LONDON: UK police probing Britain’s former ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson searched two properties on Friday (Feb 6), authorities said, following fresh revelations in the Epstein files.
The searches came as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces intense scrutiny over his decision to appoint Mandelson as the country’s envoy to the United States despite his association with convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier this week, London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed it was investigating Mandelson, 72, over allegations of misconduct in a public office.
It came after newly released documents appeared to show him sharing confidential government information with Epstein when Mandelson was a UK government minister, including during the 2008 financial crisis.
On Friday, officers from the Met’s specialist crime team were deployed at two addresses, one in the western English county of Wiltshire and another in London, according to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Hayley Sewart.
“The searches are related to an ongoing investigation into misconduct in public office offences, involving a 72-year-old man,” she said.
“He has not been arrested and enquiries are ongoing.”