By ANDRÉ SALKIN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
A proposed “truth commission” to investigate possible crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein at his Santa Fe County ranch could, state lawmakers hope, make New Mexico a leader in seeking accountability in a scandal that has become one of the biggest issues in national politics.
House Joint Resolution 1 is headed to the House floor after winning unanimous approval from the House Judiciary Committee on Saturday and the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee a week ago.
Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, one of the sponsors of the resolution, said it proposes creating a bipartisan “fact-finding mission” aimed at “getting the story straight,” rather than investigating specific claims of sex trafficking or other crimes alleged to have occurred at Epstein’s sprawling Zorro Ranch near Stanley.
It would empower a special subcommittee of state House members to conduct hearings, issues subpoenas and compel the attendance of witnesses. The committee would deliver a final report on its findings by Dec. 31.
Lawmakers expressed hope New Mexico could pursue accountability in the high-profile Epstein case where out-of-state officials have fallen short. Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, whose district encompasses Zorro Ranch, said he drives past the property frequently and can almost see its three-story mansion from his home.
“Previous legislatures have not responded to this great public concern,” he said.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender in Florida after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution, was not required to register as a sex offender in New Mexico “for various technical reasons,” McQueen said, despite owning the Stanley ranch for decades.
After Epstein died in 2019 in what officials said was a suicide in a federal jail in Manhattan, McQueen introduced a bill in 2020 to close that loophole, requiring people convicted of sex offenses out of state to register in New Mexico. The bill failed to pass, but McQueen said it was “still a good idea” to revive the proposal.
“My thought was, we don’t want sex offenders to look around the country and think, ‘OK, where can I move and no longer have to be treated as a sex offender?’ ” he said.
House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said he was confident the commission could “bring to light the names” involved and that it would “send a message to the rest of the world that this state … is not playing.”
Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil, D-Albuquerque, said the commission would make the state a national leader in efforts to reckon with the Epstein scandal. Numerous famous and powerful men were friends with Epstein and are mentioned in the Epstein files, including President Donald Trump and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
“New Mexico has the opportunity to pretty much be the only state in the country right now that is going to offer accountability for these crimes,” she said.
Other countries, Hochman-Vigil said, are pursuing accountability for those named in the files, but “so far, we have seen nothing of the sort in the United States of America.”
“I’m very excited that this Legislature and sponsors’ work will lead, finally, to some accountability,” she said. “Because this is not right, and anybody — I don’t care who they are, what their political affiliation is or was … should be held accountable for those crimes.”