politics
US Declines to Provide Unredacted Epstein Documents to UK Police Without Formal Request
British police investigating allegations against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson face challenges in obtaining unredacted documents from the US Department of Justice. The documents are needed for potential charges related to passing sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein. Formal requests have been initiated after informal efforts failed.
Apr 24, 1:36 PM·2m read1 source
The GuardianAudio version
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British police are investigating allegations that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson passed sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein. The investigations involve claims of misconduct in public office. Thames Valley police is handling the case against Mountbatten-Windsor, who served as a UK trade envoy, while the Metropolitan police is investigating Mandelson, a former cabinet minister.
Both individuals have been arrested and released, and they deny wrongdoing.
The US Department of Justice has published redacted documents related to Epstein and his associates on its website. However, the department stated it will not provide the original, unredacted versions without a formal mutual legal assistance request.
British police, including through informal requests by Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to US officials, have been unable to obtain the documents without this process. The Metropolitan police has now submitted a formal request for the documents as part of the Mandelson investigation.
Sources indicated that securing charges would be difficult without the original documents. The Crown Prosecution Service has been in discussions with the police forces involved.
Coordination Police are preparing to interview witnesses from royal and government circles. For the Mandelson case, this includes former and current government officials, potentially including former prime minister Gordon Brown, who has contacted the Metropolitan police regarding concerns about Epstein.
