Post #624513

'New files released today revealed key details about Peter Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the United States: They indicate that Starmer and Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney ignored warnings about Mandelson's Epstein links as well as his ties to Russia (which documents claim continued "long after Putin's annexation of Crimea"). They show that National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell described the appointment as "unusual" and "weirdly rushed." He also raised concerns to McSweeney, who said the "issues have been addressed" (but where is the paper trail to show that?). Mandelson, astoundingly, asked for more than £500k upon his termination in September last year. He received £75k as a "special severance payment," a Foreign Office official writing that "the Department will not publish the detail of this payment." Files show that David Lammy, who seemingly briefed the press last month to claim he fought against the appointment, actually "agreed with the recommendation." OpenBritain