’s financial account with Shoppers Travel Inc., a New York travel agency, used to book commercial flights for his associates and employees.
Victims have also alleged being transported on commercial flights booked by Epstein through this agency.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that in emails from October 2005, Mandelson allegedly complained to Epstein about a lack of British Airways airmiles, prompting Epstein to offer to cover the cost of his Caribbean flight.
Reports suggest Mandelson urged Epstein to “fight for early release” in advance of his sentencing to 18 months in prison.
The Labour peer and former cabinet minister also reportedly told Epstein “I think the world of you” the day before Epstein began his sentence in June 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Mandelson has not refuted the authenticity of these emails.
In a previous statement to the BBC, he stated: “I relied on assurances of [Epstein’s] innocence that turned out later to be horrendously false.”
In a letter to staff at the British embassy in Washington following his dismissal, Mandelson expressed “deep regret” over the circumstances of his departure and reiterated that he continues “to feel utterly awful about my association with Epstein 20 years ago and the plight of his victims.”
Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from an individual under 18 years of age. He died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
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