Ex-Ambassador To US Resigns Over New Epstein Claims

Former UK Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson announced Sunday that he has resigned from the Labour Party, amid growing scrutiny over his connections to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mandelson’s resignation comes after the release on Friday of Department of Justice documents suggesting Epstein made payments totaling $75,000 to accounts linked to the Labour peer between 2003 and 2004. Mandelson, who was a sitting member of Parliament at the time, denied receiving the money, but said he would resign to avoid causing “further embarrassment” over his ties to Epstein.

“I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this,” Mandelson wrote in a letter to Labour Party General Secretary Hollie Ridley, according to the BBC.

“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,” Mandelson added. “While doing this I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party.”

The former ambassador was fired by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in September after a trove of emails revealed the extent of his ties to Epstein. The revelations included messages Mandelson sent expressing support while Epstein faced charges for soliciting a minor in 2008, as well as his inclusion in Epstein’s 2003 “