Sen. Ron Wyden tore into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Thursday ahead of his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, calling attention to his past ties with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein amid his supposed dedication to serving children.
“Mr. Kennedy calls himself a 'protector of children',” Wyden said, kicking off the hearing that has drawn considerable attention amid the turmoil RFK Jr. ignited at his agency. “Some kind of rich claim from somebody who's flown on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet on multiple occasions!”
RFK Jr. has admitted to flying on Epstein’s private jet, which had been dubbed the ‘Lolita Express,’ on at least two occasions in the 1990s, but has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge at the time of Epstein’s crimes.
While Epstein would not be convicted of child sex crimes until 2008, evidence exists that the disgraced financier’s interest in children was known well before his first conviction. Speaking on Epstein, President Donald Trump told New York magazine in 2002 that “it is even said that [Epstein] likes beautiful women as much as I do,” and that many were “on the younger side.”
Wyden went on to condemn RFK Jr. for the impact his tenure has already had on children, citing a recent incident where more than 600 children housed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an office within HHS, were nearly deported by plane to Guatemala, and were only spared deportation due to an emergency order from a federal judge.
“This weekend, under the cover of darkness, Robert Kennedy attempted to disappear hundreds of children under his care at Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities,” Wyden said. “These children here without parents or family were rounded up in the middle of the night and put on planes to Guatemala! Lawyers on the ground described unthinkable scenes.”
Wyden then called for RFK Jr. to either resign, or for Trump to fire him immediately, and called on his Republican colleagues to join in his calls.
“I don't think Robert Kennedy should be within a million miles of this job!” Wyden said.
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