Sir Tony Blair met Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street while he was prime minister after a recommendation by Peter Mandelson, newly released papers from the National Archives show.
Epstein visited Blair on 14 May 2002, after the suggestion by Lord Mandelson to the prime minister’s then chief of staff, Jonathan Powell.
Mandelson was sacked as US ambassador in September after new information emerged about how close he was to the convicted sex offender.
At the time of the recommendation, Mandelson was a backbench Labour MP but still served as a trusted ally to Blair. Just over a year earlier he had resigned from government a second time amid controversy. He had described Epstein to Powell as “safe” and a “friend” in an email before the meeting.
Powell is now Keir Starmer’s national security adviser. His role has been questioned in the collapse of a Chinese spying case.
According to papers released to the BBC, a briefing memo by the senior civil servant Matthew Rycroft described Epstein as a friend of Mandelson and the then US president Bill Clinton, as well as being close to Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.
A spokesperson for Blair said the meeting was “long before his [Epstein’s] crimes were known of and his subsequent conviction”.
A government spokesperson said Powell had only forwarded the request in his role as chief of staff.
Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008. He died in prison in 2019.
The release of the documents had been blocked by government officials over concerns it may affect UK-US relations. However, the National Archives has now released the document as a result of a freedom of information request.
The BBC reported that an email from Mandelson to Powell a week before the meeting said: “Do you remember when Clinton saw TB [Tony Blair] he said he wanted to introduce his travelling friend, Jeffrey Epstein, to TB?
“This was frustrated – TB said at the time – in the office for reasons (he says) he was unclear about. I think TB would be interested in meeting Jeffrey, who is also a friend of mine, because Jeffrey is an active scientific catalyst/entrepreneur as well as someone who has his finger on the pulse of many worldwide markets and currencies.
“He is young and vibrant. He is safe (whatever that means) and Clinton is now doing a lot of travelling with him.”
Mandelson went on: “I mentioned to TB that Jeffrey is in London next week and he said he would like to meet him.
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“I have ascertained from Jeffrey that he is flexible – he could be here any time from Tuesday onwards to fit round the diary – but would obviously need to know reasonably quickly so as to re-schedule accordingly. Can you let me know?”
A later briefing by Rycroft – who went on to serve as permanent secretary at the Home Office until 2025 – on the day of the meeting said about Epstein: “He is a financial adviser to the super-rich and a property developer. He is a friend of Bill Clinton and Peter Mandelson.”
He added: “The background on Epstein is that he is very rich and close to the Duke of York.”
He continued: “Peter says that Epstein now travels with Clinton and Clinton wants you to meet him.”
A spokesperson for Blair said: “As far as he can remember, Mr Blair met with him for less than 30 minutes in Downing Street in 2002 and discussed US and UK politics.
“He never met or engaged with him subsequently. This was, of course, long before his crimes were known of and his subsequent conviction.”
A government spokesperson said: “Jonathan Powell forwarded on the request, he had no further role.”
