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Ethics Controversy Engulfs the Chair of New Mexico’s Epstein Commission (9/7/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. When it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, nothing is
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: ever easy, especially the investigation. And now down in New Mexico,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: there's controversy growing as one of the members of the
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Truth Commission is under fire for allegedly misappropriating funds. Now,
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  Speaker 1: how can we expect the people that are supposed to
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: be in charge to to have any kind of legal
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: ground to stand upon when they're going after Epstein if
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: they're corrupt themselves. And this has been a big problem
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: throughout the whole entire thing. Every time you turn around,
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  Speaker 1: somebody who says they care has their own skeletons in
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: their closet. Is there nobody in a position of power
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  Speaker 1: who isn't up to no good? Like, are there no
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  Speaker 1: people that are in politics that actually just care about
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  Speaker 1: their district or the people that they represent or the country?
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Is that something of the past? Because from where I'm sitting,
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  Speaker 1: none of these people give a shit. Not about you.
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  Speaker 1: Not about me. Certainly not about their districts. All they
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  Speaker 1: care about is themselves. Same as Jeffrey Epstein. Well, they'll
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: put a prettier face on it. They'll smile at you.
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  Speaker 1: They'll act like they're doing something. But when the chips
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  Speaker 1: are really down, what do they end up doing? Nothing.
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  Speaker 1: Talk a bunch of shit. Act like they care. Act
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  Speaker 1: like there's going to be repercussions for people that were involved.
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  Speaker 1: And then we find out that the person that's promising
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: all this stuff has her own issues to deal with.
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  Speaker 1: So today we have an article from KOB.com and the
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  Speaker 1: headline calls grow for state lawmaker to resign from Epstein
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  Speaker 1: commission amid ethics controversy. This article was authored by Alika Medina. Look,
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  Speaker 1: if you have any kind of controversy that has to
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  Speaker 1: do with ethics, probably shouldn't be in charge of Of
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein's investigation. Anywhere. Okay. Never mind New Mexico. Where
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: we already have a lot of questions. And a lot
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: of corruption. So I was hoping this would be squeaky clean.
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  Speaker 1: But I guess I was asking for too much. Way
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  Speaker 1: too much to ask. That these people do their job.
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  Speaker 1: And do it in a manner. That is respectable. And
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  Speaker 1: that can hold up under scrutiny. But silly me. Thinking
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  Speaker 1: that any government official. Was worth their weight in salt.
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  Speaker 1: Senate Republican Bill Scherer called for Romero to step down
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  Speaker 1: after Romero resigned from her job at the Santa Fe
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  Speaker 1: District Attorney's Office. Essentially, she created another set of victims.
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  Speaker 1: And in this case, the victims are the taxpayers of
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  Speaker 1: New Mexico. And you can't do that. Senator Steve Lanier,
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  Speaker 1: Republican from New Mexico, said, Now look, there's probably a
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  Speaker 1: lot of party politics taking place. And we know the
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  Speaker 1: Republicans have been reticent when it comes to investigating Epstein
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: in New Mexico. So we have to keep that in mind, right?
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  Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean that Miss Romero here isn't misappropriating
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  Speaker 1: funds and doing shit she shouldn't be doing. And I
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  Speaker 1: would think that in this kind of atmosphere, when you're
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  Speaker 1: dealing with everybody launching accusations everywhere, that you'd be squeaky clean. Look,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: there's going to be plenty of time for you to
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  Speaker 1: make money as an ex-politician. Plenty of boards that are
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  Speaker 1: going to accept you on them. Plenty of speaking opportunities, etc.,
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  Speaker 1: But for the years that you're representing your district or
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  Speaker 1: your people, can't you just do the right thing? Can't
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  Speaker 1: you just be a decent person for four fucking years?
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  Speaker 1: How hard is that? The rest of us have to
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  Speaker 1: do it every single day. But for four years, these
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  Speaker 1: elected officials can't stop stepping on their own dicks? Lanier
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  Speaker 1: said Romero's problems stem from the misuse of public relations
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  Speaker 1: firm for the Epstein Truth Commission. We found out that
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  Speaker 1: she misused funds as far as using a high-profile Manhattan,
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  Speaker 1: high-priced PR firm that was set up for something else
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  Speaker 1: to protect the Epstein files to get herself out of trouble.
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  Speaker 1: And I know that there's an ongoing investigation on how
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  Speaker 1: much money she used and exactly how much that went down,
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  Speaker 1: Lanier said. And if she's doing that, she should be
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  Speaker 1: indicted and she should face the full force of the law,
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  Speaker 1: whatever the law stipulates in New Mexico. Why is that
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  Speaker 1: so difficult? Well, because they don't want to do that
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  Speaker 1: because that would mean that they have to face the
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  Speaker 1: law too. So it'll be a bunch of talk, a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of nonsense, a bunch of narrative building, all in
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  Speaker 1: order to try and get votes. But nothing ever changes.
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  Speaker 1: No legislation, no meaningful legislation, and nobody being held accountable.
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  Speaker 1: So Mr. Lanier might think he's fooling people, but he's not.
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  Speaker 1: Everybody knows that you're playing politics, Mr. Lanier. and that
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  Speaker 1: you don't give a flying fuck about Jeffrey Epstein. But
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: two things can be true at the same time. He
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  Speaker 1: might be playing politics, and Ms. Romero might be misappropriating funds.
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  Speaker 1: But even if she is, does that mean that they
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't investigate Jeffrey Epstein in the state of New Mexico? Well,
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  Speaker 1: according to Lanier and the Republicans, probably. When Romero resigned
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  Speaker 1: from her job with the Santa Fe District Attorney's Office,
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  Speaker 1: the press release came from Denny Vaughn Muffling Consulting. That's
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  Speaker 1: the same firm hired by the state to represent the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein Truth Commission. Why do you need a PR firm
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  Speaker 1: to represent the Truth Commission? That is ridiculous. What a
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  Speaker 1: waste of money. Here's an idea. Whoever the head of
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  Speaker 1: the commission is, that's the representative. Yeah, you know, we
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  Speaker 1: got this Epstein investigation going on. Let me give you
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: guys an update. Hell, if they need some help, they
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  Speaker 1: can hire me. I'm sure I'll charge less than the
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  Speaker 1: muffling consulting company. Like, what are we doing here, folks? Honestly.
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  Speaker 1: Republican Representative Bill Hall and Andrea Reeb said the Epstein
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  Speaker 1: Truth Commission's PR firm has now resigned as a result
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  Speaker 1: of the controversy. Representatives Hall and Reeb issued the following statement.
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  Speaker 1: We're deeply concerned with Representative Romero's misuse of the Epstein
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  Speaker 1: Truth Commission's PR firm, Denny Von Muffling Consulting, for a
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  Speaker 1: personal employment issue. Even more concerning, when Ms. Von Muffling
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  Speaker 1: was asked for more detail about what Representative Romero characterized
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  Speaker 1: as an error, including the email communication between the PR
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  Speaker 1: firm and Representative Romero, instead of providing that information to
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  Speaker 1: the commission, Ms. Von Muffling resigned as a media firm
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  Speaker 1: representing the Truth Commission, in breach of the terms of
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  Speaker 1: her contract. The credibility of this committee is of the
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  Speaker 1: utmost importance, and unfortunately recent events have jeopardized that credibility. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's all a big joke. They're not going to get
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  Speaker 1: to anything down here in New Mexico. Sorry. Petty politics
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  Speaker 1: rule the day. And I think that's what we're going
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  Speaker 1: to run into time and time again. And I hate
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  Speaker 1: that I have to say that. I hate that I
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  Speaker 1: can't tell you that there's going to be a hero.
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  Speaker 1: Because I just don't believe there's going to be. There's
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  Speaker 1: no shortage of people that talk tough. But there's certainly
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  Speaker 1: a shortage of courage. There's no doubt about that. Senator
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  Speaker 1: Lanier linked the issue to Attorney General Raul Torres' announcement
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  Speaker 1: earlier this week that no sitting legislator can hold an
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  Speaker 1: ongoing position with a district attorney's office. She's taking accountability
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  Speaker 1: for her actions of what she did, but she's blaming
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  Speaker 1: the Attorney General. And we found that a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people that misuse funds, they turn the tables and they
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  Speaker 1: start blaming somebody else. And Raul Torres is the victim
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  Speaker 1: in this one, Lanier said. So they're saying that she's
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  Speaker 1: blaming Torres for this whole misunderstanding and that she doesn't
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  Speaker 1: want to take responsibility for what she allegedly did and
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  Speaker 1: for the funds that she allegedly misused. A spokesperson for
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  Speaker 1: Torres' office responded to Romero's complaints on Tuesday saying, we
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: appreciate her frustration at losing her part-time job at the
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  Speaker 1: district attorney's office, but we reject any insinuation that our
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  Speaker 1: recently released guidance on that issue was motivated by anything
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  Speaker 1: other than the law. We remain committed to supporting Epstein
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  Speaker 1: survivors through our ongoing criminal investigation and hope that Representative
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  Speaker 1: Romero's newfound commitment to victims' rights will be on full
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  Speaker 1: display in the upcoming legislative session, not just on social media. Bro,
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  Speaker 1: it's a big deal. And there's a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: that fake the funk. People like Ana Paulina Luna. People
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  Speaker 1: like Robert Garcia. and a whole host of other knuckleheads
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  Speaker 1: who have shown up late to the party and think
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  Speaker 1: they have ownership of the topic. New Mexico Senate Republican
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  Speaker 1: leader Bill Scherer is calling on Democratic State Representative Andrea
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  Speaker 1: Romero to immediately step down as chair of the Legislative
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  Speaker 1: Truth Commission investigating Jeffrey Epstein's ties to New Mexico and
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  Speaker 1: to resign from the New Mexico House of Representatives. Representative
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  Speaker 1: Romero was already caught taking a state job the Attorney
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  Speaker 1: General himself says was unlawful for a sitting legislator to hold,
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  Speaker 1: Sharer said. Now, the evidence suggests she used taxpayer dollars
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  Speaker 1: appropriated for a truth committee investigating one of the most
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  Speaker 1: notorious predators in modern history to instead pay a contractor
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  Speaker 1: to clean up her own political mess. That's not what
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  Speaker 1: the money was for, and it's exactly the kind of
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  Speaker 1: self-dealing New Mexico's Governmental Conduct Act was written to stop.
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  Speaker 1: You know, New Mexico's a corrupt place. There's no doubt
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  Speaker 1: about that. When I was down there, the stories I
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  Speaker 1: heard from people, were wild. Absolutely wild. So this all tracks.
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  Speaker 1: And if anybody was trying to put Romero, or anybody else,
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  Speaker 1: on some kind of pedestal as a hero, you're making
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  Speaker 1: a big deal out of it. mistake. As I've told
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  Speaker 1: you time and time again, the vast majority of these
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  Speaker 1: people don't give a fuck. They feel like this is
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  Speaker 1: a winning issue. So they're jumping on board. But I
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  Speaker 1: don't think they understand just how deep and the depth
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  Speaker 1: of what they're getting involved in. Sharer's complaint cites NM
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  Speaker 1: SA 1978 Section 1016-3, which requires public officers to treat
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  Speaker 1: their positions as a public trust and prohibits using public
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  Speaker 1: resources to advance personal interest. The complaint asks the Ethics
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  Speaker 1: Commission to investigate levy fines if the claims are substantiated
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  Speaker 1: and refer the matter for criminal prosecution. Representative Romero sits
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  Speaker 1: atop a commission whose entire purpose is to get the
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  Speaker 1: public the truth about Epstein's presence in the state and
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  Speaker 1: her own colleagues on that commission say she's pulled a
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  Speaker 1: sitting Democrat candidate for governor out of the report to
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  Speaker 1: protect her politically, the senator said. New Mexicans cannot trust
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  Speaker 1: a truth commission chair who appears willing to edit the
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: truth when it's politically inconvenient for her own party. Well,
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  Speaker 1: that's true. Now, I have my doubts about what Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Scherer is saying he has his own motivations, right? Not
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  Speaker 1: exactly the biggest fan of Epstein justice. Oh, he'll make
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  Speaker 1: pretend he is, but not really. She also removed the
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  Speaker 1: name of Deb Haaland, which we all know she's a
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  Speaker 1: governor candidate, and she removed that name from this report.
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  Speaker 1: And unbeknownst to the other commissioners on the panel, they
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  Speaker 1: didn't know that she'd taken the name off. Lanier said,
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  Speaker 1: that's unacceptable. Okay, that part of it, unacceptable. And if
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  Speaker 1: she did do that, she needs to be removed. Scherer
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  Speaker 1: is also calling for the Truth Commission to immediately issue
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  Speaker 1: legally binding subpoenas ordering Haaland and Democratic New Mexico U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Representative Melanie Stansbury to testify publicly. KOB4 requested access to
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  Speaker 1: the ethics complaint against Romero, but the Office of Disciplinary
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Counsel said it keeps all complaints against attorneys confidential. KOB4
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  Speaker 1: also reached out to Romero and Romero's team and had
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  Speaker 1: not heard back. Romero responds to the accusations on Thursday
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  Speaker 1: with the following statement. In a flurry of incoming emails
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  Speaker 1: this week, I mistakenly approved a draft statement that the
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  Speaker 1: communications from the Truth Commission later issued on my behalf.
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  Speaker 1: Our Truth Commission has followed a process that requires sign-off
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: from all Commission members, and this was no exception. This
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: was unintentional, and I sincerely apologize for the confusion created.
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  Speaker 1: I've been on leave out of the country taking time
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: to grieve the loss of a dear loved one, which
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: has made communicating on this issue logistically challenging. Following these events,
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  Speaker 1: the communications firm and the Truth Commission are parting ways,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: but the important work of our commission will continue in
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  Speaker 1: the best interest of survivors. Further, when I was notified
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  Speaker 1: of the latest guidance from the Attorney General earlier this week,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: I immediately resigned from my part-time position in the First
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  Speaker 1: Judicial DA's office. I acknowledge and support the AG's decision
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  Speaker 1: and encourage any other lawmakers in the same position to
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  Speaker 1: follow this guidance. I look forward to putting all of
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  Speaker 1: this behind me and focusing on serving the people of
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  Speaker 1: my district. Well, if that was the case, you wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: be in this position in the first place. Don't misappropriate funds.
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  Speaker 1: Don't use funds that are meant to investigate Epstein for
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: your own bullshit. And if she did do that, then
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  Speaker 1: she needs to be removed. So, We'll see where this
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: argument goes, but if you think that Scherer and Lanier
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: are going to let it go, you're crazy. So we'll
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: have to see what happens from here, and when we
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: have some more information, we'll get that added to the catalog.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: All the information that goes with this episode can be
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: found in the description box.