British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson told Jeffrey Epstein “I think the world of you” and urged him to “fight for early release” as the disgraced financier reported to a Florida jail in 2008, according to emails obtained by Bloomberg News and released in recent document batches.
The messages, part of more than 100 exchanges between the two men from 2005 to 2010, show repeated personal contact while Epstein was under criminal investigation and after he pleaded guilty in June 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution. Mandelson, 71, was serving at the time as the European Union commissioner for trade and economic security.
In an email dated the day before Epstein reported to a Palm Beach jail to begin an 18-month sentence, Mandelson wrote: “I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened. I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain.” He encouraged Epstein to be “incredibly resilient, fight for early release and be philosophical about it as much as you can,” and added, “Your friends stay with you and love you.” Epstein ultimately served 13 months, much of it on work release.
Other notes show the pair discussing travel and social arrangements. In October 2005, Mandelson asked Epstein about plans for "the island" and whether he would "fit in" over the Christmas period; Epstein offered to pay for airline tickets. In January 2008, Epstein asked Mandelson to remind a contact identified as "mr. big" to make a phone call before a meeting with Epstein’s lawyer, Jay Lefkowitz. The exchanges include short, light notes as well as cryptic messages about legal strategy.
Epstein wrote from jail to suggest Mandelson approach then-Florida Governor Charlie Crist about a pardon because Epstein had pleaded guilty to a state offense; Crist told Bloomberg he does not recall discussing Epstein with Mandelson and said he was never asked to pardon Epstein.
The emails follow other emerging documents tying Mandelson to Epstein’s social circle, including a handwritten 10-page tribute Mandelson contributed to a birthday book compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted Epstein associate. In that tribute Mandelson referred to Epstein as his "best pal," according to documents released by the House Oversight Committee.
Mandelson has said he regrets the friendship and how long it lasted. In a recent interview he expressed "a tremendous sense of sympathy for those people, those women, who suffered as a result of his behaviour and his illegal criminal activities," and said he "regret[ted] very very deeply indeed carrying on that association with him for far longer than I should have done."
The newly surfaced correspondence underscores the breadth of Epstein’s contacts with prominent figures in politics and business. Epstein was first convicted in Florida in 2008; he faced federal child sex charges in 2019 and died in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial.
The documents were obtained and reported by Bloomberg and follow releases tied to congressional oversight activity. The exchanges add to public records that investigators, journalists and lawmakers have used to trace Epstein’s relationships and the responses of those in his circle as legal scrutiny intensified.