“We can confirm that we are currently looking into the matter. We cannot comment further at this stage,” OLAF said in a statement to POLITICO.
“The fact that OLAF is examining the matter does not mean that OLAF has opened an investigation. As a general rule, OLAF analyses all incoming information of potential investigative interest according to standard procedures.
“It is only after such an initial assessment that OLAF decides whether or not to open an investigation.
“OLAF fully respects the presumption of innocence and the rights of defence of the persons/entities concerned.”
Mandelson’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has previously said he was wrong to have continued his association with Epstein, who died in 2019, and apologized “unequivocally” to Epstein’s victims. Mandelson has said none of the Epstein emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice “indicate wrongdoing or misdemeanor on my part.”
Mandelson served as a European commissioner between 2004 and 2008 and is now at the center of a scandal that has rocked the government of Keir Starmer in Britain.