Tony Blair met Jeffrey Epstein while still prime minister: Report
TEHRAN (Iran News) Tony Blair met with Jeffrey Epstein while still being the prime minister, the BBC reported on Saturday.
The meeting took place in Downing Street, following lobbying by Lord Peter Mandelson, according to the report, which cited a memo written by senior civil servant Matthew Rycroft, dated 14 May 2002.
“As far as he can remember, Mr. Blair met with him for less than 30 minutes in Downing Street in 2002, and discussed US and UK politics. He never met or engaged with him subsequently,” a spokesperson for Blair said.
“This was, of course, long before his crimes were known of and his subsequent conviction,” he said.
The document was released following the dismissal of Mandelson as US ambassador after revelations about his friendship with Epstein.
The BBC said released emails show Mandelson pushed for the meeting, telling Blair’s chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, that Epstein was “a friend of mine” who ex-US President Bill Clinton hoped to introduce to the British prime minister.
In an email on May 7, 2002, Mandelson described Epstein as “an active scientific catalyst/entrepreneur as well as someone who has his finger on the pulse of many worldwide markets and currencies.”
“He is young and vibrant. He is safe (whatever that means) and Clinton is now doing a lot of travelling with him,” it added.
Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute in 2008. He died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
- source : irna
