New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday, accusing it of preventing state authorities from investigating alleged sex crimes at Jeffrey Epstein's ranch near Santa Fe.
The lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., said the department and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stonewalled New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s criminal investigation into Epstein and others, taking steps that "actively harms victims and undermines the public interest.”
The lawsuit sought judicial intervention to force the federal government to turn over materials to New Mexico's investigators. It was filed the same day that the New Mexico House of Representatives released a report saying "those directly responsible for protecting New Mexicans relied on others to do their job,” including federal prosecutors in New York.
According to the Washington lawsuit, Torrez and his senior prosecutors "have faced sustained resistance” to the kind of information-sharing common between state and federal investigators.
In a statement, the Justice Department said it was not releasing some information the state requested because federal court orders ban disclosing "victim-identifying information carte blanche, and New Mexico has provided no lawful basis to justify such sweeping disclosures.”
