New Mexico accuses DOJ of interfering with Epstein investigation News
Ralph Alswang, White House photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
New Mexico accuses DOJ of interfering with Epstein investigation

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has publicly released a letter to Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche Thursday accusing the US Department of Justice (DOJ) of withholding unredacted copies of documents that are pertinent to New Mexico’s investigation of Zorro Ranch, which was owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

New Mexico reopened its investigation into possible sex trafficking at the ranch in February, but Torrez has not yet announced any findings. In the letter, he summarized a series of unmet document requests, made under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, some dating back to February. Torrez wrote:

The USDOJ’s continued withholding of unredacted records is causing real and escalating harm to the NMDOJ’s criminal investigation. Every day that the USDOJ withholds these records, the foundation upon which a New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes. Witnesses relocate and become unreachable. Memories, already strained by years of trauma, fade further. Physical and documentary evidence degrades, is lost, or is rendered more difficult to authenticate with the passage of time … more than 130 days have now elapsed since the NMDOJ’s initial request. The NMDOJ views this length of time as an unreasonable delay under any rule of reason.

A DOJ spokesperson replied, “DOJ reiterates that it welcomes New Mexico(‘s) … investigation of the Zorro Ranch and stands ready to provide … assistance with New Mexico’s investigation. Should that investigation uncover potential federal crimes, the DOJ will work closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate and, as appropriate, prosecute.”

According to one of the Epstein files that has been released, conservative talk show host Edward Aragon brought a tip to the Albuquerque office of the FBI in 2019. The tipster offered Aragon “7 videos of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and the location of two foreign girls buried on Zorro Ranch for sale for one bitcoin.” In the same year, The New York Times published an article alleging that Epstein planned to impregnate multiple women at his Zorro Ranch.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Fall of Srebrenica precipitates massacre of Bosnian Muslims

On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces captured the predominantly-Muslim town of Srebrenica, which had been designated a "safe zone" protected by Dutch NATO peacekeepers. In the days that follows, the Serb army and militias separated men from women and children, taking the men away in buses and killing some 7000 in mass-executions or ambushes. Learn more about the Srebrenica massacre.

William Howard Taft becomes Supreme Court Chief Justice after serving as President

On July 11, 1921, William Howard Taft was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He had previously served as US President from 1907 through 1911. Taft is still the only person to have served in both offices.