Former British ambassador to US Peter Mandelson issues apology over friendship with Jeffrey Epstein

By Jack Guy, CNN

(CNN) — Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, has apologized for continuing his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the wake of the latter’s conviction.

Mandelson, who was fired from his ambassadorial role in September over his ties to the disgraced financier, had faced criticism for offering a limited apology on Sunday over system failures that had let down Epstein’s victims.

But on Monday he offered a fuller apology in a statement sent to the BBC’s “Newsnight” program.

“Yesterday, I did not want to be held responsible for his (Epstein’s) crimes of which I was ignorant, not indifferent, because of the lies he told me and so many others,” said Mandelson, who is currently on a leave of absence from his position as a lawmaker in the UK’s House of Lords.

“I was wrong to believe him following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologize unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered.”

In September, US lawmakers released a “birthday book,” compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, in which the veteran Labour party politician had penned a handwritten note describing Epstein as “my best pal.”

The scandal snowballed after Bloomberg published a trove of emails between Mandelson and Epstein, in which Mandelson expressed support for his friend and offered to discuss his infamous 2008 Florida case with his political contacts.

During an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Mandelson refused to apologize for maintaining their friendship after Epstein had pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges and served 13 months in prison following a controversial plea deal.

“I want to apologize to those women for a system that refused to hear their voices and did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect,” he said.

“That system gave him protection and not them. If I had known, if I was in any way complicit or culpable, of course I would apologize for it. But I was not culpable, I was not knowledgeable of what he was doing,” he said.

Mandelson also claimed he was “kept separate” from Epstein’s sexual activities becase he is gay.

However, his statement on Monday showed more sensitivity to Epstein’s victims.

“I was never culpable or complicit in his crimes. Like everyone else I learned the actual truth about him after his death,” said Mandelson.

“But his victims did know what he was doing, their voices were not heard and I am sorry I was amongst those who believed him over them,” he added.

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CNN’s Christian Edwards contributed to this report.