{"id":18825,"date":"2026-02-10T16:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/the-epstein-files-are-creating-headaches-for-new-hampshires-most-powerful-political-dynasties\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:01:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:01:50","slug":"the-epstein-files-are-creating-headaches-for-new-hampshires-most-powerful-political-dynasties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/the-epstein-files-are-creating-headaches-for-new-hampshires-most-powerful-political-dynasties\/","title":{"rendered":"The Epstein files are creating headaches for New Hampshire\u2019s most powerful political dynasties"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A New Hampshire magnate with ties to power players in both parties has appeared in successive batches of the Epstein files, roiling politics in his home state and threatening its two most influential political dynasties.<\/p>\n

Documents recently released by the Department of Justice suggest that entrepreneur Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway and other devices, kept in contact<\/u><\/a> with Jeffrey Epstein long after Epstein pleaded guilty<\/u><\/a> to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008, with emails indicating he visited the disgraced financier\u2019s Caribbean island in 2013. Kamen has not been accused of wrongdoing and did not respond to requests for comment through his companies Monday.<\/p>\n

The recently released files indicate a closer relationship between the two than was previously known. The disclosures have prompted Kamen\u2019s organizations to launch investigations into their ties. And the situation has ratcheted up scrutiny of the New Hampshire politicians who have worked with him, received campaign contributions<\/u><\/a> from him or helped his organizations secure tens of millions<\/u><\/a> in federal funds.<\/p>\n

That includes members of the Shaheen and Sununu families, the best-known and most powerful clans in the state\u2019s Democratic and Republican parties. Both have scions running for Congress this year: House candidate Stefany Shaheen, the daughter of retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and former Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.), the son of a former governor, who is seeking to return to the Senate.<\/p>\n

They now face Epstein-fueled attacks from their lower-polling rivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnywhere Epstein pops up these days, it\u2019ll become a campaign issue,\u201d said Ryan Williams, a GOP strategist who has worked with Sununu and his father. \u201cAnd there are certainly politicians who have worked with Kamen in New Hampshire, taken his money and associated with him. And those who did will have to answer for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kamen is a New Hampshire institution and local celebrity \u2014 often described as a quirky one \u2014 in a state that has few big-name figures but exerts a powerful hold on the presidential nominating process. The pioneering inventor and entrepreneur who developed the first portable insulin pump and a wheelchair that can climb stairs, Kamen is also widely credited for driving the transformation of Manchester\u2019s old mill district into a technological and health care hub<\/u><\/a>. He was lauded as a \u201chero\u201d for helping secure 91,000 pounds of protective equipment<\/u><\/a> for first responders and health care workers at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when such resources were scarce.<\/p>\n

Kamen has donated roughly $90,000 to federal candidates and campaign committees on both sides of the aisle over the past four decades, according to federal campaign finance filings. That includes over $7,000 apiece to Sununu, Sen. Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte, the former senator who\u2019s up for reelection as governor this year. Kamen has not made any federal campaign contributions this election cycle, per federal reports.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s hosted a raft of high-profile politicians at his businesses and his Bedford home over the years, from Ayotte to then-President George W. Bush<\/u><\/a>. He traveled to Dubai with Sununu\u2019s younger brother, then-Gov. Chris Sununu, in 2019 during a trip in which the two attended the World Government Summit<\/u><\/a>. Chris Sununu, through Airlines for America, the lobbying firm he now leads, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Those ties, once promoted in press releases and splashed across social media, have turned into a political liability after successive document drops showed deeper connections between Kamen and Epstein.<\/p>\n

Photos released in December<\/u><\/a> show Kamen socializing with Epstein in a tropical location and riding a Segway with Ghislaine Maxwell, the Epstein associate who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021. Documents released on Jan. 30 showed Kamen made plans<\/u><\/a> to visit<\/u><\/a> Epstein\u2019s Caribbean island in 2013. At the time, assistants sent emails discussing<\/u><\/a> \u201cwhich flight Dean prefers the girls to be on.\u201d Days later, he wrote to Epstein<\/u><\/a>: \u201cthank you for hosting an incredible visit to [sic] a magical place. It really is almost unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kamen did not respond to questions from Blue Light News about his association with Epstein, including whether he visited Little Saint James. He previously described having \u201climited interactions\u201d with Epstein<\/u><\/a> in statements to other media outlets and has denied knowledge of his \u201chorrific actions\u201d<\/a> beyond what he learned from news reports. He told The Boston Globe<\/u><\/a> that Epstein had reached out to him about becoming involved in international development projects but after initial meetings, \u201cit became apparent that his only interest was self-promotion\u201d and \u201cI avoided further meetings.\u201d He did not respond to The Globe\u2019s inquiry about the reference to \u201cthe girls.\u201d After the latest tranche of documents was released, he recused himself<\/u><\/a> from board activities<\/u><\/a> of at least four companies he\u2019s involved with as they engage outside law firms<\/u><\/a> to conduct independent investigations<\/u><\/a> into the disclosures.<\/p>\n

Williams, the Republican strategist, said \u201cthe Epstein episode is the first real blemish that\u2019s marked his reputation in the state, and it\u2019s an extremely hot issue right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

EPSTEIN FILES AS A CAMPAIGN CUDGEL<\/b><\/p>\n

Stefany Shaheen, who is running for New Hampshire\u2019s open House seat and served as chief strategy officer for Kamen\u2019s Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute from September 2018 until last month, is facing intensifying scrutiny over her dealings with Kamen. She has posted photos of her with Kamen on social media over the years, one of the two of them in the cockpit of a plane<\/u><\/a> that was uploaded to LinkedIn seven years ago, and another from a gala for Type 1 Diabetes research<\/u><\/a> last April where she was an honoree. Her campaign said the former was taken during a flight to Washington with others affiliated with ARMI for an American Society Of Mechanical Engineers meeting on June 14, 2018, where Kamen spoke<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

She is now facing calls from two of her Democratic primary rivals to publicly condemn Kamen<\/u><\/a>. One of them, Christian Urrutia, has also accused her of potentially helping Kamen craft his statements<\/u><\/a> in response to the files, which she has denied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certainly an element of transparency. I think there is a fundamental question of: Do we want our members of Congress and our senators to have these types of relationships?\u201d said Urrutia, who also asked why Sen. Shaheen did not disclose her daughter\u2019s role at ARMI when securing a $1.2 million earmark<\/u><\/a> for the company in 2023. A spokesperson for the senator said that her daughter was paid through non-federal funding sources and that her office was advised by Senate Ethics Committee staff that the request for funding for ARMI did not violate ethics rules.<\/p>\n

A Republican running for the seat, state Rep. Brian Cole, has called on the younger Shaheen to drop out<\/u><\/a>: \u201cUntil Stefany Shaheen provides full and honest answers about her association with Dean Kamen and ARMI, she should end her campaign,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Sununu, who is running to reclaim the Senate seat he lost to Shaheen\u2019s mother in 2008, has faced questions over a possible reference to him in a 2010 email<\/u><\/a> between Epstein and Boris Nikolic, a former Bill Gates adviser. In the email, Epstein emailed Nikolic that \u201cjohn sununu, has good stories,\u201d but did not provide any additional details. It\u2019s unclear what he meant or whether he was referring to the senator or his father, former governor and White House chief of staff John H. Sununu.<\/p>\n

The younger Sununu was a director of operations at Teletrol Systems, one of Kamen\u2019s companies, in the 1990s before he was elected to Congress.<\/p>\n

His GOP primary rival, former Sen. Scott Brown, has seized on the email to attack the Sununu family\u2019s \u201c\u2018insider\u2019 ties\u201d as he attempts to gain traction in a race where the Republican establishment and the president have lined up behind his opponent. Brown said on a local podcast<\/u><\/a> that Sununu \u201cneeds to fully explain why\u201d his surname is mentioned in the files. Brown added on X<\/u><\/a> that voters \u201cshouldn\u2019t have to guess who, or which one of their representatives were associated, or what \u2018stories\u2019 are being referenced in federal documents.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shaheen and Sununu campaigns have sought to dismiss the criticism from their opponents.<\/p>\n

Shaheen said in a statement that she \u201cnever advised Dean Kamen on these matters\u201d and that the \u201cextent of my knowledge\u201d about his and Epstein\u2019s relationship is what has been publicly reported. Harrell Kirstein, a spokesperson for her campaign, dismissed the criticism as \u201cdesperate political attacks \u2014 flat out lies \u2014 that ignore basic facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Shaheens said they supported outside investigations of Kamen.<\/p>\n

Sen. Shaheen said in a statement that Kamen \u201cwas right to step back\u201d from his organizations, and that it was appropriate for them \u201cto conduct independent reviews to fully understand his connection to Epstein and take any action merited by the findings of those reviews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stefany Shaheen is the polling leader in the Democratic primary for New Hampshire\u2019s blue-leaning 1st Congressional District, a position operatives in both parties attribute in large part to name recognition. A University of New Hampshire survey from January<\/u><\/a> showed her with 33 percent support, and no other candidate with more than 10 percent, with 39 percent of likely primary voters undecided.<\/p>\n

Sununu led Brown by 23 percentage points in the same poll, with 26 percent of likely GOP primary voters undecided. They both trail Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas in hypothetical general-election matchups.<\/p>\n

Mike Schrimpf, a spokesperson for Sununu\u2019s campaign, said in a statement that \u201cJohn had no knowledge whatsoever of any relationship between Dean Kamen and Epstein\u201d and believes the latter \u201cwas a despicable human being.\u201d Neither Sununu or his father \u201chave ever met or communicated in any way with Boris Nikolic, Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to attack Shaheen and Pappas \u2014 who, along with other members of the all-Democratic congressional delegation, had touted federal funding for ARMI before the Kamen scandal broke \u2014 over their connections to the entrepreneur: \u201cUnlike Chris Pappas who celebrated federal funding for Kamen’s ARMI, or Stefany Shaheen who worked for him last week, John never advocated or requested funding for any of Kamen’s ventures,\u201d Schrimpf said.<\/p>\n

Gates MacPherson, a spokesperson for Pappas\u2019 campaign, said in a statement that the congressman \u201cbelieves Dean Kamen\u2019s relationship with Epstein is deeply troubling and must be independently investigated, and all federal contractors and grant awardees should be held to the highest possible standards, including ARMI and FIRST.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the governor\u2019s race, Democrats are preparing to attack Ayotte over Kamen\u2019s past contributions to her campaigns and his appearance in an ad for her 2016 Senate reelection campaign<\/u><\/a>. Ayotte has yet to draw a serious opponent in her bid for a second term. Representatives for the governor did not respond to an email to her official and campaign inboxes seeking comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A New Hampshire magnate with ties to power players in both parties has appeared in successive batches of the Epstein files, roiling politics in his home state and threatening its two most influential political dynasties. Documents recently released by the Department of Justice suggest that entrepreneur Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway and other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}