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LONDON — British police said the country’s former ambassador to the United States has been released on bail after having been arrested following weeks of revelations over his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Peter Mandelson was detained Monday amid an intensifying scandal after the Justice Department released millions of Epstein-related documents, some of which appear to show him leaking sensitive political and market information to the financier.
Video on Sky News showed Mandelson, 72, being led from his home in north London wearing a gray sweater and black coat.
London’s Metropolitan Police said in a news release that it was an update on an investigation into misconduct in public office offenses “relating to a former government minister.”
“A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation,” the force said in a statement early Tuesday, adding that he had been taken to be interviewed at a London police station. The statement did not name Mandelson, as is standard practice under British law.
“This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas,” it said, referring to a county around 100 miles to the west of London and an area in the north of the United Kingdom’s capital.
Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
As part of the Epstein files, emails from 2009 appear to show him passing on an assessment of potential policy measures. He also appeared to discuss a planned tax on bankers’ bonuses and confirm an imminent bailout package for the euro before it was announced.
On Feb. 6, police searched two properties linked to Mandelson, who was Britain’s ambassador to the U.S. from February to September. Days earlier, the longtime political grandee who had a reputation as a ruthless political fixer, had stepped down as a member of the House of Lords.
The Justice Department’s release of files relating to its investigation into Epstein have shaken the upper echelons of power across the globe, with high-profile figures being fired and resigning, and a number of active criminal investigations launched overseas.
Mandelson’s arrest comes less than a week after the former Prince Andrew was arrested on the same offense. Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was later released “under investigation,” meaning he was neither charged nor exonerated.
Stripped of his royal titles, Mountbatten-Windsor was later pictured as he was driven away from Aylsham Police Station in Norfolk, roughly 50 miles from the Sandringham estate where he lives.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned 66 on Thursday, the day of his arrest, has always denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Mandelson began working for Britain’s Labour Party in the 1980s and rose to become a major figure, playing a key role in Tony Blair’s landslide election victory in 1997.
He was forced to resign from Blair’s Cabinet twice, first over an undeclared bank loan and then after he intervened in a passport application by a foreign businessman.
Mandelson was later made business secretary by Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown, who would go on to appoint him to the House of Lords in 2008.
It was known that he had a friendship with Epstein prior to the U.S. ambassadorial appointment by the current prime minister. Keir Starmer.
After Mandelson was accused of passing sensitive information to the disgraced financier, the scandal ramped up the pressure on Starmer’s government, already weakened by record-low approval ratings, policy U-turns and cost-of-living pressures.
Earlier this month, Starmer said Mandelson had “lied repeatedly” about the extent of his past contact with Epstein.
An earlier release of some of the Epstein files showed Mandelson called Epstein “my best pal” in a 2003 birthday book.
They also appear to show that the well-connected financier gave $75,000 in three payments to accounts linked to Mandelson or his then-partner in 2003 and 2004. Mandelson previously told the BBC that he had no record or recollection of receiving the sums and did not know whether the documents were authentic.
The files also appear to confirm their friendship remained intact after Epstein pleaded guilty in June 2008 to charges of solicitation of prostitution and of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18 — and was sentenced to 18 months in a minimum-security facility.
Mandelson’s arrest is not related to those charges or any other sex offenses.
The list of powerful people caught up in the widening Epstein files drama includes Thorbjørn Jagland, who was prime minister of Norway and went on to head the Nobel Committee and the Council of Europe; Tom Pritzker, executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corp.; and Kathy Ruemmler, who was White House counsel in the Obama administration.
The family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged that Epstein trafficked her to his powerful friends, including Mountbatten-Windsor, issued a statement Monday without naming Mandelson. In 2022, the royal reached a settlement in a sexual assault case brought by Giuffre for an undisclosed amount without admitting any wrongdoing. Mountbatten-Windsor has denied ever having met Giuffre, who died by suicide last year.
“As Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s family, we commend the British authorities for taking meaningful action and treating the Epstein files with the urgency they demand,” said the statement, issued by Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts and his wife, Amanda Roberts. “While these arrests aren’t for the underlying exploitation, they are a crucial step toward truth and accountability.”
“The contrast with the continued inaction in the United States is undeniable. Survivors deserve transparency, swift investigation, and real justice, no matter who is implicated,” the couple added in the statement.
Henry Austin is a senior editor for NBC News Digital based in London.
Camille Behnke is duty producer for NBC News based in London.
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