George Walker

The #49ers and K Eddy Pineiro agreed to terms on a 4-year, $17M deal with $10M guaranteed, per agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey.

The Mandelson affair: Inside the scandal of a century by @PronouncedAlva When Keir Starmer first entered Downing Street as Prime Minister, appointing Peter Mandelson ambassador to Washington wasn’t part of the plan. Starmer was persuaded that the delicacy of the position would require a politician, rather than a traditional diplomat. But intriguingly, he initially favoured George Osborne over Mandelson, according to a person familiar with the conversations. “Keir doesn’t even like [Mandelson], and never really has,” one Labour insider now insists. And yet, five months later, the man Starmer apparently never liked got the job. How that happened – and what changed in the intervening months – is now a question to which the answer may determine whether Starmer survives as Prime Minister. Mandelson’s links to the notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein have plunged Labour into a fresh crisis it cannot afford. Five months since Starmer sacked his US ambassador, new revelations have placed fresh scrutiny on the very decision to appoint him in the first place. Because, while No 10 says it is shocked and appalled by the latest developments, Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein beyond his 2008 conviction was not only in the public domain, but pointed out, plainly and directly, to Starmer and his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, before they appointed him. And still they went ahead with the decision. A government spokesperson told the New Statesman: “Peter Mandelson would not have been appointed if all the information we have now was available at the time. Additional information and emails written by Peter Mandelson showed the depth of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and that this was materially different from what was known at the time of his appointment.” Just days before that additional information came to light, Mandelson had been in No 10 to advise on Starmer’s first major cabinet reshuffle – a decisive moment that saw soft left figures ousted and key Mandelson and McSweeney allies elevated. “That is not normal,” one No 10 insider says. “He was the US Ambassador – why was he masterminding the reshuffle?” But Mandelson was not just the US Ambassador. He had become one of the most important figures in the Labour government. This is the story of how Peter Mandelson came to be appointed to the most important British diplomatic role in the world, by a Labour leadership to whom he had become an indispensable, some say venerated, confidant. Now, the police are investigating allegations that Mandelson leaked market-sensitive information to a paedophile. Grave concerns exist for many in the Labour party about the quality of the advice provided by Morgan McSweeney, who, as I will detail in this story, developed the relationship with Mandelson and pushed for the appointment. But undeniable questions are also raised for the leader who also took his advice, and with whom responsibility for the appointment ultimately rests. (Illustration by Nate Kitch)