Sir Tony Blair met with Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street while still prime minister, following lobbying by Lord Peter Mandelson, the BBC has confirmed.
In the email to Powell – the current UK government’s national security adviser – Lord Mandelson refers to Epstein as “safe”.
The email on 7 May 2002 states: “Do you remember when Clinton saw TB [Tony Blair] he said he wanted to introduce his travelling friend, Jeffrey Epstein, to TB?
At the time, Lord Mandelson was a backbench MP, having twice resigned from the cabinet, but still a force in Labour.
In the memo, Rycroft, who until March 2025 was the permanent secretary at the Home Office, wrote to Blair: “Jeffrey Epstein is seeing you at 5pm today.
The BBC confirmed that, while still prime minister, Sir Tony Blair met with Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street after Lord Peter Mandelson lobbied him.
On May 14, 2002, senior civil servant Matthew Rycroft sent Sir Tony a memo informing him about “super-rich” financial adviser Epstein in advance of their meeting, which was set for that day at 17:00 GMT.
Before Epstein entered a guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from a minor in June 2008, the meeting took place six years prior.
According to a representative for Sir Tony, “Mr. Blair met with him in Downing Street in 2002 for less than half an hour and they talked about US and UK politics,” the spokesperson said. He never saw him again or spoke to him again. “,”.
He went on: “Obviously, this was a long time before his crimes were public knowledge and he was later found guilty. “,”.
According to emails obtained by BBC News, Lord Mandelson pushed for the meeting, telling Jonathan Powell, Sir Tony’s chief of staff, that Epstein was “a friend of mine” whom former US President Bill Clinton hoped to introduce to the prime minister.
Government officials had previously prevented the release of this and a number of related documents because they were worried about how it would affect relations between the US and the UK.
After Lord Mandelson was fired as US ambassador due to new information exposing his friendship with the embattled financier, the National Archives has now made the document available through a Freedom of Information request.
Lord Mandelson calls Epstein “safe” in an email to Powell, the current national security adviser to the UK government.
“Do you recall that when Clinton saw TB [Tony Blair], he said he wanted to introduce his traveling friend, Jeffrey Epstein, to TB?” reads the email dated May 7, 2002.
This, according to TB at the time, was frustrated in the office for reasons he did not fully understand. Given that Jeffrey is an active scientific catalyst and entrepreneur who is also well-versed in numerous global markets and currencies, I believe TB would be interested in meeting him. Jeffrey is also a friend of mine.
“He is energetic and youthful. In any case, he is safe, and Clinton is now frequently traveling with him. “..”.
“I told TB that Jeffrey will be in London next week, and he expressed interest in meeting him,” the email goes on.
Jeffrey told me that he is flexible and could be here at any time starting Tuesday to accommodate the diary. However, he would obviously need to know a fair amount of time in advance so that a new time can be assigned. Could you tell me?
On the email’s printout, there are three distinct handwritten notes, some of which are unreadable, but one of them seems to say, “Do you want to do this…”. since you desired to see Clinton alone. I don’t really know much more about him.
Despite being a backbench MP at the time and having twice resigned from the cabinet, Lord Mandelson was still a powerful figure in Labour.
Clinton admitted to having been Epstein’s former colleague, but claimed to be unaware of his wrongdoings.
In 2008, Epstein was found guilty in Florida of enticing a minor to become a prostitute. In 2019, while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking, he passed away.
Additionally, the National Archive has made available a schedule titled Trade and Industry Meetings with Industry. This schedule includes a memo that was published on May 14, 2002, informing Sir Tony about Epstein prior to a scheduled meeting for 17:00 GMT on the same day.
Matthew Rycroft, a senior civil servant, wrote the briefing, which has the designation R, which stands for restricted.
Rycroft, the permanent secretary at the Home Office until March 2025, wrote Blair the following memo: “Jeffrey Epstein is seeing you at 5pm today.
He is a real estate developer and financial advisor to the ultra-wealthy. He is friends with both Peter Mandelson and Bill Clinton. “..”.
“The background of Epstein is that he is very rich and close to the Duke of York,” Rycroft says.
“Now, according to Peter, Epstein travels with Clinton, and Clinton wants you to meet him,” he continues.
“He believes that discussing a) science and b) global monetary and economic trends would be beneficial. “..”.
Additionally, Geoffrey Norris, one of Sir Tony’s special advisers, and Powell received the memo.
