The office of the Attorney General of New Mexico accuses high-ranking officials of the U.S. Department of Justice of refusing to fully cooperate with the state criminal investigation into the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.
In a complaint filed on Wednesday, state prosecutors stated that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and other department leaders applied an “illegal policy of non-cooperation” and “obstructed” the state investigation into possible crimes by Epstein and his associates related to sexual violence against children and human trafficking at his “Zorro Ranch” near Santa Fe.
Attorney General Raúl Torres “overcame all bureaucratic obstacles put forth by the U.S. Department of Justice, only for years of promised federal cooperation to turn into bureaucratic resistance”, his office stated in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington.
Cooperation agreement and resumption of investigation
According to the complaint, New Mexico entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice in 2019 to suspend state investigations related to Epstein while federal agencies completed their work. Torres’ office noted in the complaint that over the following years, the state “did not have timely access to witnesses, victims, and other evidence”, relying on assurances that the Department of Justice would cooperate with their investigations later.
New Mexico resumed its investigation in February, including examining a document from federal files related to Epstein, which “mentions the burial of two female victims on the grounds around Zorro Ranch“.
State officials stated in the lawsuit that representatives of the Department of Justice rejected their official requests for unredacted materials, citing concerns about victim confidentiality and court orders related to past prosecutions against Epstein and his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Statements from the parties
Attorney General Raúl Torres emphasized in his statement: “New Mexico is committed to protecting victims and investigating crimes committed in our state so that the guilty can be held accountable”. He added that they had asked the Department of Justice to cooperate by providing access to records that “may be critically important for identifying victims, witnesses, and uncovering other criminal activities at Zorro Ranch“. The delay by the Department of Justice “actively harms our criminal investigation and delays the justice that Epstein’s victims deserve”.
Department of Justice spokeswoman Kiersten Pels responded to the lawsuit with a statement emphasizing the legal protection of victim information and noting that “New Mexico has not provided a legal basis for such broad disclosure”. Pels stated that the department “remains ready to assist New Mexico’s investigation in accordance with the law and mandatory court rulings”.
The case is registered as New Mexico v. Department of Justice, case number 26-cv-2762, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Source: Bloomberg
