Mandelson appears to describe Epstein jail release as ‘Liberation day’ in emails
More revelations about Lord Mandelson’s ties with the paedophile continue to emerge after the release of the latest tranche of ‘Epstein files’.
Peter Mandelson celebrated child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s release from jail as “Liberation day” and exchanged sleazy jokes with him, messages appear to show as revelations about the two men’s links continue to drip out.
The latest document dump by US authorities from the so-called Epstein files has piled further pressure on Lord Mandelson, who is facing a criminal investigation and has quit the House of Lords.
One email thread from July 2009 apparently shows the then-government minister asking Epstein how they should celebrate his release from prison after serving 13 months for soliciting prostitution with a minor.
Epstein responded: “With grace and modesty ( those are the names of two strippers ).”
Lord Mandelson said: “From now on, grace and modesty sd (should) be discovered in London.”
The emails can be traced to him because his BT Internet email address was left unredacted in one of the messages, and his name is in another.
The former UK ambassador to the US has been approached for comment and while he has yet to speak publicly, he reportedly told the Daily Mail the messages were his but “they are his [Epstein’s] observations not mine” and that he was saying Epstein “should find grace and modesty not strippers”.
The 2009 emails also show Lord Mandelson asking “How is freedom feeling?”, to which the sex offender replied: “she feels fresh, firm, and creamy”.
“Naughty boy,” the Labour grandee wrote in response.
In another message Lord Mandelson can be seen telling Epstein upon his release: “Liberation day ! X.”
The crude messages have prompted disgust from political figures, with SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn writing on X: “Sick bastards.”
The trove of documents recently released by the US Department of Justice also includes messages from 2012 appearing to show arrangements for Lord Mandelson to stay at the disgraced financier’s Manhattan townhouse, with warnings that he should be cautious about the media catching wind.
“I want to stay. Let’s go for it, and just be careful,” Lord Mandelson apparently said in a message then forwarded by Epstein to his then-personal assistant Lesley Groff.
In a series of subsequent messages, Ms Groff wrote: “Does that mean pete Mandelson is staying with Jeffrey at 71st street during his visit???” and “Oh wow. Ok. I hope the news people don’t find out!”.
The documents also link Lord Mandelson with another figure at the centre of a storm related to the late financier, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Lord Mandelson appeared to advise Epstein that Andrew, the King’s disgraced brother, should “sit tight” as questions were mounting over the two men’s ties, after the publication of a photo of Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre.
The Labour veteran referenced the then-prince’s meeting with the Queen to discuss the unfolding scandal.
Epstein asked Lord Mandelson for “suggestions” in a March 2011 email.
He responded: “On Sky it was reported that A (Andrew) and HMQ (Her Majesty The Queen) met to discuss JE (Jeffrey Epstein). Try and talk later. A has to sit tight.”
It came after the picture of Andrew with the teenage Ms Giuffre, who claimed she was forced to have sex with him three times, was first published in February of that year.
