Cherie Blair has defended Peter Mandelson amid scrutiny of his links to Jeffrey Epstein, saying the former Labour minister is "still a human being" entitled to a fair trial. In an interview with Times Radio, the wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed sadness over Mandelson's situation and called for restraint in public judgment.
Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office last year, following revelations that he maintained contact with Epstein after the financier's 2008 conviction for child sex offences. He denies wrongdoing and has been released under investigation. The case has drawn attention to his wider association with Epstein, including passing confidential government information during the 2008 financial crisis while serving as business secretary.
Cherie Blair said the Epstein files, released by the US justice department, have focused too heavily on prominent figures rather than the victims. "This is about individual women who were trafficked, who were abused, who were groomed," she said, criticising media coverage that she argued concentrates on "important men" at the expense of the abused women and girls.
She confirmed her own mention in the files, relating to a women's event attended by Epstein's girlfriend. She described Epstein as someone who "met millions of people and used them in order to make himself seem important." On her husband's meeting with Epstein, arranged by Mandelson, she noted that Prime Ministers meet countless individuals and that Bill Clinton had requested the introduction.
