As the wheels of justice begin to turn in Britain, a spotlight should also shine on the financier’s wealthy enablers in the US
“T
he more Epstein documents get released, the more we see how he had so many powerful friends, and that’s ultimately what helped him,” commented the US lawyer Lisa Bloom in an interview with the Guardian this week. As Ms Bloom, who represents 11 of Jeffrey Epstein’s dogged and brave victims, drily notes: “That’s not the way the justice system is supposed to work.”
From the outset, the Epstein affair has offered a textbook example of the ability of the influential and well-connected to avoid scrutiny and intimidate those who would exert it. A ruthless pursuit of transparency, both institutional and personal, is the only way to combat such tactics and hold power to account. In the extraordinary days following the release of further Epstein files last week, the wheels of justice in Britain are belatedly beginning to turn on that basis.
Allegations that Peter Mandelson leaked Downing Street emails and market-sensitive information to Epstein, a convicted sex offender, following the financial crash, have now led to a criminal investigation. Wednesday’s events in the House of Commons showed that they have also unleashed a Westminster scandal which threatens to engulf Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership. The prime minister’s political future may rest on his ability to convince MPs that he is being transparent over the fateful decision to make Peter Mandelson the UK’s ambassador in Washington.
