Former British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, has been released from custody in London after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following revelations over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson, 72, was fired from the most prestigious posting in Britain's diplomatic service in September, when the depth of his friendship with Epstein became clear.
Police earlier this month began a criminal investigation into Mandelson after Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government passed on communications between the former ambassador and Epstein.
Mandelson's arrest on Monday came days after a friendship with Epstein landed the former Prince Andrew in police custody on Thursday.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of a similar offence related to his friendship with Epstein and was released after 11 hours in custody while the police investigation continues.
Both men are suspected of improperly passing UK government information to the disgraced US financier, and the high-profile British arrests are some of the most dramatic fallout from the trove of more than three million pages of Epstein-related documents released last month by the US Justice Department.
London’s Metropolitan Police force said “officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office” at an address in north London. He was taken to a police station for questioning.
The man was not named, in keeping with British police practice, but the suspect in the case previously was identified as the former diplomat, who is 72.
Mandelson was filmed being led from his London home to a car by plain clothes officers.
Under UK law, police can hold a suspect without charge for up to 24 hours.
The files released in January contained more explosive revelations about Mandelson's ties to Epstein, whom he once called “my best pal”.
Messages suggest that Mandelson passed on sensitive - and potentially market-moving - government information to Epstein in 2009, when Mandelson was a senior minister in the British government.
That includes an internal government report discussing ways the UK could raise money after the 2008 global financial crisis, including by selling off government assets.
Mandelson also appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.
British police launched a criminal probe earlier this month and searched Mandelson’s two houses in London and western England.
