From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
EU to assess whether former UK ambassador to US Mandelson broke rules over Epstein links
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
The European Commission says it will look into whether Peter Mandelson, a former EU commissioner, broke its code of conduct over his ties with late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson, who was fired as the British ambassador to Washington last year over his links to the disgraced financier, served as the EU’s trade chief between 2004 and 2008.
The 72-year-old allegedly received several payments from Epstein in the early 2000s, according to a trove of documents released on Friday by the US Department of Justice.
“We have rules in place emanating from the treaty and the code of conduct that commissioners, including former commissioners, have to follow,” Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari tells a press conference.
“We will be assessing if, in light of these newly available documents, there might be breaches of the respective rules with regard to Peter Mandelson,” he says.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ordered an urgent inquiry into Mandelson’s ties with Epstein during the politician’s time as a government minister in Britain.
Mandelson — a backroom architect of Labour’s revival as an electoral force in the 1990s under Tony Blair — quit the party on Sunday to avoid causing it “further embarrassment.”
The Times of Israel Community.