Police release body camera footage of Brown University shooting aftermath

Police release body camera footage of Brown University shooting aftermath
Police release body camera footage of Brown University shooting aftermath
Footage newly obtained by ABC News appears to show the moment that the man suspected of opening fire at Brown University in December fled the Ivy League campus following the tragic incident. Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office

(PROVIDENCE, R.I.) — Body-worn camera footage from the chaotic scene on Dec. 13 at Brown University shows police clearing the Barus and Holley Building on campus following the deadly mass shooting on campus.

The heavily redacted footage, the police and fire reports, and 911 calls were released after numerous public records requests were made to the city in the days after the shooting.

The 20-minute video shows a police officer directing other officers to clear the building and telling people to get down. It also shows the moments just after the shooting, when police from the Providence Police Department and Rhode Island State Police rushed in. 

“As of now, we have no idea who this person could be,” one officer says. They wouldn’t know until days later who the alleged shooter was.

The alleged killer, Claudio Neves Valente, opened fire on a study group at Brown’s engineering and physics building, killing two students and injuring nine others, before fatally shooting MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, two days later, authorities said.

Neves Valente was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a storage unit on Dec. 18, officials said.

Also in the new video released, authorities are searching the building when the call comes over the radio, “we have multiple victims.”

“Let’s get these rescues in,” the officer can be heard saying.

Ella Cook, of Alabama, a sophomore at Brown, and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, a U.S. dual citizen from Uzbekistan, who was in his first semester, were the two students killed during the shooting.

The police report mirrors the court records that were released after the suspect was found dead, but it also includes stark new details from when detectives showed the image of the shooter to two of the shooting victims. 

“[Redacted] said she got a good look at the suspect. When provided with a photo of the suspect, [redacted] quickly froze, physically pushed back, and became emotional. She was observed to be tearing up and shaking. She then confirmed that the image showed the shooter,” the report said.

“Detectives then spoke with [redacted], who indicated that he was in close proximity to the shooter when he was shot. Detectives presented [redacted] with the same still image as [redacted]  and a second close-up image of the suspect from the same camera source,” the report continued. “Upon observing these two photos, [redacted]  took a deep breath, shut his eyes, changed his breathing pattern, and confirmed that the shooter he saw in the hallway appeared to be the person in the photos presented. Detectives met [redacted] with and presented him with the image of the suspect. [Redacted] also identified that the suspect in the images was the shooter.”

In another 911 call, an officer with the Brown University Police Department calls the Providence Police Department as chaos unfolds in the background.

“This is Brown University Police, we have confirmed gunshots at 184 Hope Street,” the officer says. In the background, you can hear a woman who is concerned about a victim reassuring them it’ll be OK.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Maxwell invokes the Fifth Amendment at closed virtual House Oversight deposition

Maxwell invokes the Fifth Amendment at closed virtual House Oversight deposition
Maxwell invokes the Fifth Amendment at closed virtual House Oversight deposition
Ghislaine Maxwell October 18, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein, invoked the Fifth Amendment during the closed-door virtual deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, according to Chairman James Comer.

It was expected that Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison in Texas, would refuse to answer questions from lawmakers and committee staffers as part of the panel’s investigation into the late financier and his ties to some of the world’s most powerful figures in politics, business and entertainment. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died by suicide in 2019 while at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.

Maxwell has a petition pending in federal court in New York which seeks to overturn her conviction or reduce her sentence.

Some committee lawmakers were expected to attend the closed deposition.

The deposition was more than six months in the making, and was first requested last July, when Comer formally issued a subpoena for a deposition with Maxwell to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on Aug. 11. 

Comer agreed to delay the deposition as Maxwell awaited a Supreme Court ruling on her appeal, which she ultimately lost

Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas, where Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed her over two days in July.

During that interview, Maxwell told Blanche that she never witnessed nor heard of any criminal or inappropriate activity by President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, nor any of the well-known men who associated with Epstein, according to the sources.

The closed deposition with Maxwell comes on the same day that members of Congress can go to the Department of Justice to view unredacted versions of the Epstein files that the department has withheld from public disclosure.

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Media tycoon Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in Hong Kong

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in Hong Kong
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in Hong Kong
Jimmy Lai, Apple Daily founder, arrives at the Court of Final Appeal ahead a bail hearing on February 9, 2021 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

(HONG KONG) — China critic and media mogul Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences, a penalty his son Sebastien called “heartbreaking.”

Lai was found guilty on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. He had pleaded not guilty.

It is the harshest sentence delivered to anyone under the sweeping national security law since Beijing introduced it as part of crackdowns in 2020. Lai’s family has been worried their 78-year-old dad would die in prison, and given his age and this 20-year-penalty, there is now a real chance that will happen.

It was a tense morning at the court in Hong Kong. Where there would once be huge lively crowds gathering in support of Hong Kong’s democracy figures, the mood was subdued and yet at the same time on edge. There was a heavy police presence outside the court, where officers were tightly controlling the media and the supporters who were queueing up outside of the court.

Lai’s wife, Teresa, walked out of the court holding back tears behind her large black glasses after seeing her husband in the dock, expressionless as he received his sentence.

Jimmy Lai is a U.K. citizen, and his son Sebastien said he is hoping, now that the case has worked its way through the Hong Kong judicial system, that China may release his father as a way to appease the U.K. and the U.S., especially ahead of President Donald Trump’s scheduled visit to China in April.

“Even though it was expected, it’s still quite a hard reality to have to deal with,” Sebastien Lai said. “There’s no upside in what China is doing to dad and there are very real consequences if he dies in there. That April visit is key.”

“I’m sure many Americans would want to have done what my father did in standing for freedom and defending his people. And for that heroism he is being tortured and sentenced to life in prison,” he added.

When ABC News interviewed Lai at his home while he was on bail in September 2020, Lai explained why he was willing to risk it all. He said he escaped from China at the age of 12 with just a dollar, “This place gave me everything. My reward is to pay back. It’s my redemption.”

U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Hong Kong should free Lai “on humanitarian grounds” and the UK government has also pledged to “rapidly engage further” with Beijing. Trump said back in December that he asked President Xi Jinping to consider Lai’s release, and the U.S. ambassador to China David Perdue has said Lai’s case is part of “ongoing discussions” with the Chinese side.

The sentence has been widely condemned by human rights groups, with Human Rights Watch calling the length of the sentence “effectively a death sentence.”

Amnesty International said it was “another grim milestone in Hong Kong’s transformation from a city governed by the rule of law to one ruled by fear.”

Meanwhile, Beijing and Hong Kong officials welcomed the penalty, with Hong Kong’s leader John Lee saying Lai deserved the 20-year prison sentence for his “evil deeds.”

China’s foreign ministry on Monday called the punishment “legitimate and reasonable.”

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Slight warm-up heading to Northeast after dangerously cold temperatures: Forecast

Slight warm-up heading to Northeast after dangerously cold temperatures: Forecast
Slight warm-up heading to Northeast after dangerously cold temperatures: Forecast
 People walk by the East River in Brooklyn on a day where an ‘extreme cold warning’ is in effect on February 07, 2026, in New York City. T(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Much of the U.S. will see above-average temperatures this week, except for the Northeast, where a below-average cold will prevail.

The Northeast will thaw out from the life-threatening cold that invaded this weekend. On Sunday morning, New York City plunged to its coldest temperature in three years, recording a low of 3 degrees.

Much of the East Coast, from Maine to North Carolina, remains under cold weather advisories for subzero wind chills through Monday morning.

The Northeast will get some relief by Monday afternoon, reaching 32 degrees in New York City and 34 degrees in Washington, D.C.

Elsewhere in the U.S., temperatures will be above average this week.

Record daily highs are possible on Monday, from 74 degrees in Nebraska to 65 degrees in Atlanta, while in Texas, temperatures will jump to the 80s.

By Friday, much of the nation, from Texas to the Midwest, will be enjoying warmer-than-normal temperatures. 

While the Northeast will be warmer than the brutal blast that struck this weekend, temperatures will stay below average, with 35 degrees forecast for New York City and 41 degrees forecast for D.C. on Friday.

Click here for what you need to know to stay safe in the cold.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Search for Nancy Guthrie continues into 9th day after family says, ‘we will pay’

Search for Nancy Guthrie continues into 9th day after family says, ‘we will pay’
Search for Nancy Guthrie continues into 9th day after family says, ‘we will pay’
: Savannah Guthrie and mother Nancy Guthrie on Thursday, June 15, 2023 — (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Faced with a demand for a bitcoin ransom and a Monday deadline by someone claiming to be her mother’s kidnapper, “Today” host Savannah Guthrie and her siblings over the weekend solemnly pledged to pay for the return of their mother, Nancy.

“We received your message and we understand,” Savannah Guthrie said in a message posted to Instagram. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen Jan. 31, and authorities have said they believe she was abducted from her home near Tucson, Arizona.

“We are aware of the video posted by the Guthrie family. But don’t have any additional information to share,” a spokesperson for Pima Sheriff said in a statement to ABC News on Saturday following the release of the latest video from the family.

The message Savannah Guthrie references in her new Instagram post is the same message the FBI and Pima Sheriff said they were studying Friday, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Investigators have not confirmed the authenticity of the latest message, which was received by a Tucson television station, nor any of the other ransom notes mentioning Nancy Guthrie, according to the source.

Investigators have returned repeatedly to the home of Annie Guthrie, Nancy’s other daughter, were Nancy enjoyed dinner and a Saturday game night before returning to her home a few minutes away.

Investigators have also returned to Nancy’s home, where they’ve examined rooftop cameras, towed away a car and made inquiries of neighbors.

The sheriff’s department said, “This remains an active and ongoing investigation,” but added that, after more than a week, “Investigators have not identified any suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles connected to this case.”

ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.

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Russian strikes kill 3 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy calls for Western air defense aid

Russian strikes kill 3 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy calls for Western air defense aid
Russian strikes kill 3 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy calls for Western air defense aid
Vehicles burn in the aftermath of Russian destruction caused by two KAB bombs in the city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk Region, Ukraine on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

(LONDON) — At least three people in Ukraine were killed in Russian overnight drone and missile strikes, the Interior Ministry in Kyiv reported on Monday, as Moscow continued its nightly long-range bombardment campaign.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 149 drones and 11 ballistic missiles into the country from Sunday evening into Monday morning, of which 116 drones and an undetermined number of missiles were shot down or suppressed. The air force said that the impacts of 23 drones and some missiles were recorded across 15 locations.

A woman and a 10-year-old boy were killed when a Russian drone hit the town of Bogodukhiv, around 35 miles northwest of the city of Kharkiv, the Interior Ministry said in a post to Telegram. Three other people were injured, it added.

Another person was killed by a Russian drone attack on the southern Black Sea port city of Odesa, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) said in a Telegram post. Two other people were injured, the SES said.

Elsewhere, the Interior Ministry said that nine people were injured by a Russian strike on a residential area in Shakhtarsk, in the central Dnipropetrovsk region.

The latest round of strikes came soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called for more Western aid to replenish and expand the country’s air defense network, which is called into service every night by long-range Russian attacks. 

On Sunday, several Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv, Zelenskyy said. “Each of our partners must recognize their strength, their ability to support Ukraine and protect lives,” the Ukrainian president said in posts to social media. 

“Missiles for air defense are needed every single day. Protection against Russian ballistic attacks is needed every single day,” Zelenskyy added. “No country in the world should be left alone and without assistance under such strikes and in such a war.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down at least 71 Ukrainian drones overnight into Monday morning.

Flight operations at two airports — one in Russia’s southern city of Volgograd and the other in the western city of Kaluga — were temporarily paused, Russia’s federal air transport agency said.

Zelenskyy on Sunday defended Ukraine’s attacks deep inside Russia. Kyiv has said in recent months that its drone and missile strikes are focused on the Russian energy sector, which Zelenskyy described as “a legitimate target.”

“We do not have to choose whether we strike a military target or energy,” Zelenskyy said while addressing students at the National Aviation University in Kyiv. “He sells this energy. He sells oil. So is it energy, or is it a military target? Honestly, it’s the same thing. He sells oil, takes the money, invests it in weapons. And with those weapons, he kills Ukrainians.”

Zelenskyy said that left Ukraine with two options: “We either build weapons and strike their weapons. Or we strike the source where their money is generated and multiplied. And that source is their energy sector. That is what is happening. All of this is a legitimate target for us.”

Both sides have continued long-range strikes despite recent U.S.-led peace efforts. Last week saw American, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators meet for a second round of trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates, with all three participants describing the meetings as productive.

But the talks did not appear to achieve a breakthrough on several contentious points. Among the most difficult are the fate of Ukraine’s partially-occupied eastern Donbas region, the nature of post-war Western security guarantees for Ukraine and control of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the south of the country.

On Friday, Zelenskyy told journalists that the U.S. proposed hosting the next round of trilateral talks, “likely in Miami, in a week.” Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian side “confirmed our participation.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, said in an interview with the TV BRICS outlet that Moscow sees no “bright future” in its future economic relations with the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump, presidential peace envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev — who is also the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund — have all suggested that a peace deal in Ukraine could facilitate a lucrative new era for American-Russian economic cooperation.

But Lavrov alleged that the U.S. had “declared their goal of economic dominance,” according to quotes published by the state-run Tass news agency.

Lavrov also explicitly criticized Trump’s administration for failing to roll back the punitive sanctions imposed on Moscow as a response to its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an operation that followed eight years of aggression beginning with Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014.

Trump has threatened more sanctions and tariffs on Russia if Moscow fails to make a deal with Ukraine to end its war, which this month will turn four years old.

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Guardsmen ambushed in DC to be awarded the Purple Heart

Guardsmen ambushed in DC to be awarded the Purple Heart
Guardsmen ambushed in DC to be awarded the Purple Heart
National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe. (U.S. Department of Justice)

(WASHINGTON) – -The two West Virginia National Guard members shot in November will receive the Purple Heart, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday while addressing troops at the base of the Washington Monument.

Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries on Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was shot in the head and remains in recovery, with skull reconstruction surgery scheduled for March.

“One lost, one recovering, both soon to be Purple Heart recipients,” Hegseth said, “because they were attacked by a radical.”

The suspected gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, was arraigned on nine charges Wednesday, including first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors say they are seeking additional charges that would make Lakanwal eligible for the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty.

Purple Hearts are typically reserved for troops wounded or killed by clearly identified enemy combatants in war zones, with awards for attacks on American soil relatively rare.

The question of eligibility resurfaced after the 2015 shootings in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez opened fire on a Navy Reserve center and a nearby recruiting station. Four Marines and a sailor died, Abdulazeez was killed by law enforcement. 

For months, that attack sat in a bureaucratic gray zone for the Purple Heart. FBI Director James Comey eventually determined the shootings were motivated by foreign terrorist propaganda.

The determination cleared the way for then- Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to announce Purple Hearts would be awarded to the victims of the shooting. 

The Trump administration has labeled Lakanwal a terrorist, though it has not publicly produced evidence tying him to any designated terrorist organization.

Lakanwal was among thousands of Afghans evacuated to the United States after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, and his asylum application was approved in 2025 during the Trump administration.

In Afghanistan, Lakanwal was affiliated with a so-called Zero Unit that worked closely with the CIA and elite special operations units, ABC News reported in December.

Officials with direct knowledge of the matter said he was considered a trusted member of the unit, which carried out American counterterrorism missions.

Investigators also believe Lakanwal was under financial strain after his work permit expired and may have been experiencing a mental health crisis.

“This announcement brings long-overdue honor to their service, offers meaning and reassurance to their families, and stands as a solemn reminder that West Virginia will never forget those who sacrifice in defense of others,” West Virginia GOP Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who called for Purple Hearts to be awarded after the ambush, said in a statement to ABC News. 

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Virginia voters considering redrawing congressional districts to favor Democrats

Virginia voters considering redrawing congressional districts to favor Democrats
Virginia voters considering redrawing congressional districts to favor Democrats
The Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, US, on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. Abigail Spanberger will face off with Winsome Earle-Sears on November 4, giving the state its first female governor. (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

(VIRGINIA) — Virginia residents could soon vote on whether the legislature can redraw the state’s congressional map mid-decade, a key development in a larger push by both parties to redraw U.S. House seats in their favor ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Friday signed a bill that sets an April 21 statewide vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow legislators to redraw congressional districts in the middle of the decade. Congressional maps are usually only drawn after the release of data from the census.

Democrats have framed the potential redraw as a response to how Republicans have redrawn U.S. House seats in their favor through mid-decade redistricting already in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri. Democrats have netted potential seats in California and Utah so far, but have fewer opportunities overall to redistrict.

Spanberger’s bill signing came the day after Democrats in Virginia’s state legislature unveiled the proposed congressional map that they hope to implement in time for the 2026 midterms, which could allow Democrats to potentially flip up to four GOP-held seats if implemented.

The map itself will not be voted on in the April referendum, but Democrats indicated they wanted to have a map proposal made public beforehand so that voters could know what may be passed into law if the referendum goes in their favor.

Democratic legislators will need to get through ongoing legal challenges as well, as a state court in Virginia ruled last month that the constitutional amendment is illegal because of the procedures the Democrats used to move the amendment through the legislature. The case is being taken up by the state’s Supreme Court. 

Republicans opposing the Democratic-led redistricting effort slammed the proposed map as a partisan gerrymander.

“Only those who crave complete political control and are willing to silence millions of Virginians will attempt to defend this abomination,” Jason Miyares, the former Republican Attorney General of Virginia who is a co-chair of the Virginians for Fair Maps group, wrote on X on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, in nearby Maryland, Democrats are split over whether the state should take part in the mid-decade redistricting scramble. 

Maryland’s House of Delegates recently passed a bill containing a new congressional map that could allow Democrats to flip the state’s lone GOP-held congressional district.

But that effort, championed by Maryland’s Gov. Wes Moore, is held up in the state Senate, where Senate leader Bill Ferguson has said he remains opposed to mid-decade redistricting. Ferguson told reporters on Tuesday that it “is a path towards mutually assured destruction.”

ABC News’ Ford McCracken and Halle Troadec contributed to this report.

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Dow closes above 50,000 for the first time ever

Dow closes above 50,000 for the first time ever
Dow closes above 50,000 for the first time ever
The Dow Jones Industrial Average logo appears on the screen of a smartphone in Reno, United States, on December 1, 2024. (Photo by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 50,000 for the first time ever on Friday.

A surge in markets reversed a selloff that hammered tech stocks earlier in the week.

The Dow closed up 1,206 points, or 2.4%, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.9%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 2.1%.

In a post on social media, President Donald Trump touted the high-water mark for the Dow, celebrating the feat as “the first time in History.”

“CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!” Trump said.

Shares of some tech companies worldwide plummeted in recent days after Anthropic unveiled an artificial intelligence tool viewed by some investors as a potential replacement for widely-used software products.

The selloff came in response to a set of new plugins for a digital tool called Claude Cowork, an AI-fueled workplace assistant that can author documents and organize files. The plugins, released last Friday, allow customers to adapt the tool for narrow sectors like legal, finance or data marketing.

Investors appeared to shrug off the AI-related worries in a buying spree on Friday.

AI chip giant Nvidia surged nearly 8%, recovering most of its losses earlier in the week.

Enterprise-software company Workday ticked up more than 2% on Friday, after a selloff in previous days triggered by the release of Claude Cowork.

Some crypto prices also rallied on Friday, ending a days-long plunge for many digital currencies. Bitcoin and Ether — the world’s two largest cryptocurrencies — each soared about 10% on Friday.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Fallout from Epstein files release reaches highest levels of UK society

Fallout from Epstein files release reaches highest levels of UK society
Fallout from Epstein files release reaches highest levels of UK society
Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the traditional Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, April 20, 2025, in Windsor, England. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — While the latest release of Epstein files has touched off another round of controversy in the U.S., it has ignited a veritable firestorm in Europe, where the new tranche of emails, text messages, videos on photographs released by the Department of Justice has painted a far more comprehensive picture of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with members of the global elite.

And while a mention in the files does not immediately imply wrongdoing, last week’s data dump has led to a chorus of high-profile figures explaining, and in many cases apologizing for, their connection to Epstein. Reputations have been tarnished, in some cases irrevocably.

These latest files show the range and depth of Epstein’s extraordinary reach into the upper echelons of society. Among the new names from the European elite are Norway’s crown princess and the Slovak national security adviser.

For now, the repercussions are being felt the most acutely in the U.K., where a prince of the realm has lost his title and his home, a senior member of the governing Labour party has lost his position in the House of Lords, a police investigation has been launched into misconduct in public office, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer — whose name has not appeared in the released files — is now fighting for his political survival.

The recently published files have laid bare the extent of Epstein’s contact with the former Prince Andrew and former British Ambassador Peter Mandelson — touching off a crisis at both the heart of the government and the monarchy.

“The scandal seems to matter more here, with graver consequences, because it strikes at the monarchy, the British establishment and the political elite. It’s not just about the behavior of one disgraced man,” Robert Jobson, royal author and ABC royal contributor told ABC News.

There are difficult questions for the monarchy to face, Jobson said, “If senior royal family members and courtiers knew about Epstein’s activities and did nothing” and if they “chose to protect the monarchy at the expense of vulnerable young women.”

“If they did not know, then the institution they oversee is not merely flawed but dangerously incompetent. Neither explanation is excusable,” Jobson said.

Buckingham Palace’s most recent statement on the matter, which came on Oct. 25, announced the stripping of Andrew’s titles and said, “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”

In rare public hecklings, both the king and queen have been asked whether they will help with the Epstein investigation. Neither responded. It is extremely unusual for them to be approached in this way, and royals very rarely respond to such questions.

The only senior royal to address these latest revelations has been Prince Edward, who responded to a reporter’s question by emphasizing his support for the victims, saying, “I think it’s all really important always to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this? A lot of victims in this.”

“The central issue in the Epstein scandal has never been Andrew alone,” Jobson said. “It is the question the Palace has spent more than a decade avoiding: What did the late queen and King Charles know? And when did they know it?”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was stripped of all his titles last October after some of his email exchanges with Epstein were leaked to the press. He vacated his home at Royal Lodge on Monday, and will now live on the King’s privately owned Sandringham Estate.

The scandal, which has hounded the royal family for decades, erupted after one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, accused Mountbatten-Windsor of sexual assault. In 2022, Mountbatten-Windsor, who has always denied any wrongdoing, settled a civil suit with Giuffre.

“The Queen personally funded Andrew’s legal defense. She later allowed him to walk beside her at the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in 2022, a move widely interpreted as an attempt at rehabilitation. It has now backfired, blown up in the King’s face,” Jobson told ABC News.

Mountbatten-Windsor, then Prince Andrew, told the BBC’s Emily Maitlis that he cut off all contact with Epstein in 2010, shortly after Epstein completed his sentence for solicitation of a minor in Florida — but last week the Department of Justice released emails between the two dating from 2011 and correspondence between his team and Epstein as recently as 2017.  

“The press is piling on me in the states.. nothing to do. just want to make sure you’re ok,” Epstein wrote to Andrew on Feb 28, 2011.

“I’m just as concerned for you! Don’t worry about me!” Andrew replied to Epstein. “It would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it!…keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!!”

In another exchange, Epstein sent Mountbatten-Windsor a message encouraging him to have dinner with a friend, about whom he said, “She 26, russian, clevere [sic] beautiful, trustworthy.”

Mountbatten-Windsor replied he would be “delighted.”

Last week, following the emails’ release, a second woman came forward to accuse Epstein of trafficking her to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor, according to the BBC. Her lawyer, Brad Edwards told the BBC, “We’re talking about at least one woman who was sent by Jeffrey Epstein over to Prince Andrew. And she even had, after a night with Prince Andrew, a tour of Buckingham Palace.”

Thames Valley Police released a statement saying, “We are aware of reports about a woman said to have been taken to an address in Windsor in 2010 for sexual purposes. We are assessing the information in line with our established procedures.”

Buckingham Palace has not commented on any of the latest revelations, telling ABC News that they no longer represent Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The former prince has yet to publicly comment on these latest documents.

“The scandal is not defined only by what Prince Andrew may have done,” Jobson said. “It is defined by what the institution chose to conceal. And that question has still not been answered.”

Peter Mandelson

While the monarchy has been trying to contain the damage, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been fending off criticism for his appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as the British ambassador to the U.S. in 2024.

“I regret appointing him. If I knew then what I know now, he would never been anywhere near government,” Starmer told the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Nicknamed the “Prince of Darkness” by the British press, Mandelson has long been a controversial figure and many questioned Starmer’s choice of ambassador at the time — but the prime minister maintains he did not know “the depth and the darkness” of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein.

He apologized twice on Thursday for his misjudgment, telling reporters, “The victims of Epstein have lived with trauma that most of us can barely comprehend, and they’ve had to relive it again and again.”

“They have seen accountability delayed and too often denied,” Starmer said. “To them, I want to say this: I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him.”

The prime minister told the press that Mandelson had downplayed his friendship with Epstein, saying, “He portrayed Epstein as someone he barely knew, and when that became clear, and it was not true, I sacked him. Such deceit is incompatible with public service.”

Mandelson was removed from his post as British ambassador last September, following the release by the U.S. House Oversight Committee of Epstein’s so-called “Birthday Book,” in which Mandelson referred to Epstein as his “best pal”.

The emails released last Friday show that Epstein and the former ambassador and government minister communicated for years, including after Epstein had pleaded guilty to sex crimes in Florida in 2008. The exchanges between the pair have led police to launch an investigation into potential misconduct in office.

On May 9, 2010, while Epstein was still on probation in Florida, he emailed Mandelson to say that “sources tell” him about an imminent 500 billion euro bailout. A person whose identity is redacted replied that the bailout will “be announced tonight.” The person says later that they are “just leaving No10”, presumably referring to the prime minister’s residence at Number 10 Downing Street.

The European Union announced a 500 billion Euro fund to stabilize the Euro that day.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Monday that it had “received a number of reports into alleged misconduct in public office including a referral from the UK Government” and that “the Metropolitan Police has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former Government Minister, for misconduct in public office offences.”

The statement does not mention the Mandelson, 72, by name.

On Friday the Metropolitan Police announced they were searching two properties in connection with the investigation.

Bank statements also appeared in the recently released documents which appear to show Epstein transferred as much as $75,000 to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004.

Mandelson submitted his resignation to the Labour Party on Monday, writing in his resignation letter, “I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this.”

The Speaker for the House of Lords in Parliament also announced that Mandelson had submitted his resignation from the chamber.

“Britain has dethroned a prince, forced Mandelson to resign, & lost confidence in Starmer because @RepThomasMassie & I forced the release of the Epstein files,” U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna posted on X Friday. “What is America doing to hold the Epstein class accountable?”

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