2026年2月8日 / 美国东部时间上午11:03 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
英国首相基尔·斯塔默的幕僚长摩根·麦斯威尼周日因彼得·曼德尔森被任命为英国驻美国大使一事引发的风波而辞职。尽管曼德尔森与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦有联系，但其任命仍引发争议。
麦斯威尼表示，他对2024年建议斯塔默任命72岁的曼德尔森担任英国最重要外交职位一事负有责任。
“任命彼得·曼德尔森的决定是错误的。他损害了我们的政党、我们的国家以及民众对政治本身的信任，”麦斯威尼在一份声明中说，“在被问及此事时，我建议首相做出这一任命，我对此建议负有全部责任。”
斯塔默正面临政治风暴和对其判断力的质疑。美国新公布的大量爱泼斯坦相关文件显示，曼德尔森在2008年金融危机期间担任英国政府商务大臣时，曾向这名被判有罪的性犯罪者发送了涉及市场敏感信息的内容。
首相上周为“曾相信曼德尔森的谎言”而道歉。他表示，当初对曼德尔森进行外交官职位审查时，“我们都不知道他与爱泼斯坦关系的黑暗程度”。
“曼德尔森背叛了我们的国家、我们的议会和我的政党……在被问及他担任大使期间及之前与爱泼斯坦的关系时，他多次对我的团队撒谎。我后悔任命了他，”斯塔默上周在议员面前表示。
斯塔默政府承诺将公布与曼德尔森任命相关的自身电子邮件和其他文件，称这些文件将显示曼德尔森误导了官员。
多名议员呼吁斯塔默辞职。
“基尔·斯塔默必须为自己糟糕的决定负责，”反对党保守党领袖凯米·巴登诺克表示。
前内阁大臣、大使及执政工党元老的曼德尔森尚未被逮捕或指控。
伦敦警方目前正在调查，并于周五搜查了曼德尔森的伦敦住所及另一处与其相关的房产。警方称，调查工作复杂，需要“大量进一步的证据收集和分析”。
斯塔默曾在2023年9月因曼德尔森与爱泼斯坦的关系被披露而将其解雇。但批评者表示，美国司法部近日公布的电子邮件使斯塔默判断力的严重问题浮出水面，认为他从一开始就不该任命曼德尔森。
新披露的文件包括显示曼德尔森在2008年全球金融危机后向爱泼斯坦分享敏感政府信息的内容，以及2003年和2004年爱泼斯坦向与曼德尔森或其丈夫雷纳尔多·阿维拉·达席尔瓦相关的账户支付共计7.5万美元的记录。
除了与爱泼斯坦的关联，曼德尔森此前还因金钱或道德丑闻两次辞去高级政府职务。
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U.K.’s prime minister’s top aide resigns over Peter Mandelson’s appointment to ambassador to U.S.despite Epstein ties
February 8, 2026 / 11:03 AM EST / CBS/AP
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff resigned Sunday over the furor surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Morgan McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, 72, to Britain’s most important diplomatic post in 2024.
“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” McSweeney said in a statement. “When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, with Britain’s former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, in February 2025 in Washington. Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP
Starmer is facing a political storm and questions about his judgment after newly published documents, part of a huge trove of Epstein files made public in the United States, suggested that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the U.K. government’s business secretary during the 2008 financial crisis.
The prime minister apologized last week for “having believed Mandelson’s lies.” He said “none of us knew the depth of the darkness” of the relationship between Mandelson and Epstein when the former was vetted for the diplomat job.
“Mandelson betrayed our country, our Parliament and my party … he lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador. I regret appointing him,” Starmer told lawmakers last week.
Starmer’s government has promised to release its own emails and other documentation related to Mandelson’s appointment, which it says will show that Mandelson misled officials.
A number of lawmakers have called for Starmer to resign.
“Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions,” said Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party.
Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, has not been arrested or charged.
The Metropolitan Police is now investigating and officers searched Mandelson’s London home and another property linked to him on Friday. Police said the investigation is complex and will require “a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis.”
Starmer had fired Mandelson in September from his ambassadorial job over earlier revelations about his Epstein ties. But critics say the emails recently published by the U.S. Justice Department have brought serious concerns about Starmer’s judgment to the fore. They argue that he should have known better than to appoint Mandelson in the first place.
The new revelations include documents suggesting Mandelson shared sensitive government information with Epstein after the 2008 global financial crisis. They also include records of payments totaling $75,000 in 2003 and 2004 from Epstein to accounts linked to Mandelson or his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Aside from his association with Epstein, Mandelson previously had to resign twice from senior government posts because of scandals over money or ethics.
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