Paedophile Jeffrey Epstein asked for special permission to meet a British education minister – believed to be Peter Mandelson – just weeks after the US financier had been released from jail for abusing underage girls, it has emerged.
Epstein was placed under house arrest at his Palm Beach mansion when he was released from jail in July 2009 after serving 13 months for procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution.
The convicted sex offender had to apply to a circuit judge to obtain permission to travel outside of the state of Florida.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Coldbath granted the financier’s request to fly to New York on 3rd December 2009 to meet with his lawyers to discuss other legal claims filed against him.
But the judge denied Epstein’s request to fly to New York on December 12th, 2009, to meet with Mandelson, who, it is believed, he wrongly identified in his request as the ‘undersecretary of education to the prime minister of Great Britain’, new documents have revealed.
At the time, Peter Mandelson held the post of Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills – which has responsibility for Further Education and Higher Education. Students of further education are usually aged between 16 and 18 while higher education students are usually 18 and above.
The papers – part of the latest US Department of Justice disclosures from the Epstein case – state that Epstein had asked for leave to travel to attend ‘a meeting with a government official from a foreign country’.
The ‘Motion Authorization To Travel’ heard at the Palm Beach County Circuit Court, states: ‘The Defendant, JEFFREY EPSTEIN, by and through his undersigned attorney and moves this Honorable Court to enter an Order authorizing the Defendant to travel to New York on December 3, 2009, and December 12, 2009.
Jeffrey Epstein asked for special permission to meet a British education minister – believed to be Peter Mandelson – just weeks after the US financier had been released from jail for abusing underage girls. Undated picture shows Epstein and Mandelson on a yacht
The PM was forced to sack Lord Mandelson from the key role of US ambassador last year after more revelations about Epstein
‘The Defendant desires to travel to New York on December 3, 2009, and to return to West Palm Beach on the same date.
‘The purpose of the meeting is for the Defendant to meet with his attorney, Stephen Susman at the Law Office of Davis Polk and Wardwell, located at 450 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10017. The purpose of the meeting is for Mr. Epstein and his attorney to review documents.
‘The Defendant also needs to travel to New York on December 12, 2009, for a meeting with a governmental official from a foreign country.
‘Once again, the Defendant would travel to New York on the morning of December 12, 2009, and would return the evening of December 12, 2009.
‘The Defendant would once again confirm the specific travel times with his probation officer prior to travel.’
Mandelson remained in close contact with Epstein despite his arrest in 2008 for sex crimes against children and his later conviction.
In one email of support, he wrote: ‘Your friends stay with you and love you.’
Peter Mandelson in photo relased as part of the Jeffery Epstein-related files by US Justice
And the day before Epstein was jailed, Mandelson wrote: ‘I think the world of you.’
Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2009 while he was in jail.
And in 2010, Mandelson allegedly shared sensitive market information with Epstein, including details of a Euro 500 EU bank bailout and tipped him off about Gordon Brown’s resignation as Prime Minister.
It comes as the Metropolitan Police launched a criminal probe on Tuesday into allegations that Mandelson passed ‘market-sensitive information’ to Epstein.
Files released by the US Department of Justice apparently showed Lord Mandelson passing material to Epstein while serving as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s Labour administration as it dealt with the 2008 financial crash and its aftermath.
The Cabinet Office had passed material to the police after an initial review of documents released as part of the so-called Epstein files found they contained ‘likely market-sensitive information’ and official handling safeguards had been ‘compromised’.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Gordon Brown has written to Metropolitan Police boss Sir Mark Rowley with ‘information relevant to his investigation of Lord Mandelson’s disclosure of market-sensitive and confidential Government information’.
A photograph released as part of the Epstein files apparently shows Lord Mandelson talking to a woman who is wearing a white bath robe
The Prime Minister warned ministers that although Lord Mandelson’s behaviour was ‘gobsmacking’, he was ‘not reassured that the totality of the information had yet emerged’.
Sir Keir also said he would act ‘legislatively if necessary’ to remove Lord Mandelson from the Upper House. A law was being drafted that could also strip his title, with ‘nothing off the table’.
