Former British ambassador to US Peter Mandelson issues apology over friendship with Jeffrey Epstein

Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the United States, has apologized for continuing his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the wake of the latter’s conviction.

Mandelson, who was fired from his ambassadorial role in September over his ties to the disgraced financier, had faced criticism for offering a limited apology on Sunday over system failures that had let down Epstein’s victims.

But on Monday he offered a fuller apology in a statement sent to the BBC’s “Newsnight” program.

“Yesterday, I did not want to be held responsible for his (Epstein’s) crimes of which I was ignorant, not indifferent, because of the lies he told me and so many others,” said Mandelson, who is currently on a leave of absence from his position as a lawmaker in the UK’s House of Lords.