"Officials at No 10 and the Foreign Office were aware of supportive emails between Lord Mandelson and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when the prime minister initially defended the former ambassador on Wednesday, the BBC understands. Sources stressed Sir Keir was not aware of the contents of the emails when he stood by Lord Mandelson at Prime Minister's Questions. The BBC understands that a media enquiry outlining details of the messages between the pair was sent to the Foreign Office on Tuesday, and passed on to No 10."
"The full emails were published by Bloomberg and the Sun on Wednesday evening. "I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened," Mandelson wrote the day before Epstein reported to prison in 2008 for soliciting sex from a minor. Mandelson added: "You have to be incredibly resilient, fight for early release... Your friends stay with you and love you.""
Officials at No 10 and the Foreign Office were aware of supportive emails between Lord Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein before the prime minister defended Mandelson. A media enquiry was sent to the Foreign Office on Tuesday and passed to No 10. Sir Oliver Robbins asked Mandelson about the emails on Tuesday and did not receive a response until the following day. Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US before 11:00 on Thursday. Downing Street said the emails contained new information unknown at the time of Mandelson's appointment. The full emails were published later. Mandelson said he regretted meeting Epstein and said he had been misled.
Read at www.bbc.com
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