EMBATTLED US Ambassador Peter Mandelson has confessed to carrying on his friendship with sex monster Jeffrey Epstein “for far longer than I should have done”.
Britain’s top man in Washington branded it an “albatross around his neck” as he pleaded his “deep regret” at remaining in close contact for “many years” with the paedophile financier even after he was convicted for underage sex crimes in 2008.
UnpixsPeter Mandelson, left, tries on a belt during a shopping trip with Jeffrey Epstein in St Barts[/caption]
Britain’s top man in Washington spoke to Harry Cole in an exclusive chat
Peter Mandelson has confessed to carrying on his friendship with Epstein for ‘far too long’House Oversight Committee
YouTube/Harry Cole Saves the WestPeter Mandelson said he had massive regrets on Harry Cole Saves The West[/caption]
YouTube/Harry Cole Saves the WestUnder fire Lord Mandelson made his startling apology to Harry Cole[/caption]
Remarkably he suggested that because he is gay he may have seen a different side to the predator who died in a New York jail in 2019 under a cloud of sex trafficking allegations involving teenage girls.
Watch Harry Cole Saves The West on our YouTube channel here
Under fire Lord Mandelson made his startling apology to Harry Cole Saves the West last night where he admitted more embarrassing revelations were to come.
The full show will be aired on YouTube tonight at 7pm as critics called on PM Sir Keir Starmer to jettison his top ally from the vital role as Downing Street’s bridge to Donald Trump and the White House.
The bombshell interview came after the UK’s most senior diplomat in America was revealed to have sent the late banker a gushing 10 page letter in 2003 where he declared his love for his “best pal”.
Speaking exclusively to Harry Cole, the Labour grandee insisted: “I feel a tremendous sense, a profound sense of sympathy for those people, those women, who suffer as a result of his behaviour and his illegal criminal activities.
“And secondly, I regret very, very deeply indeed, carrying on that association with him for far longer than I should have done,” he added.
Arguing he had been “conned”, Lord Mandelson said: “I regret very much that I fell for his lies, I fell for and accepted assurances that he had given me about his indictment, his original criminal case in Florida.
“Like very many people, I took at face value what he said with hindsight, with fresh information, many years later, we realised that we had been wrong to believe in is a charismatic criminal liar.”
Battling to save his job following the humiliating revelations, Lord Mandelson pleaded that he had never seen any “wrongdoing” throughout his long friendship with Epstein including trips on his private jet and stays on his infamous Caribbean crime scene.
He suggested that “perhaps it is because I am a gay man” that he was blindsided to the predator’s actions.
Lord Mandelson told the show: “All the time I was an associate of his, I never saw the wrongdoing. I never saw any evidence of criminal activity.
“I never sought and nor did he offer any introductions to women in the way that allegedly he did for others.
“Perhaps it’s because I’m a gay man, perhaps when I knew him in all those years, perhaps when I was associated with him those years ago, as I did with my then partner and now husband, we never, ever saw any evidence or sign of this activity, which has since come to life.”
He went on: “That’s why I feel so profoundly upset by what has been now revealed about what he did to women and why I feel profoundly upset that I was taken in by him and continued my association with him for far longer than I should have.”
Lord Mandelson continued: “We now see, and I regret very much indeed, I felt it like a like an albatross around my neck since his death in 2018 or 19, when it was I feel, I feel a tremendous sense of regret, not only that I met him In the first place, but I continued the association.”
Biggest shocks in Epstein ‘birthday book’
By Juliana Cruz Lima
JEFFREY Epstein’s so-called “birthday book” has finally been released – and the contents are as twisted as the late paedo financier’s life.
The 238-page scrapbook, handed to Epstein in 2003 for his 50th, has been published by a US congressional panel alongside his will and infamous address book.
It is a grotesque mash-up of alleged tributes, bizarre notes and deeply creepy photos – with topless Ghislaine Maxwell, weird animal pornography and gushing messages from world figures all stuffed between the pages.
One of the biggest bombshells appears on page 108 – a photo of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s long-time companion and co-conspirator, topless in a swimming pool.
In the snap, she is seen clinging onto Epstein and smiling, the pair looking carefree in the water.
The image has been described as chilling in hindsight, given Maxwell’s later conviction for grooming underage girls for Epstein.
What may have looked like a playful birthday keepsake now carries a far darker weight.
Things get even darker on page 115, where Epstein is shown allegedly acting out a murder plot.
Wearing tights pulled over his head like a makeshift mask, he strikes a pose alongside another man.
The bizarre photo has been interpreted as Epstein’s attempt at black humour – a macabre “joke” among his inner circle.
Education Minister Josh MacAlister told Good Morning Britain today that Lord Mandelson still has the “full support” of the Prime Minister.
As the row over the so-called Epstein files continues to dominate American politics, Lord Mandelson admitted that a trove of emails and letters could yet be published to add further humiliation.
Insisting that he had no direct business actions with Epstein, Lord Mandelson admitted there was a grey area in which the banker operated an informal network of powerful contacts and associates.
He argued that Epstein “operated in a financial and business way, way above my level. Yes, he was always saying, ‘Would you like to see so and so, I got this friend, I’m having this dinner.
“Would you like to come? He was a prolific social networker and a political networker. That is true.”
But he denied profiting from the friendship, insisting: “We didn’t do any business together.”
Bracing himself for further embarrassment, Lord Mandelson continued: “I have no doubt at all that there’s a lot of traffic, correspondence changes between us absolutely. And we know those are going to surface.
“We know they’re going to come out.
“We know they’re going to be very embarrassing, and they know that I’m going to profoundly regret ever having met him and been introduced to him in the first place.”
Yet he argued: “I can’t rewrite history.”
“What I can do, what I can do is express my profound sympathy for those who were badly treated by him.
“And secondly, I can accept, yes, I can accept that I continued my association with him for too long.”
Home Oversight CommitteeMandelson featured in a birthday book complied by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein[/caption]
House Oversight CommitteeMandelson seen with two females in a snap[/caption]
GettyLord Mandelson, who was appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as Britain’s Ambassador to the US[/caption]
GettyMandelson pictured here with Donald Trump in the Oval Office[/caption]