Sir Tony Blair met with Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street while he was prime minister after lobbying from Lord Mandelson.
A memo written by civil servant Sir Matthew Rycroft briefs the Labour leader about the "super-rich" financier ahead of the meeting.
The encounter happened six years before Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
According to the BBC, emails show Lord Mandelson — the then-MP for Hartlepool — pushed for the conversation.
Lord Mandelson told Sir Tony's chief of staff Jonathan Powell that Epstein was "a friend of mine" who former US president Bill Clinton hoped to introduce to the PM.
The exchange was released by the National Archives under Freedom of Information legislation, following the sacking of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador last month.
Lord Mandelson was dismissed by Sir Keir Starmer following the publication of emails showing he sent supportive messages to Epstein, even as he faced jail for sex offences.
In correspondence with Powell, the current National Security Adviser, Lord Mandelson refers to Epstein as "safe".
The email on May 7, 2002 states: "Do you remember when Clinton saw TB (Tony Blair) he said he wanted to introduce his travelling friend, Jeffrey Epstein, to TB?
"This was frustrated — TB said at the time — in the office for reasons (he says) he was unclear about. I think TB would be interested in meeting Jeffrey, who is also a friend of mine, because Jeffrey is an active scientific catalyst/entrepreneur as well as someone who has his finger on the pulse of many worldwide markets and currencies.
"He is young and vibrant. He is safe (whatever that means) and Clinton is now doing a lot of travelling with him."
"I mentioned to TB that Jeffrey is in London next week and he said he would like to meet him.
"I have ascertained from Jeffrey that he is flexible — he could be here any time from Tuesday onwards to fit round the diary — but would obviously need to know reasonably quickly so as to re-schedule accordingly. Can you let me know?"
Mr Clinton has acknowledged being a former associate of Epstein but denies having any knowledge of his crimes.
Epstein died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
In a “Trade and Industry Meetings with Industry” document dated May 14, 2002, Sir Matthew, who until March 2025 was permanent secretary at the Home Office, wrote to Sir Tony: "Jeffrey Epstein is seeing you at 5pm today.
"He is a financial adviser to the super-rich and a property developer. He is a friend of Bill Clinton and Peter Mandelson. The background on Epstein is that he is very rich and close to the Duke of York".
"Peter says that Epstein now travels with Clinton and Clinton wants you to meet him. He thinks you would find worthwhile a conversation with him about a) science and b) international economic and monetary trends."
A spokesman for Sir Tony said: "As far as he can remember, Mr Blair met with him for less than 30 minutes in Downing Street in 2002, and discussed US and UK politics. He never met or engaged with him subsequently. This was, of course, long before his crimes were known of and his subsequent conviction."
