The two political dynasties being bulldozed by the Epstein files

New Hampshire’s Sununu and Shaheen families dominate state politics but rivals are questioning their links to the disgraced paedophile

The political roots of the Sununu and Shaheen families run deep in New Hampshire.

These two dynasties have dominated the Granite State for decades. At least one of their members has held a top statewide position since 1997. And when one steps down, another emerges to take their place.

But the release of the Epstein files has raised questions about their links to the late paedophile, and given their rivals hope they can finally chop down these illustrious family trees.

With the Clintons being hauled before Congress this week, America’s most powerful political families have been shaken to their core.

Unlike the Clintons, a Sununu or Shaheen has never won the White House, but they’ve got close to the apex of political power. John H Sununu, who was the Republican governor of New Hampshire between 1983 and 1989, later became George H W Bush’s famously combative chief of staff.

He has two sons: Chris Sununu, New Hampshire’s governor between 2017 and 2025, and John E Sununu, a former congressman and senator who is a heavy favourite to win the Republican nomination for the Senate race.

On the Democratic side are the Shaheens.

Jeanne Shaheen became New Hampshire’s first female governor in 1997 and went to the Senate in 2009. Her husband, Bill Shaheen, was a US attorney under Jimmy Carter and is an important power broker in the Granite State.

Mrs Shaheen is stepping down this year, but her daughter, Stefany Shaheen, is running for the House of Representatives and is expected to comfortably win the Democratic primary.

While the aftershocks of the Epstein files have been felt mainly overseas, particularly in Britain, they expose just how many American elites were connected to the paedophile.

JD Vance, the US vice-president, called it the “incestuous” nature of the country’s most prominent families.

If they didn’t know Epstein, they certainly knew someone who did, it seems.

Unravelling it all means delving into the millions of documents released by the US department of justice and charting a course through messages littered with spelling mistakes and redactions.