The State of New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice over the Epstein files — Reuters
The state of New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, demanding the release of unclassified documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. State officials claim that the federal agency is obstructing the investigation by refusing to provide the requested documents.
On Wednesday, the state of New Mexico filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, demanding access to unclassified materials in the Jeffrey Epstein case. The lawsuit alleges that the federal agency is obstructing the state’s investigation by refusing to hand over the necessary documents.
The lawsuit intensifies the political conflict surrounding the U.S. Department of Justice’s materials on Epstein, which has become a problem for the Donald Trump administration.
The state of New Mexico resumed its investigation in February and requested that the U.S. Department of Justice provide unclassified materials in order to identify visitors and employees at Zorro Ranch near Stanley who may have been involved in or witnessed the crimes.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated that it had provided some of the materials but could not disclose other documents due to privacy protection requirements.
“The federal government’s inaction not only delays the investigation but also prolongs and exacerbates the suffering of the victims,” the lawsuit states.
The state is asking the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to order Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to release the requested documents.
In response, the Department of Justice stated that, in accordance with the Epstein Transparency Act and court rulings on the protection of information, it is neither obligated nor authorized to disclose information that could identify the victims.
“New Mexico has not provided any legal basis for such extensive disclosures,” a department spokesperson said.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torres said the state is devoting significant resources to the investigation but declined to disclose further details.
“We have not filed charges against anyone because we need to review these files before filing charges,” Torres said.
New Mexico lawmakers also released an interim report from an independent Truth Commission on Epstein’s activities.
The document states that there is currently evidence that, from 1996 to 2012, Epstein sexually assaulted at least five women and girls at Zorro Ranch. The commission has also identified at least 30 other individuals in New Mexico who may have been victims, witnesses, or involved in the crimes.
According to Commission Chair Andrea Romero, after sending the first 20 subpoenas to various institutions, investigators received over 100,000 documents. At the same time, seven requests were denied or went unanswered, including those sent to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration regarding Epstein’s flight records and to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
New Mexico authorities claim that the U.S. Department of Justice violated a 2019 agreement under which the state handed over the collected evidence to federal authorities in exchange for further sharing of information about potential victims and crimes.
According to Torres, the investigation is complicated by the significant amount of time that has passed since the alleged crimes, the disappearance of some evidence following the sale of the ranch in 2023, and potential jurisdictional issues in the event of further criminal prosecutions.
This was reported by Reuters.
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