Epstein | Pakistan

London police released former ambassador Peter Mandelson on bail in the early hours of Tuesday, in a probe into his ties to disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, only days after ex-prince Andrew was arrested. Mandelson, a pivotal figure in British politics and the UK’s former envoy to Washington, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office around 17:00 GMT (10pm PKT) on Monday following allegations arising from the latest set of documents linked to Epstein. “A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation,” the Metropolitan police said in a statement around nine hours after he was taken in to an unnamed London police station. Images on UK television earlier appeared to show Mandelson, 72, being driven away from his north London home, accompanied by a man and a woman, after police raided his properties earlier this month. The arrest came days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, King Charles III’s younger brother, was de...

London police on Monday arrested Britain’s former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, amid allegations over his ties to disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. “Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Images on UK television appeared to show Mandelson being driven away from his north London home accompanied by a man and a woman, after police raided his properties earlier this month. “He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview,” the Met added. The arrest comes days after ex-prince Andrew, King Charles III’s younger brother, was arrested in a misconduct in public office probe also related to the latest release of documents related to Epstein. Mandelson, a pivotal figure in British politics, is being probed over allegations that he sent sensitive documents to the late US sex offender Epstein when he was a government minister, inc...

King Charles’ younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he sent confidential government documents to Jeffrey Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor, celebrating his 66th birthday on Thursday, was arrested and questioned by detectives from Thames Valley Police, which this month said it was looking into allegations that he had passed documents to the late convicted sex offender while working as a trade envoy. “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office,” Thames Valley’s Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said in a statement. “We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.” The former prince, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, who is in police custody, has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and said he regrets their friendship. But he has not responded to request...

Kathryn Ruemmler • DP World CEO Bin Sulayem ousted as investors stop funding over ties to disgraced financier • Goldman Sachs lawyer Ruemmler resigns due to her extensive ties to Epstein in documents • PM urges probe into top Norwegians’ links to dead felon DUBAI: The chairman and chief executive of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem’s resigned on Friday following pressure over his alleged ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, making him one of the highest-profile figures to step down after the recent release of documents. The fallout also prompted the resignation of a top lawyer at Goldman Sachs and has sparked official inquiries into political and royal figures in Norway. Bin Sulayem’s departure from the Dubai-based logistics giant was announced the same day the emirate’s ruler appointed a new chairman for the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, another role Bin Sulayem held. Pressure mounted on the state-owned firm after two major investors, the UK development finance agency British Inte...

Dubai’s DP World named a new chairman and chief executive officer on Friday, replacing its former leader Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, after the Epstein files revealed frequent correspondence between him and the convicted sex offender. “DP World announced the appointment of His Excellency Essa Kazim as chairman of its Board of Directors and the appointment of Yuvraj Narayan as Group Chief Executive Officer,” the group said in a statement published by the Dubai media office. The statement did not mention Sulayem. Described by Jeffrey Epstein as one of his “most trusted friends”, Sulayem was group chairman and chief executive officer of DP World, one of the largest port operators on the globe. He is cited more than 9,400 times in the documents recently released by the US Department of Justice, which revealed close ties between the two men. They maintained regular correspondence from 2009 to 2018, exchanging messages on intimate matters, meetings, introductions and business opportunities. The correspondence suggests...

India’s oil minister said on Wednesday he had communicated with and met the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during his time in the United States, but said he had no connection to any wrongdoings or crimes. Hardeep Singh Puri, a career diplomat-turned-politician, said he was part of the International Peace Institute, a New York think tank headed by Norwegian diplomat and former cabinet minister Terje Roed-Larsen until 2020, and met Epstein “three or maximum four times” during his time there. Roed-Larsen, 78, has apologised for his connection to Epstein and his wife, Mona Juul, a Norwegian ambassador, stepped down over her links to Epstein. Puri’s comments came in response to questions by India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in parliament on Wednesday. Gandhi said Puri’s name had been mentioned in Epstein’s emails and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to clarify what his dealings with Epstein were. Puri, who served as India’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2009-2...

Norway’s parliamentary oversight committee unanimously agreed on Tuesday to appoint a rare external inquiry into foreign ministry links to Jeffrey Epstein, part of a deepening scandal over friendships with the late US sex offender. The release of a cache of new files in the US has revealed a host of new Epstein connections with politicians, royals and the ultra-rich across Europe. Norway’s white-collar crime police opened an investigation into Thorbjoern Jagland, former prime minister and foreign minister and ex-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, on suspicion of aggravated corruption. On Monday, police announced that Mona Juul, who on Sunday resigned as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq, was also being investigated for corruption. Her husband, former cabinet minister Terje Roed-Larsen, is suspected of complicity. All three will cooperate with the respective investigations and see no merit in the accusations, their lawyers have said. Epstein scandal reverberates across Norway But the police’s actions have n...

Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell refused Monday to answer questions from US lawmakers but her attorney said she was prepared to speak if granted clemency by US President Donald Trump. Maxwell, 64, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee to discuss her relations with Epstein. Rather than answer the committee’s questions, however, the former British socialite invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself. A recording of the deposition released by the committee showed Maxwell speaking via video link, her eyes cast down at the table she was seated in a Texas prison. She was asked about her and Epstein’s co-conspirators, whether they surrounded themselves with the rich and famous in order to “curry favor” and avoid scrutiny, and whether Trump ever engaged “in sexual activity with an individual introduced to him by you or Jeffrey Epstein.” Wearing a drab, beige uniform, Maxwell repeated the phra...

Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate said on Monday they were deeply concerned by the revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files amid further damning disclosures about the heir-to-the-throne’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles who had already been cast out of the royal inner circle over his close relationship with Epstein, has faced fresh scrutiny since the recent publication of millions of new documents relating to the late convicted US sex offender. While Charles and his wife Camilla said in October that their thoughts and sympathies were with the victims and survivors of abuse, Monday’s comment by the Prince and Princess of Wales is the most pointed message so far delivered by the royal family on the Epstein scandal. “I can confirm the prince and princess have been deeply concerned by the continuing revelations,” a spokesperson for William and Kate told reporters ahead of the prince’s arrival in Riyadh for a high-profile trip. “Their thoughts rem...

The office of the Dalai Lama said on Sunday that he had never met convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after Chinese media reported the Tibetan Buddhist leader’s name was mentioned in a cache of files released by the US government. The US Justice Department published last month the latest tranche of the Epstein files — more than three million documents, photos and videos related to its investigation into the disgraced financier. An AFP search of the files found the Dalai Lama’s name was mentioned more than 150 times, with no mention of him meeting or interacting with Epstein. The mere mention of someone’s name in the Epstein files does not in itself imply any wrongdoing by that person. “Some recent media reports and social media posts concerning the ‘Epstein files’ are attempting to link His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Jeffrey Epstein,” the leader’s office said in a statement posted on X. “We can unequivocally confirm that His Holiness has never met Jeffrey Epstein or authorised any meeting or interaction...

Documents reveal emails between British figures and Epstein, showing ties, financial dealings, photos

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday the Nordic country’s crown princess, Mette-Marit, displayed poor judgement in having contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, following fresh reports of her ties with the late US sex offender. New files related to Epstein published by the US Justice Department on Friday included extensive email correspondence between Mette-Marit and Epstein after he was found guilty of child sex crimes in 2008. On Saturday, Mette-Marit, the spouse of the heir to the throne Haakon, apologised for maintaining contacts, saying she showed poor judgement. On Monday, Stoere agreed with her. “I am really using her own words. She says she has showed bad judgement. I agree and I think it is worth saying that when I am asked my opinion about this,” Stoere told reporters. Asked whether he had been in contact with the royal palace about the matter, Stoere said he had not. The prime minister added that Mette-Marit, and other prominent Norwegians who were named in the latest Epstein documents...

Former British government minister Peter Mandelson has resigned as a member of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party after new reports of his ties with disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, media reported on Sunday. Mandelson, who was dismissed by Starmer as Britain’s ambassador to the United States last year after previous revelations about his connections to Epstein, said he did not wish to cause “further embarrassment” to Labour, the reports said. “I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this,” Mandelson said in a letter to the Labour Party reported by the BBC and other news organisations, which Reuters was not immediately able to obtain. Mandelson said he believed allegations about financial payments to him by Epstein, which appeared in British media based on files released by the US Department of Justice, were false and he would investigate them. “While doing this, I do not wish to cause further embarrass...

• US commerce chief Lutnick visited private island in 2012 • Musk inquired about ‘parties planned’ • Fed nominee Warsh on guest list for holiday gathering • Epstein ‘helped Bill Gates obtain drugs, facilitated illicit trysts’ • DoJ says papers carry ‘untrue and sensationalist claims’ about President Trump WASHINGTON: A fresh cache of files released on Friday related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contains documents that refer to numerous high-profile figures. President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and SpaceX founder Elon Musk are among some of the people named in the documents. The disclosure offers a sprawling look into the elite circles Epstein inhabited before his death, implicating prominent figures in politics, business and entertainment. The documents were published following a deadline mandated by a bipartisan congressional law requiring the public release of all files related to Epstein. Deputy Attorney Gene...

The US Justice Department announced Friday it was releasing more than three million pages from the Jeffrey Epstein files, along with photos and videos, adding fuel to a political drama putting pressure on President Donald Trump. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said all images of women were redacted from the documents being released, aside from those of Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of the convicted sex offender. The latest release is expected to contain previously unseen material from the investigation into Epstein, a wealthy US financier who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls. Previous releases have shed light on Epstein’s ties to leading business executives, celebrities, academics and politicians, including Trump and former president Bill Clinton. Perhaps the most significant documents published so far are two FBI emails from July 2019, which mention 10 “co-conspirators” of Epstein. Only one person — Epstein’s former girlfriend Maxwell — has ever...

United States President Donald Trump urged the Justice Department (DOJ) on Friday to “embarrass” any Democrats who worked with Jeffrey Epstein after it began poring over millions of documents linked to the late sex offender. The DOJ began releasing records last week from the investigation into Epstein, a wealthy financier who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking underage girls for sex. The latest disclosures on Tuesday contain numerous references to Trump, including documents detailing flights he took on Epstein’s private jet. Trump was once a friend of Epstein but distanced himself after his crimes came to light, and has appeared reluctant to discuss the case despite strong support in the Republican party for fuller transparency about the deceased man’s associates. “Now 1,000,000 more pages on Epstein are found. DOJ is being forced to spend all of its time on this Democrat inspired Hoax,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Friday. “The Dems are the ones who worked with...

The United States Justice Department released thousands of heavily redacted documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday that made scant reference to President Donald Trump but extensively featured Democratic former president Bill Clinton. The absence of references to Trump was notable given that pictures and documents related to him have trickled out of previous Epstein releases for years. Trump’s name appeared in flight manifests listing passengers on Epstein’s private plane that were part of a first batch of Epstein material the Justice Department released in February, for instance. The partial release was intended to comply with a law overwhelmingly passed by Congress in November that mandated the disclosure of all Epstein files, despite the Republican president’s months-long effort to keep them sealed. The scandal surrounding Epstein has become a self-inflicted political wound for Trump, who for years had promoted conspiracy theories about Epstein to his su...

US President Donald Trump and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein shared a close relationship, with the latter calling Trump his “best friend”, according to a New York Times investigation published on Thursday. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking of underage girls. He held close associations with several influential people, including business tycoons and celebrities. In November, Democrats released emails that suggested Trump was aware of the financier’s sexual abuse and definitely “knew about the girls.” According to the NYT, while Trump was not found implicated in Epstein’s abuse and trafficking of minors, it appeared that the two men’s relationship was “far closer” than what the US president maintains. “Beginning in the late 1980s, the two men forged a bond intense enough to leave others who knew them with the impression that they were each other‘s closest friend,” NYT reported, with Epstein reported to have claimed that he w...

US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday that he believed the approaching vote on releasing Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein should help put to rest allegations that President Donald Trump had any connection to the late sex offender’s abuse and trafficking of underage girls. “They’re doing this to go after President Trump on this theory that he has something to do with it. He does not,” Johnson, the Republican leader in the House, said on the ‘Fox News Sunday’ programme. “Epstein is their entire game plan, so we’re going to take that weapon out of their hands,” Johnson said of Democrats. “Let’s just get this done and move it on. There’s nothing to hide.” Though Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the president has said the two men fell out prior to Epstein’s convictions. Emails released last week by a House committee showed Epstein believed Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase meant. Trump has since instructed th...

The United States Justice Department said on Friday it will fulfil President Donald Trump’s request to investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to former Democratic President Bill Clinton and JPMorgan, as Trump sought to shift the focus from his relationship with the convicted sex offender. The move comes two days after a congressional committee released thousands of documents that raised new questions about Trump’s relationship with the late financier, and marks the latest in a series of demands by Trump for federal law enforcement to pursue his perceived political enemies. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Jay Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, will lead the investigation. The Epstein scandal has been a political thorn in Trump’s side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters. Many Trump voters believe Bondi and other Trump officials have covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his deat...