2 months ago
48
New documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) reveal that a number of European officials had ties to Jeffrey Epstein, even after he was a convicted sex offender.
Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the U.S. who was sacked by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last September over his connection to the disgraced financier, resigned from the House of Lords on Tuesday after emails showed the two communicated in the years following Epstein pleading guilty to procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute in 2008.
In December 2009, Epstein asked Mandelson, at the time the first secretary of state, via email whether JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon should call Alistair Darling, the U.K.’s then-chancellor of exchequer and head of the British treasury, to offer to contribute more money to a small business fund in exchange for a tax reduction during the global financial crisis.
Mandelson replied, “Yes and mildly threaten.”
Starmer said Thursday that Mandelson “portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew” before he appointed him as ambassador to the U.S. But in a 10-page note Mandelson wrote to Epstein in 2003, he called the financier his “best pal.”
“I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him, and sorry that even now you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again,” Starmer said to victims during a speech in East Sussex, according to The Associated Press.
Mona Juul, the Norwegian ambassador to Jordan and Iraq, was sidelined from her post while the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reviews her relationship with Epstein.
In October 2014, Camilla Reksten-Monsen sent Epstein an invitation to a dinner party on behalf of Juul and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, to pass along to filmmaker Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn.
“It is important for me to clarify that the contact I have had with Epstein has originated in my spouse’s relationship with him. I have had no independent social or professional relationship with Epstein, including not mediating or connecting contacts to Epstein,” Juul told Norwegian outlet NTB.
“However, in retrospect, I see that I should have been much more careful. This also applies to a short private visit in 2011, while I was on leave from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which I now acknowledge that I should have handled differently,” she added.
In Slovakia, Miroslav Lajčák, a former president of the United Nations General Assembly and an adviser to Prime Minister Robert Fico, resigned after text messages released by the DOJ show he and Epstein discussing women.
In October 2018, Epstein sent Lajčák a photo, which is not viewable, to which the Slovak official responds, “Don’t you miss me there?”
After a brief back-and-forth, Lajčák asks Epstein, “Why don’t you invite me for these games?” and then “I would take the ‘MI’ girl.”
“Who wouldn’t,” Epstein replied. “You can have them both, I am not possessive. And their sisters.”
Neither Mandelson, Juul nor Lajčák have been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
English (US) ·