By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Congressional hopeful Stefany Shaheen backs the independent investigation into her boss, inventor Dean Kamen, and his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Sort of.
Since last week’s release by the U.S. Department of Justice of more files connected to Epstein and his sex trafficking operation, the powerful men revealed to be in his orbit are being forced to answer questions. Dean Kamen is not accused of breaking any laws in his relationship with Epstein.
Kamen initially downplayed his relationship with Epstein when it first surfaced. However, it turns out he made regular email contact with Epstein after Epstein’s conviction on felony sex crime charges in 2008, according to the newly released files. Kamen traveled to Epstein’s private Caribbean island that prosecutors say served as a child sex trafficking hub, according to the documents.
The fallout started fast, with FIRST, the Manchester-based youth science organization Kamen founded, suspending him from all activities and announcing it was hiring an attorney to look into the matter.
Kamen’s government-funded research business, Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, or ARMI, issued a statement on Monday that it plans to review Kamen’s relationship with Epstein. This is where it gets tricky for Shaheen. She’s been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by ARMI to serve as the chief strategy officer.
Shaheen said Monday she’s in favor of the youth charity hiring a lawyer, but did not go that far when it comes to ARMI’s response.
“In light of troubling documents released by the Department of Justice, the FIRST Board made the right decision in hiring an outside law firm to conduct a thorough and independent investigation regarding Dean Kamen’s interactions with Jeffrey Epstein. The ARMI Board needs to address this matter independently,” Shaheen said in a statement.
“The work ARMI is doing to create jobs and build a biomanufacturing industry in Manchester is critically important. Millions of people with diabetes, other chronic illnesses and serious medical conditions are counting on ARMI’s work to advance regenerative treatments to improve their lives,” she said.
Rep. Heath Howard (D-Strafford) said Shaheen’s response demonstrates her lack of character. Howard is challenging Shaheen in the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District.
“Stefany Shaheen appears to not be so keen on making good judgment a staple of her personal character or her campaign. That is a serious concern for someone seeking to represent half of New Hampshire in the United States Congress,” Howard said in a statement. “I am calling on Stefany Shaheen to immediately and unequivocally condemn Dean Kamen and his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Moral clarity is not optional.”
Kamen’s relationship with Shaheen and her politically powerful family needs to be examined as well, according to Howard.
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, Stefany Shaheen’s mother, sits on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Commerce Department which has given millions of taxpayer dollars to ARMI. Sen. Shaheen helped lobby for ARMI to get $80 million from the Department of Defense in 2017, and another $44 million from the Economic Development Administration in 2022, according to NHJournal.
Howard accuses Stefany Shaheen of trying to downplay her role at a company started by a man in the Epstein files, and a company that her mother helped make sure got a fortune in federal dollars.
“Voters deserve to know why her work history at ARMI has been deleted from her public record, and when she actually stopped working there. Transparency should not disappear the moment it becomes inconvenient,” Howard said.
On Monday, another congressional candidate Christian Urrutia called on Stefany Shaheen to explain what role she played in crafting or advising Kamen’s misleading public statements about Jeffrey Epstein, why she failed to speak out or sever ties with a man closely associated with Epstein even as months of successive disclosures made the nature of that relationship impossible to ignore, and why she refuses to condemn Dean Kamen.
“For almost a decade Stefany Shaheen has worked at ARMI and is still currently listed as the Chief Strategy Officer under Dean Kamen. Over the past few months, Kamen repeatedly claimed his interactions with Epstein were ‘limited.’ The latest disclosures demonstrate that Kamen’s relationship with Epstein was in fact extensive and continued even after Epstein was convicted in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute as part of a controversial plea deal.
“Stefany Shaheen has claimed, through a spokesperson, that she ‘ended her work for ARMI in January’ (which was 48 hours ago) but she is still publicly listed as Chief Strategy Officer. Through December, when unquestionably Stefany Shaheen was acting as a principal strategy advisor to Dean Kamen, he made highly misleading statements concerning his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” Urrutia said.
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