Former UK ambassador to US Peter Mandelson quits Labour party after compromising undies pic from Epstein files goes viral
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Former UK ambassador to US Peter Mandelson quits Labour party after compromising undies pic from Epstein files goes viral")
Pic of Peter Mandelson in Epstein Files (L), File Photo of the Ex-British ambassador to the United States Photograph: (Combination created using images from AFP and DoJ)
Former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson has quit the Labour Party after the latest Epstein files alleged he received payments from Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s. This comes as an image of him in his underwear, standing next to a girl, is going viral. All you need to know.
Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States who was fired by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on Sunday (Feb 1) quit the Labour Party after his name once again entered the spotlight after the latest Epstein Files dump. Mandelson's resignation comes as the US Department of Justice released over three million pages from the notorious Epstein files on Friday (Jan 30). The release, which contains photos and videos, alleges that the ex-ambassador to the US received several payments from sex offender Epstein in the early 2000s.
Also read | Epstein files claim Bill Gates sought to drug wife Melinda after sex with ‘Russian girls’ | Report
Avoiding 'further embarrassment'
In a letter to Labour general secretary Hollie Ridley, Mandelson said he was resigning from the party to avoid causing "further embarrassment" to the party.
Referring to allegations that he received thousands of dollars in payments from Epstein, he said, "Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me."
How much money did Peter Mandelson allegedly receive from Jeffrey Epstein?
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The fresh tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice includes bank records suggesting Epstein transferred a total of $75,000 (around £55,000) in three payments to accounts linked to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004.
Additional documents suggest Epstein sent £10,000 in 2009 to Reinaldo Avila da Silva, Mandelson’s partner, at a time when Mandelson was serving as a government minister in the UK.
Speaking earlier on Sunday to the BBC, Mandelson said he had no recollection of the payments and was unsure whether the documents were authentic.
Also read | Trump, Musk, Gates and more: Big names mentioned in DOJ's latest Epstein files release | In pictures
Photographs and further links
Mandelson also appears in newly released, undated photographs showing him wearing a T-shirt and underwear next to a woman whose face has been redacted by US authorities.
He told the BBC he could not identify either the woman or the circumstances in which the photos were taken. I “cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were,” he said.
