Tag Archives: Politics

Trump Says It ‘Bothers Me That Somebody Is Going After Bill Clinton’ Amid Epstein Scandal

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US President Donald Trump said it “bothers” him that former President Bill Clinton is facing scrutiny and an order to testify about his past ties to the late child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, who Trump infamously also had a relationship with.

“It bothers me that somebody is going after Bill Clinton. See, I like Bill Clinton. I still like Bill Clinton,” Trump told NBC News in a White House interview Wednesday.

Asked what he likes about the former president, Trump answered: “I liked his behaviour towards me. I thought he got me, he understood me.”

This expressed support came one day after Trump called it “a shame” that Clinton and his wife, Hillary, have been subpoenaed to testify about their ties to Epstein.

Bill Clinton’s relationship with Epstein was documented in investigative files released by the Justice Department last week. The files include a shirtless photo of Clinton in a hot tub with someone that a DOJ official described as a “victim” of Epstein’s sexual abuse. He has denied wrongdoing and having any knowledge that Epstein was abusing underage girls.

Trump, who also faces unverified allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors in the documents and has denied wrongdoing, said it’s time to “move on” from the Epstein files and expressed support for the Clintons. This about-face follows Trump infamously calling for the former secretary of state to be locked up during and long after their vitriolic 2016 presidential campaign battle.

“I think it’s a shame, to be honest. I always liked him. Her? Yeah, she’s a very capable woman. She was better in debating than some of the other people, I will tell you that,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “She was smarter. She’s a smart woman. I hate to see it in many ways. I hate to see it, but then look at me, they went after me like — you know, they wanted me to go to jail for the rest of my life. Then it turned out I was innocent.”

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‘Universally Low’: How Labour MPs’ Plummeting Morale Has Left Keir Starmer In The Danger Zone

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Keir Starmer threw himself on the mercy of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims today as he desperately tried to save his premiership.

The prime minister stared down the barrel of a TV camera and apologised to them for appointing Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, despite his known links to the convicted paedophile.

“I am sorry,” he said. “Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry for having believing Mandelson’s lies and appointed him. And sorry that even now you are forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.”

But the prime minister’s audience was as much his own MPs as it was the women who were abused by Epstein.

They are the ones who hold his fate in their hands, and the bad news for Starmer is that, if anything, they are even angrier than they were yesterday.

One veteran backbencher described the mood among his colleagues as “universally low”.

Another MP said: “Taking refuge in constituency stuff this weekend seems appealing.

“But trying to pretend it’s all a bad dream for a few days won’t work, as constituents will be taking the chance to make very clear how they feel about Starmer and Mandelson and that’ll end up feeding into things back in parliament next week.”

Starmer’s argument is that he was unaware of the extent of Lord Mandelson’s ongoing friendship with Epstein, and was lied to by the then Labour peer during the vetting process for the ambassadorial post.

“He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew,” the PM said. “And when that became clear and it was not true, I sacked him.”

But that is failing to convince even his own ministers, with one telling HuffPost UK: “Everyone knows Peter was always going to be a high risk appointment and that’s the most disappointing thing.

“On balance the ‘is this worth the risk’ question should have been answered with a ‘no’.”

For a prime minister and former barrister, Starmer does seem to be remarkably incurious.

The full extent of Mandelson’s deep connections with Epstein were, of course, unknown until the latest tranche of documents on the billionaire financier were released last week by the US Department of Justice.

Details of him allegedly passing on market sensitive information in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash has stunned Westminster and have put Mandelson at the heart of a criminal investigation.

Nevertheless, there was enough evidence available long before Starmer made Mandelson his ambassador to show that he had maintained contact with Epstein after his conviction.

An internal report from 2019 by the JP Morgan bank containing emails between the pair was reported on by the Financial Times in 2023.

Photographs of the pair shopping in the Caribbean and blowing out candles on a birthday cake in Epstein’s Paris apartment were also widely in circulation.

Given that, it is hard to understand how Starmer could have bought Mandelson’s line that the pair “barely knew” one another.

Labour MP Richard Burgon – no fan of Starmer’s, it must be said – remarked: “No minister should be giving the impression that Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein – even after his jailing – wasn’t known before Mandelson became ambassador. It was.”

Other MPs insist the moment of maximum danger for Starmer has passed, at least in the short term.

But the feeling remains that the PM is now just one mis-step away from a full-blown leadership crisis – and his rivals are preparing to strike.

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Keir Starmer Facing ‘Political Death’ As Mandelson Scandal Threatens To Engulf Him

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Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life after the row over his decision to make Peter Mandelson the UK’s ambassador to Washington threatens to end his premiership.

The prime minister is facing mounting fury from Labour MPs after confirming that he knew about Mandelson’s ongoing friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein when he gave him the plum diplomatic job.

Starmer made the shocking admission as he endured a torrid prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons.

A minister described Starmer’s performance as “disastrous”.

One Labour MP told HuffPost UK that watching Starmer was “like being present at the political death of the prime minister”.

“It’s made his position far, far worse,” the MP said. “I couldn’t believe some of his answers. We were aghast.”

The MP added: “Labour MPs are in disbelief, to be honest. He came to PMQs and instead of handling it well and appropriately, totally misjudged the mood of MPs and the country.”

In a fresh humiliation for the PM, the government was also forced to U-turn over its plans to publish the behind-the-scenes communications which took place before Mandelson was made ambassador.

Downing Street had initially said that documents relating to national security and the UK’s relations with other countries would remain under wraps.

However, after a major intervention by former deputy PM Angela Rayner, and with the government facing an embarrassing defeat in the Commons, No.10 agreed that MPs on the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) will be allowed to see those papers to decide whether they can be made public.

One MP said: “I’m relieved that we’ve got to a better place but why have we had to go through this?”

The developments left Starmer’s political authority severely damaged and led to veteran left-winger John McDonnell calling on him to think about quitting as PM.

He told ITV News: “I think he really needs to consider his position about how he goes forward on this because this is one of those issues which could not just bring down a prime minister, but bring down a government.

“I think he should consider his track record, is he performing the role responsibly, and I think the responsibility is on his shoulders to think whether he’s doing the right thing by staying on.”

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Starmer should ‘consider his position’ after documents revealed the extent of Mandelson and Epstein ties, John McDonnell tells ITV News’ @carldinnen

The PM is facing anger from Labour MPs over what he knew about Mandelson’s ongoing friendship with the disgraced financier pic.twitter.com/wVSG8ApYnC

— ITVPolitics (@ITVNewsPolitics) February 4, 2026

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Starmer should ‘consider his position’ after documents revealed the extent of Mandelson and Epstein ties, John McDonnell tells ITV News’ @carldinnen

The PM is facing anger from Labour MPs over what he knew about Mandelson’s ongoing friendship with the disgraced financier pic.twitter.com/wVSG8ApYnC

— ITVPolitics (@ITVNewsPolitics) February 4, 2026

Starmer’s leadership crisis has been triggered by the revelations about the extent of Mandelson’s links to Epstein, which emerged in documents released last weekend by the US Department of Justice.

Mandelson, who was sacked as US ambassador just seven months after Starmer appointed him, is facing a criminal investigation over claims he passed market sensitive information to the billionaire financier when he was business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.

At PMQs, Starmer said Mandelson – who this week quit the House of Lords – had “betrayed” Britain by his actions.

He also said Mandelson had “lied repeatedly” when being vetted for the ambassador’s role.

“I regret appointing him,” Starmer said. “If I knew then what I know now, he wouldn’t have been anywhere near government.”

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