Wyden-ing gap: Oregon senator on chasm between Trump and Oregonians

From KLCC Studios, this is Oregon on the Record. [upbeat music]

I'm Michael Dunn. The Epstein files, rural hospitals in Oregon, unaccompanied minors, mail-in voting, the Iran war, and the 60 Minutes Walk of Fame, who the heck could we be talking to about so many varied topics? Oh, yes, it must be our somewhat regular visit with Senator Ron Wyden. Today on the show, we indeed touch on a host of topics of concern both nationally and locally as the senator is once again visiting the state and continuing his breakneck pace of town hall meetings. Among his chief concerns is how the Trump administration may try and disrupt the midterms, if not outright try and steal the election for Republicans. Our conversation with a man at both the center of national power, but also a key participant in the laws and policies influencing all of Oregon, is next on Oregon on the Record. [upbeat music] Today on the show, Oregon's senior senator stops by to talk politics at both a national and local level. As a member of key committees in DC, Senator Ron Wyden has a bird's-eye view of what is and isn't happening in the nation's capital, and he joins us now for an update. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, it's always great to see you in studio. Thanks for coming in.

Good to be back.

Yeah. So, uh, gosh, a lot going on since we last talked.

You think?

We'll just [laughs] yeah, exactly. Well, I, I think one of the biggest things is y- you recently released a report about how Wall Street banks were really enabling Jeffrey Epstein really by not blowing the whistle on his actions. Tell listeners about this report.

Well, what I said four years ago is the way you root out corruption is you follow the money, and we saw that with Epstein right at the beginning. And the bottom line is, for people who are listening today, that if the banks had followed the law and complied with the warning notices and sending information to regulators, Epstein could've been stopped years and years earlier.

Do you think a lot of it is because he was sort of amongst a friendly audience there?

There's no question that he made money for the banks, and the banks could be really devious about it. For example, at some point they said, "Well, we're not doing business with him." Well, they weren't taking his money directly, but he was still finding ways to get cash to him from referrals and things like that.

Okay. This report, I, I am wondering, since Attorney General Todd Blanche has been confirmed, are you concerned that the j- the DOJ won't do anything with this report?

Well, they, they've been stonewalling for several years now, and the Biden people helped a little bit. They weren't great. But I've made it very clear, and we have a roadmap, for example, on how to follow this up, that if we take back the Senate, and I'm chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, we're gonna start using subpoenas and hold people accountable.

Okay. I read a report, I believe it was from Reuters, that said, you know, you were interviewed on 60 Minutes about this very issue, and then ultimately 60 Minutes decided n- not to run the story. I, and I, and I think one of the th- one of the assumptions Roo- Reuters was making is, is it could be