Former UK minister Peter Mandelson offered to help disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein obtain a Russian visa, the BBC reported, citing documents released by the US government.
Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party and the House of Lords recently following the latest tranche of files released by the US Department of Justice.
Although it is not clear what the reason was for Epstein's planned trip to Moscow in 2010, emails suggested he was going to meet women while there, the report said.
Another email dated Nov. 9, 2010 revealed that Epstein contacted Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate and modelling agent, to let him know he was thinking of travelling to Moscow the following week.
Brunel, who killed himself in 2022 while being investigated for the trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation, appeared to reply, saying: "I am getting my visa."
Emails from the same day show that Epstein asked Mandelson, who had left government six months before, if he could help in acquiring a Russian visa for him.
"I do not have a visa for Russia, it is a bank holiday in paris today...any ideas how i can get one," he said while in France.
Mandelson replied hours later, suggesting that he was willing to help.
The following day, he sent an email to Epstein again and said an associate of his was "helping on visas."
On the same day that he asked Mandelson for help, Epstein sent an email to a woman in Russia asking if they had any "news.”
Other emails also indicated that Mandelson visited Epstein in Paris.
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