Fears for Mandelson investigation as Met still doesn’t have unredacted Epstein files

The Labour grandee and former foreign secretary was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in February

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Fears are growing for the police investigation into whetherLord Peter Mandelsonshared confidential information with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

Reports claim the probe into the former foreign secretary has stalled without the US authorities granting access to the unredactedEpstein files.

According toThe Telegraph, neither the Department of Justice nor the FBI has yet agreed to requests from theMetropolitan Policefor the documents.

Scotland Yard detectives initially made the request under an informal agreement to share information between law enforcement agencies. This was later escalated to a formal request for mutual legal assistance (MLA), but it could take up to a year to access the documents and there is no guarantee the DoJ will release them.

The Met is investigating claims the Labour grandeepassed on market-sensitive informationto Epstein during his time as business secretary. The 72-year-old, who was sacked from his post as ambassador to the US last year and resigned from the House of Lords in February, has previously denied any wrongdoing.

He was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on 23 February and his properties were searched. It came several weeks after the DoJ released 3 million documents relating to the late billionaire on 30 January.

However, some information in the exchanges had been redacted to protect victims and avoid jeopardising ongoing investigations.

The arrest followed a tip-off from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, that LordMandelsoncould flee to the British Virgin Islands.

Scotland Yard previously confirmed it was seeking further details from law enforcement partners, including in the US, with reports in March claiming that Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was due to press the US authorities on the issue during a visit to Washington.

It is now feared that the investigation could eventually collapse without access to the unredacted documents, according to reports inThe TimesandThe Telegraph.Although there is hope a sufficient case can be built by interviewing former politicians and officials, the files are understood to be crucial to the probe.