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Formless Oedon
lemmy.ml
formlessoedon@lemmy.mlJoined: 2026-04-11 |
Link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/01/lord-mandelson-privileged-contact-russian-spies/
Lmao if you believe this. They did the same story with Epstein [2026-07-01] **The Telegraph** 🤣Claims contained in former MI6 intelligence officer’s dossier denied by sources close to disgraced peer A secret dossier compiled by a former MI6 intelligence officer claims that Lord Mandelson was considered a “privileged contact” by Russian intelligence. According to the leaked report, codenamed Project Fish, Moscow spymasters regarded the disgraced peer as “one of the most significant RIS [Russian intelligence services] achievements in manipulating UK politics” over the past 30 years. The dossier, compiled by Christopher Steele, a former head of MI6’s Russia desk, alleges that Lord Mandelson was first contacted by the KGB shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Mr Steele came to public attention as the author of a highly controversial and contested report about Donald Trump. It has now emerged that he also compiled a report on British political figures targeted by Russian spies. As well as Lord Mandelson, Project Fish alleges that the Kremlin built up files on Boris Johnson, Mr Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings, Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn, among others. On Lord Mandelson, it alleges: However, the dossier does not provide evidence that Lord Mandelson spied for Russia. Sources close to the peer dismissed the allegations as nonsense and said he did not pass any information to Russia or do anything wrong. They pointed to the many times during his career that he publicly opposed the Kremlin’s interests. The Project Fish report, which was produced in 2022, is understood to have been compiled by Mr Steele after he left British intelligence and was working in a private capacity. Whitehall officials will now face questions over whether they knew about the allegations in the report when Lord Mandelson was appointed as ambassador to the US three years later, in 2025. Lord Mandelson failed the security vetting process after concerns were raised about his links with senior figures in Russia and China, but this was overruled and he was appointed anyway. The resulting scandal played a key role in driving Sir Keir Starmer out of office as Prime Minister. Downing Street sources refused to say whether officials had seen Project Fish before appointing Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Downing Street sources refused to be drawn on whether the report’s findings had been shared with government officials before Lord Mandelson’s appointment. The Project Fish report, a version of which has been seen by The Telegraph, claims that Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR, kept a “dossier” on the details of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The peer’s friendship with the financier ultimately cost him his job as Britain’s ambassador to Washington when it was revealed that Lord Mandelson had encouraged him to fight for early release after Epstein had been convicted of soliciting a minor for sex. The SVR “meticulously collected and compiled information” about their relationship “over a long period”, which could have been used to put pressure on Lord Mandelson, the report claims. Russian intelligence compiled a dossier on Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein Credit: US department of justice After spending more than two decades working for the UK’s secret services, Mr Steele now runs Orbis Business Intelligence, a private-investigation firm specialising in Russia. He is also a director at Walsingham Partners, a management consultancy. Mr Steele’s private intelligence work remained largely under the radar until he was named as the author of a controversial file on Mr Trump which leaked out in 2017. It contained highly contested allegations that members of Mr Trump’s campaign team had conspired with Russia to interfere in the presidential election in 2016 and that the Kremlin had kompromat, including a tape of prostitutes performing a sex act for him in a Moscow hotel. A federal criminal investigation into Russian interference in the election, led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, did not verify the existence of such a tape. Mr Trump has said the dossier was “fake” and contained “totally made up facts”, claiming that it was politically motivated. It later transpired that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign had helped to fund the dossier via intermediaries. In the fallout that followed, the FBI launched a criminal inquiry into the report’s claims, which in turn led to Mr Trump ordering an investigation into the FBI and Mr Steele’s involvement. The US department of justice’s inspector general published a report in 2019 that found that the CIA had dismissed the Steele dossier as little more than “an internet rumour” and noted that the FBI was only able to corroborate “limited information” from it, much of which was publicly available. Meanwhile, Mr Steele subsequently told journalists that he believed the contents of the dossier to be between 70 and 90 per cent accurate, with certain aspects – including the claim that prostitutes had carried out a sex act in Mr Trump’s presence – as little as 50 per cent. Christopher Steele was behind a file alleging that Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign members had conspired with Russia Credit: Tolga Akmen/AFP Project Fish is understood to have been compiled at the request of a client who wanted to understand the extent of Russian influence on operations in the UK. The report alleged that Russia had held information on prominent politicians from across the political spectrum, as well as wealthy investors and businessmen. Mr Johnson, Mr Cummings, Mr Farage and Mr Corbyn are among those featured in the report as people of interest to Russian intelligence. It does not suggest any of them passed information to the Kremlin or did anything wrong. Some of those with knowledge of the dossier have cast doubt on the veracity of the sources that were used to compile it, and the steps taken to verify information. Project Fish claims the KGB opened its file on Lord Mandelson during the Soviet era when he served as the Labour Party’s director of communications and continued monitoring him under Sir Tony Blair’s leadership. It says the Kremlin’s spy agencies kept close tabs on Lord Mandelson’s career, first as a “promising Labour functionary”, then as a “key member of Blair’s inner circle” and when he was elected to Parliament and became a “senior politician in his own right”. Recommended By the time he was appointed as the EU’s trade commissioner in 2004, Lord Mandelson had become “the object of the FSB’s attention”, according to the report. Lord Mandelson’s former role as a non-executive director at the Russian conglomerate Sistema “brought him into close contact with intelligence officers” who were working undercover as Sistema managers and Kremlin officials, the report claims. The report does not present any evidence to support the claims of infiltration by Russian intelligence at Sistema and there is no suggestion that Lord Mandelson had any knowledge of this. The peer was vocal in his opposition to the theft of Sistema’s oil and gas assets by Vladimir Putin’s government. Following his criticism of Moscow, his Russian visa was suspended for six months. The peer stepped down from the Sistema board in 2017 and sold his remaining shares in the company in 2021. The report also discusses Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch who at one time was Russia’s richest man, and who was sanctioned in 2022 over his “close links” to Putin. It notes that in 2008 Lord Mandelson was accused of “granting favours” to Mr Deripaska in his role as EU trade commissioner – which he has denied – and states that he “is known to have accepted hospitality” on Mr Deripaska’s superyacht. Lord Mandelson was accused of ‘granting favours’ to Oleg Deripaska (right), a Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev/AP Emails released by the US department of justice show that Lord Mandelson had also enlisted Mr Deripaska’s help in securing a Russian visa for Epstein in 2010, which the paedophile financier apparently used to meet women in Moscow. The report’s findings will raise further questions about Sir Keir’s decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US, the most high-profile and sensitive diplomatic posting, given the role’s necessary close contact with the White House. The Met is also investigating Lord Mandelson over alleged leaks to Epstein while he was a senior member of Gordon Brown’s government, which could constitute misconduct in public office. The EU is also investigating Lord Mandelson over possible fraud, corruption or serious misconduct during his time as an EU trade commissioner. Mr Steele and Lord Mandelson declined to comment. Recommended |
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