Mandelson snubs US Congress as he declines request to give evidence over 'close ties' to Epstein
Peter Mandelson has snubbed a request from US Congress to testify about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
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The former US ambassador turned down an invitation from members of the powerful House Oversight Committee through a letter sent by his lawyer, according to The Telegraph.
Democrats contacted the disgraced peer three weeks ago, urging him to provide testimony as a matter of “urgency”, saying they believed he might possess “critical information” about Epstein’s co-conspirators and those who enabled him.
The Labour grandee claimed he could not attend because he is currently under active investigation by the Metropolitan Police .
Mandelson was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office, just days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of the same offence on his 66th birthday.
However, the decision to decline the invitation is likely to deal another blow to his tattered reputation after he stepped down from the House of Lords and resigned from the Labour Party last month over to his links to the paedophile financier.
US Congress cannot compel foreign citizens living abroad to testify, meaning the former Lord had no legal obligation to respond and will not face further consequences.
Mandelson has previously denied any wrongdoing during his relationship with Epstein.
'Close ties'
In the letter, senior Democrats reportedly said “numerous pieces of evidence” had emerged showing Lord Mandelson’s “close ties to Jeffrey Epstein over the span of multiple years”.
“While you no longer serve as British ambassador to the United States and have stepped down from the House of Lords, it is clear that you possessed extensive social and business ties to Jeffrey Epstein and hold critical information pertaining to our investigation of Epstein’s operations,” the letter read, which was signed by congressmen Suhas Subramanyam and Robert Garcia.
The former minister was asked to respond by Feb 27 by the congressmen.
They cited the need to “uncover the identities of Mr Epstein’s co-conspirators and enablers, and understand the full extent of his criminal operations”.
As well as being questioned, Mandelson's properties were also raided last month as part of the probe.
The probe was sparked after the release of three million files relating to Jeffrey Epstein by the US Department of Justice in January.
The UK Government announced today that the first tranche of files related to Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US will be published in early March.