"Mandelson claimed he was not aware of Epstein's abuse of women and girls and was "kept separate" from that part of Epstein's life as he is gay. "Possibly some people will think because I am a gay man... I wasn't attuned to what was going on. I don't really accept that," he said. "I think the issue is that because I was a gay man in his circle I was kept separate from what he was doing in the sexual side of his life.""
"Epstein - who was known for his raft of wealthy and influential friends like Donald Trump and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, Duke of York - pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. He died on 10 August 2019 while in federal custody and awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, with his death ruled a suicide."
"Mandelson cited examples of staying at Epstein's properties in New York and New Mexico, as well as his infamous island, during which "Epstein was never there". Mandelson recalled: "The only people that were there were the housekeepers, never were there any young women or girls, or people that he was preying on or engaging with in that sort of ghastly predatory way that we subsequently found out he was doing.""
Lord Peter Mandelson held Cabinet positions under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and was sacked as ambassador to the US by Keir Starmer in September over links to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor and died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex-trafficking trial; his death was ruled a suicide. Mandelson said he was not aware of Epstein's abuse and that, because he is gay, he was kept separate from the sexual side of Epstein's life. He cited stays at Epstein properties where Epstein was not present and recalled only housekeepers being there.
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