Sir Tony Blair held a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein at Downing Street during his tenure as prime minister, facilitated by lobbying from Lord Peter Mandelson, the BBC has confirmed.
According to a memo drafted by senior civil servant Matthew Rycroft, dated May 14, 2002, Sir Tony was briefed about Epstein, described as a “super-rich” financial advisor, in anticipation of a meeting scheduled for 17:00 GMT that day.
This meeting occurred six years prior to Epstein’s guilty plea in June 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
A spokesperson for Sir Tony stated: “To the best of his recollection, Mr. Blair met with him for less than 30 minutes at Downing Street in 2002, where they discussed U.S. and U.K. politics. He had no subsequent meetings or engagements with him.”
The spokesperson added: “This meeting took place, of course, long before his crimes were known and his subsequent conviction.”
Emails reviewed by the BBC reveal that Lord Mandelson advocated for the meeting, informing Sir Tony’s chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, that Epstein was “a friend of mine” whom former U.S. President Bill Clinton wished to introduce to the Prime Minister.
The release of these documents, along with related materials, had been previously blocked by government officials due to concerns about potential repercussions for UK-U.S. relations.
The National Archives released the document following a Freedom of Information request, subsequent to Lord Mandelson’s dismissal as U.S. ambassador amid renewed scrutiny of his relationship with the disgraced financier.
In the email to Powell, who currently serves as the UK government’s National Security Advisor, Lord Mandelson described Epstein as “safe.”
The email, dated May 7, 2002, reads: “Do you remember when Clinton saw TB [Tony Blair] he said he wanted to introduce his traveling friend, Jeffrey Epstein, to TB?
“This was frustrated – TB said at the time – in the office for reasons (he says) he was unclear about. I think TB would be interested in meeting Jeffrey, who is also a friend of mine, because Jeffrey is an active scientific catalyst/entrepreneur as well as someone who has his finger on the pulse of many worldwide markets and currencies.
“He is young and vibrant. He is safe (whatever that means) and Clinton is now doing a lot of traveling with him.”
The email continues: “I mentioned to TB that Jeffrey is in London next week and he said he would like to meet him.
“I have ascertained from Jeffrey that he is flexible – he could be here any time from Tuesday onwards to fit round the diary – but would obviously need to know reasonably quickly so as to re-schedule accordingly. Can you let me know?”
The print-out of the email includes three handwritten notes, some of which are difficult to decipher. One note appears to read: “do you want to do this… Because you wanted to see Clinton by yourself… I know very little more about him”.
At the time, Lord Mandelson was a backbench MP, having twice resigned from the cabinet, but remained a prominent figure within the Labour party.
Bill Clinton has acknowledged a past association with Epstein but asserts he was unaware of his crimes.
Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor. He died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The National Archive has also released a schedule headed Trade and Industry Meetings with Industry, which includes a memo published on 14 May 2002. briefing Sir Tony about Epstein ahead of a meeting schedule for 17.00 GMT that day.
The briefing, written by senior civil servant Matthew Rycroft is marked R, understood to mean restricted.
In the memo Rycroft, who until March 2025 was the permanent secretary at the Home Office, wrote to Blair: “Jeffrey Epstein is seeing you at 5pm today.
“He is a financial adviser to the super-rich and a property developer. He is a friend of Bill Clinton and Peter Mandelson.”
Rycroft states “The background on Epstein is that he is very rich and close to the Duke of York”.
He adds: “Peter says that Epstein now travels with Clinton and Clinton wants you to meet him.
“He thinks you would find worthwhile a conversation with him about a) science and b) international economic and monetary trends.”
The memo was also sent to Powell and Geoffrey Norris, one of Sir Tony’s special advisers.
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