US President Donald Trump made a fresh plea on Tuesday for Americans to move on from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, even as it left a prominent British politician facing a criminal probe across the Atlantic.
Former British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords amid allegations he passed confidential information to the late sex offender Epstein.
The fallout from the latest release of millions of documents linked to Epstein continued in the United States as well, where former president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary are scheduled to testify in Congress later this month.
Republican Trump once again insisted he had been cleared by the newest tranche of files as he faced renewed questions at the White House over the disgraced financier.
“Nothing came out about me other than that it was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people. But I think it’s time now for the country to maybe get on to something else, like health care or something people care about,” Trump said.
He added that it was “not a Republican; it’s a Democrat problem” in an effort to turn attention back to the Clintons and away from allies mentioned in the files, including his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and billionaire Elon Musk.
“It’s a shame,” he said of the Clintons.
Too bad
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic former US secretary of state who lost to Trump in the 2016 election, and her husband will testify in a US House investigation into Epstein on 26 and 27 February.
Neither Trump nor the Clintons has been accused of criminal wrongdoing in relation to Epstein’s activities.
Trump spent months trying to block the disclosure of files linked to Epstein before relenting late last year, when an initial tranche was released.
Fresh documents released by the US Justice Department last week included emails between prominent figures and Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, often revealing warm relations, illicit financial dealings and private photographs.
The names of some alleged victims, intended to be anonymised, were left unredacted, prompting them to petition a US federal court for an “immediate takedown” of the government website hosting the files.
However, a US federal judge on Tuesday cancelled a court hearing set for Wednesday, stating that “the parties were able to resolve the privacy issues.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to the judge on Monday that all documents requested by victims or their counsel had been removed for further redaction.
Nevertheless, Trump’s attempts to move on from the Epstein scandal have been hampered as it continues to engulf key figures, from royals to politicians, at home and abroad.
“I don’t know too much about it,” Trump said when an AFP reporter asked him to comment on Mandelson’s resignation. “I know who he is. It’s too bad.”
Mandelson appeared in the Oval Office in May 2025 and shook hands with Trump as they announced a trade deal but was sacked in September over earlier Epstein revelations.
Misconduct in public office
The often-divisive British political figure, once dubbed the “Prince of Darkness”, has effectively seen his decades-long political career ended.
The former minister and ex-EU trade commissioner announced he was resigning from the House of Lords as of Wednesday. Hours later, British police said they were probing him for “misconduct in public office offences”.
Alongside images of Mandelson in his underpants, records released on Friday suggested that in 2009, while business secretary, he forwarded an economic briefing to Epstein intended for then-prime minister Gordon Brown.
Epstein also appears to have transferred $75,000 in three payments to accounts linked to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004.
The issue has caused a headache for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.
The Epstein affair has also rocked the top of the British establishment.
British police said they were “assessing” claims by a second woman who alleged she was trafficked to the UK for a sexual encounter with former Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles last October.
Photographs in the latest Epstein files showed Andrew kneeling on all fours over a woman lying on the floor.
Andrew, who has denied any wrongdoing, paid a multimillion-pound settlement in 2022 to Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre without admitting guilt. Giuffre died by suicide last year.
Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has also been caught up in the scandal through a series of embarrassing emails to Epstein. Her charity, “Sarah’s Trust”, announced on Tuesday that it is closing down.
Epstein denies being major sexual predator in newly unsealed interview
