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New Mexico And The Epstein Related Lawsuit Filed Against The DOJ (Part 1) (10/16/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. In this episode we're going to start taking
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  Speaker 1: a look at the complaint filed by the state of
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico against the DOJ and Todd Blanche. Case number 126-CV-02762.
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  Speaker 1: State of New Mexico, by and through its Attorney General
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  Speaker 1: Raul Torres, Plaintiff, vs. U.S. Department of Justice and Todd Blanche. Complaint.
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  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators engaged in widespread trafficking and
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  Speaker 1: sexual abuse of young girls, some as young as 14,
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  Speaker 1: when the abuse occurred. Throughout his lifetime, per the federal
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  Speaker 1: government's own accounting, Epstein and his criminal network subjected over 1,000
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  Speaker 1: survivors to egregious and predatory conduct, including vulnerable young girls
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  Speaker 1: in New Mexico. By 2021, the United States Court of
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  Speaker 1: Appeals for the 11th Circuit already recognized that the relevant
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  Speaker 1: facts were beyond scandalous. They tell the tale of a
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  Speaker 1: national disgrace. Current acting United States Attorney General Todd Blanch
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  Speaker 1: and members of the U.S. Department of Justice, leadership in Washington, D.C.,
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  Speaker 1: the Southern District of New York, and the District of
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico perpetuate that disgrace. Their conduct now actively harms
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  Speaker 1: victims and undermines the public interest by stonewalling New Mexico's
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  Speaker 1: Attorney General Raul Torres' ongoing criminal investigation and into conduct
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  Speaker 1: by Epstein and his co-conspirators at Zorro Ranch, located outside
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  Speaker 1: Santa Fe. Acting Attorney General Blanche and the USDOJ's conduct
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  Speaker 1: violates promises USDOJ made to New Mexico to secure an
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  Speaker 1: agreement for state law enforcement to stand down Epstein-related investigations
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  Speaker 1: in 2019. USDOJ wanted federal investigators to complete their work
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  Speaker 1: before the state investigated related crimes and assured New Mexico
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  Speaker 1: that federal law enforcement would cooperate in subsequent state investigations
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  Speaker 1: and prosecutions. In reliance on those assurances, New Mexico gave
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  Speaker 1: up timely access to witnesses, victims, and other evidence. The
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  Speaker 1: state's reliance was reasonable given decades of successful state-federal cooperation
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  Speaker 1: that has included the sharing of confidential investigative files, evidence,
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  Speaker 1: and reports in similar criminal investigations. New Mexico had no
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  Speaker 1: reason in 2019 to believe federal law enforcement officials would
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  Speaker 1: breach their express assurances and deviate from historical practice just
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  Speaker 1: to block their state counterparts from successfully investigating child sexual
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  Speaker 1: abuse under state law. After reopening New Mexico's investigation in
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  Speaker 1: February of 2026, however, Attorney General Torres and senior prosecutors
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  Speaker 1: he leads at the New Mexico Department of Justice have
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  Speaker 1: faced sustained resistance to the type of information sharing that
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  Speaker 1: has been routine from USDOJ under prior administrations of both
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  Speaker 1: political parties. An MDOJ started with the informal requests that
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  Speaker 1: normally are adequate to obtain investigative information from federal law
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  Speaker 1: enforcement for a related state matter. USDOJ responded by promising
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  Speaker 1: cooperation while requesting formal TUI requests. Attorney General Torres and
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  Speaker 1: MDOJ provided those formal requests, only to have USDOJ and
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  Speaker 1: various components respond with a rejection, reneging on their promises.
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  Speaker 1: USDOJ has betrayed survivors and the public related to Jeffrey
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  Speaker 1: Epstein and his co-conspirators at least three times. First, USDOJ
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  Speaker 1: secretly negotiated a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein without consulting survivors.
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  Speaker 1: It appears the prosecutors worked hand-in-hand with Epstein's lawyers, or
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  Speaker 1: at the very least acceded to their requests, to keep
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  Speaker 1: the non-prosecution agreement existence in terms hidden from survivors. As
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  Speaker 1: things progress, the government's efforts appear to have graduated from
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  Speaker 1: passive nondisclosure to, or at least close to, active misrepresentation. Second,
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  Speaker 1: bipartisan legislation from Congress required public disclosure before the end
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  Speaker 1: of 2025. Of the files from federal investigations of Epstein,
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  Speaker 1: his co-conspirators, redacted to protect survivors, see Exhibit 1 at
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  Speaker 1: 2 and 7. But USDOJ instead publicly posted detailed unredacted
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  Speaker 1: personal information about survivors, ranging from their contact information to
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  Speaker 1: nude images. Now, USDOJ and Acting Attorney General Blanche are
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  Speaker 1: refusing to facilitate an investigation of state law crimes by
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  Speaker 1: hiding information about Epstein and his co-conspirators from Attorney General
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  Speaker 1: Torres and state law enforcement. When New Mexico is one
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  Speaker 1: of few jurisdictions that may still have an opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: hold Epstein's associates accountable or otherwise provide some sense of
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  Speaker 1: justice to survivors. Attorney General Torres has marched through every
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  Speaker 1: bureaucratic hoop USDOJ has demanded, only to have years of
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  Speaker 1: promised federal cooperation turn into bureaucratic defiance. Federal inaction does
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  Speaker 1: not merely stall the investigation. It prolongs and compounds the
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  Speaker 1: suffering of survivors. New Mexico seeks declaratory and injunctive relief
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  Speaker 1: to compel USDOJ and Acting Attorney General Blanche to abandon
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  Speaker 1: their unlawful non-cooperation policy and comply with the NMDOJ's investigative demands.
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  Speaker 1: USDOJ's conduct is arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion
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  Speaker 1: and not in accordance with the law. Alternatively, if USDOJ
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  Speaker 1: denies its take in final agency action, it's unlawfully withholding
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  Speaker 1: and unreasonably delaying the action in violation of the Administrative
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  Speaker 1: Procedure Act, U.S. Code 5, Section 706, Jurisdiction and Venue.
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  Speaker 1: The court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Code 28, Section 1331. Venues proper under U.S. Code 28,
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  Speaker 1: Section 1391B2 and 1391E1. Defendants or United States agencies or
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  Speaker 1: officers sued in their official capacities. Defendants reside in this
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  Speaker 1: judicial district and a substantial part of the events or
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  Speaker 1: omissions giving rise to this complaint occurred within this district.
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  Speaker 1: The Parties plaintiff state of New Mexico as a sovereign
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  Speaker 1: state of the United States. New Mexico is represented by
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  Speaker 1: and through its chief legal officer, Attorney General Raul Torres,
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  Speaker 1: who's authorized to sue on the state's behalf. Attorney General
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  Speaker 1: Torres is statutory authority to investigate and prosecute crimes on
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  Speaker 1: behalf of the state. And under Attorney General Torres' leadership,
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  Speaker 1: NMDOJ is vested with broad authority to investigate violations of
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico criminal law. Defendant USDOJ, is a federal cabinet
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  Speaker 1: agency within the executive branch of the United States government.
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  Speaker 1: The United States Attorney's Office for the District of New
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  Speaker 1: Mexico is a component of the USDOJ responsible for representing
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  Speaker 1: the United States and federal prosecutions within that district. The
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  Speaker 1: office currently operates without a United States attorney. The highest
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  Speaker 1: designated official for the office today is First Assistant U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Attorney Ryan Ellison. Ellison operates under the supervision of and
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  Speaker 1: direction of Acting Attorney General Blanch. The United States Attorney's
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  Speaker 1: Office for the Southern District of New York, SDNY, is
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  Speaker 1: a component of the USDOJ, responsible for representing the United
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  Speaker 1: States in federal prosecutions within that district. Jamie McDonald was
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  Speaker 1: appointed by the federal judiciary to serve as United States
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  Speaker 1: Attorney for the Southern District of New York, effective July 29, 2026.
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  Speaker 1: The FBI, is also a component of the USDOJ that
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  Speaker 1: operates under the supervision and direction of the Attorney General.
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  Speaker 1: Defendant Todd Blanche is the Acting Attorney General of the
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  Speaker 1: United States and the federal official in charge of USDOJ.
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  Speaker 1: Defendant Blanche is sued in his official capacity. Background. USDOJ
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  Speaker 1: halts New Mexico investigation into Epstein and his co-conspirators' crimes
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  Speaker 1: with promises of cooperating in later state criminal investigations and prosecutions.
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  Speaker 1: After originally entering a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein in 2008,
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  Speaker 1: USDOJ revived its investigation into Epstein and his associates in 2018.
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  Speaker 1: SDNY led the investigation with the assistance and collaboration of
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  Speaker 1: other federal agencies, including prosecutors from DNM and the FBI. Unsurprisingly,
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  Speaker 1: that investigation disclosed concerning information about Epstein and his associates'
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  Speaker 1: ties to an alleged criminal contact in New Mexico. In 1993,
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  Speaker 1: Epstein purchased Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County, New Mexico,
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  Speaker 1: and visited the state repeatedly until his death in 2019.
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  Speaker 1: Public records from the redacted documents released publicly through USDOJ's
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  Speaker 1: online Epstein Library pursuant to the EFTA reveal that Zorro
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  Speaker 1: Ranch was one of the locations where Epstein's victims were taken.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's known criminal associate, Glaine Maxwell, likewise visited Zorro Ranch
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  Speaker 1: repeatedly in the years Epstein owned the property, often accompanying
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  Speaker 1: him during his visits to New Mexico. In December of 2021,
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  Speaker 1: a jury returned a verdict finding Maxwell guilty of sex
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  Speaker 1: trafficking of a minor, transportation of a minor with intent
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  Speaker 1: to engage in criminal sexual activity, and conspiracy to transport
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  Speaker 1: minors with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity,
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  Speaker 1: in connection with her role in the web of sexual
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  Speaker 1: abuse surrounding Epstein. Acts that form the basis of Maxwell's
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  Speaker 1: grand jury indictment included those that occurred in New Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: The Epstein files include over 13,000 references to Zorro Ranch
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  Speaker 1: and 5,000 references to New Mexico's locations where victims were trafficked, groomed,
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  Speaker 1: and assaulted. An MDOJ began its investigation into potential crimes
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  Speaker 1: occurring at Zorro Ranch in February of 2019. Between February
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  Speaker 1: and July 2019, NMDOJ investigators and attorneys contacted and interviewed
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  Speaker 1: victims who reported being sexually abused in New Mexico by
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's associates and former contractors of Epstein's Zorro Ranch. Recognizing
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  Speaker 1: the potential for overlapping state and federal criminal investigation, on
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  Speaker 1: May 14, 2019, an MDOJ informed USDOJ that New Mexico
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  Speaker 1: had been actively engaged in an ongoing investigation and review
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  Speaker 1: into potential criminal activities at Zorro Ranch. Explained the investigation
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  Speaker 1: may also involve a referral of certain criminal matters within
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  Speaker 1: the exclusive statutory authority of the federal government. and requested
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  Speaker 1: to meet with USDOJ to de-conflict on sensitive law enforcement
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  Speaker 1: matters and discuss possible strategies to streamline investigation and charging.
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  Speaker 1: On May 17, 2019, USDOJ initially rebuffed the invitation to
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  Speaker 1: share information and coordinate. During a subsequent telephone call on
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  Speaker 1: July 23, 2019, USDOJ told NMDOJ to stand down from
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  Speaker 1: its investigation into Epstein's potential criminal activity in New Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: Federal records included in the publicly disclosed Epstein filed documents
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  Speaker 1: that call. The records reflect the end date to cease
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  Speaker 1: any investigation into sex trafficking and share whatever an MDOJ
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  Speaker 1: had gathered to date regarding sex trafficking activity with the SDNY.
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  Speaker 1: All right, we're going to wrap up right here. And
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  Speaker 1: in the next episode, we're going to pick up where
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  Speaker 1: we left off. All the information that goes with this
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  Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box.