The Jeffrey Epstein Files Are Peter Mandelson’s Final Disgrace

It is unclear when Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein began, but in 2003 he contributed to a book of tributes compiled for the financier’s fiftieth birthday, describing him as “my best friend.” (This is the same book to which Donald Trump appears to have contributed his infamous note and sketch of a nude woman.) In the files, bank documents suggest that in 2003 and 2004, Epstein sent seventy-five thousand dollars, in three installments, to accounts believed to be linked to Mandelson and his longtime partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, whom he married in 2023. (After the documents were released, Lord Mandelson said he had no record or recollection of receiving the payments and did not know whether the documents were authentic.)

In 2004, Mandelson visited Brussels as Britain’s commissioner for trade in the European Union. Many observers thought his days as a major political figure were over, but in October 2008, as the financial crisis raged, Gordon Brown, who had succeeded Blair as Labor leader and prime minister the previous year, brought Mandelson back from Europe, granted him a life peerage in the House of Lords and appointed him business minister. Brown and Mandelson having clashed in the past, this nomination came as a surprise. Brown said that “serious people are needed in serious times”: commentators suggested that he appreciated Mandelson’s political acumen and experience in dealing with foreign governments. The following year, Brown promoted Mandelson further, expanding his department and giving him the honorary title of first secretary of state.

At the time, bank bailouts, accompanied by emergency measures from central banks, finally restored calm to financial markets, but this did not quell public anger against bankers, rightly seen as not losing out. When times were good, they made a lot of money. When a crisis arose, taxpayers stepped in to save them. On 9 December 2009, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a one-off tax of fifty percent on bankers’ bonuses. Politically, the move was popular, but in London’s financial district – where many major banks, some US-based, are located – it sparked outrage and pushback. In a book about the Great Financial Crisis and its aftermath, Darling recalls how a number of bankers called him and complained about the bonus tax. Among the callers was Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase. “He was very, very angry,” Darling wrote. “He said his bank had bought a lot of British debt and he wondered if that was now such a good idea. I pointed out that they had bought our debt because it was a good deal for them. He went on to say that they were considering building a new office in London, but needed to reconsider that idea now.

Reading Mandelson’s emails, it appears that Epstein was also part of the pressure campaign. He had a long-standing relationship with JPMorgan Chase, which managed many of his financial transactions, and in particular with Jes Staley, who, as managing director of the investment bank JP Morgan, oversaw the London office. A few days after the new tax was announced, Epstein wrote to Mandelson: “There is a real chance of taxing only the cash portion of bankers’ bonuses.” Mandelson replied: “I’m trying to edit as I explained to Jes last night. Treasury is digging but I’m just in case.” Two days later, obviously referring to Dimon and Darling, Epstein wrote: “Should Jamie call honey one more time? Mandelson replied: “Yes and slightly threatening.” Later the same day, Mandelson wrote to Epstein again and appeared to indicate that he himself had spoken to Darling and got nowhere. “Crazy response from the chancellor. He seems unwavering.”

Darling and the British Treasury resisted pressure against them and passed an unmodified version of the bonus tax. Surprise, surprise, JPMorgan Chase and other major banks survived this scandalous attack on their prerogatives. But as BBC News economics editor Faisal Islam wrote, the possibility that this backlash “may have been orchestrated in part via Epstein, with advice emailed to Mandelson… is staggering.” A JPMorgan Chase spokesperson declined to comment. In the past, Dimon has said he never met Epstein and did not know him before his arrest in 2019. In 2023, JPMorgan Chase sued Staley, who left the bank in 2013, claiming he failed to disclose information about his relationship with Epstein. The matter was subsequently settled.