New Mexico Sues Trump DOJ for Blocking Epstein Ranch Investigation

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of Unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills. But it turns out... That's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upground payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for 12-1 plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Alrighty. So breaking news out of New Mexico. The New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres, he has the New Mexico Department of Justice, as it's been called since 2024. They've sued. the United States Department of Justice and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for pretty much obstructing the New Mexico AG's office from being able to get access to the unredacted Epstein files. Specifically, the New Mexico AG's office alleges that as a result of this US Department of Justice's refusal to give these unredacted materials, not only has it It's violated the Administrative Procedure Act. If that sounds familiar, that was the basis for my lawsuit. But the Raul Torres alleges that the refusal by the DOJ to provide these materials unlawfully interferes with New Mexico's sovereign authority to investigate and prosecute crimes committed within its own borders. These records, according to the AG's office, central to its investigation into alleged crimes at Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch. And I wanted to talk about the press call that I was on. It was on the record, and it was the New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres, his lieutenant that is investigating all of this. His name is Sean Dan Sullivan. And I was able to ask a question. I'll get into that in a second, but I want to bring you in. on what happened here because I think that this press call was really important about the status of this investigation. So the New Mexico AG's office is the only open criminal investigation involving Epstein and his co-conspirators right now. I know. It's pretty wild if you stop and you think about it of how many states we have and the fact that we have a federal government. New Mexico is the only one that has an open criminal investigation into Epstein and his co-conspirators. And so today, in the announcement of this lawsuit, AG Torres says it's been 173 days that they have had no cooperation from the Trump Department of Justice. On 10 separate occasions,

AG Torres, first with Pam and Joe with the bad hair, Pam Bondi, and then with Todd Blanche and the Trump DOJ, 10 separate occasions he has asked for complete and unredacted access to the Epstein files. And he said, look, we need this information. It's information that is currently not publicly available, but it's relevant. for New Mexico to be able to identify potential victims, but also co-conspirators, corroborating witnesses, etc. As the AG notes, Zohran Mamdani Ranch is referenced more than 13,000 times in the publicly available Epstein files. And he said, look, we have done initial outreach. As far back as when Pam Bondi was the Attorney General of the United States, and in his own words, A.G. Torres said, we've been stonewalled. We've been stonewalled from being able to have access to these unredacted files. He says there's been public statements made about, sure, we're cooperating with New Mexico, but in reality, The United States Department of Justice under Pam Bondi and now Todd Blanche has been, quote, anything but cooperative. Do you want to know how many pages of documents New Mexico has received thus far in this 173 days of investigation? Ready? 31. 31 pages, a quote paltry disclosure, according to A.G. Torres has been received. And so what happened? Well, we'll get into the lawsuit details in a second. But basically, the New Mexico Attorney General set a deadline of August, excuse me, July 31st for the DOJ to give them the unredacted files that deadline came and went. And so they have sued in a federal district court in Washington, D.C., alleging violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and some other stuff. Now, they took only a handful of questions. I was the first one. And I was like, look, we also know that there is an Epstein Truth Commission. that was passed by way of bipartisan legislation in New Mexico that's been doing its own investigation. And by coincidence, today is the day that the interim report will be released by that truth commission. And so I asked the AG, are you working in tandem or in a parallel investigation? Are you cooperating with them? Like what is going on? Because I feel like, you know, the more the merrier, right? The more we can put our heads together to work this.

the more important, I think, results we're going to get. Anyway, the attorney general said, look, because we're doing a criminal investigation and the only one in the U.S. right now, we cannot share what we're finding, although it sounds pretty limited, right, if he's having to sue, but we cannot share what we have found thus far in our investigation, which makes sense, by the way. I'm definitely not indicting, no pun intended, Torres on this. But he's like, look, we can't share this. He's like, we've received a request for information from the Truth Commission and we've turned over the information that we're able to turn over, but you can't expect us to be announcing every development in our criminal investigation because that would really hurt us. But rest assured, we're doing the most we can do as the only criminal investigation in the U.S. Now, the Truth Commission has a different mission statement. They're looking at the systemic failures and looking at ways of changing the laws so that it doesn't happen again. And that makes sense, right? So in many ways, they are parallel, but they don't cross. And that's okay. But I wanted to know because I feel like the timing is so interesting, right, that today is the day that they've sued and today is the day that the interim report comes out from the Truth Commission. Other questions were asked by a couple other members of the media. So I just wanted to share with you some of Attorney General Torres's answers before I get into the lawsuit because I really want to make sure that you knew what was said. So the Attorney General said he's never encountered being stonewilled by the federal government, like the main justice people, ever. And he's worked in all these offices as a prosecutor. And he's like, I've never been stonewalled by the DOJ before. And the concerning thing is his predecessor as the New Mexico Attorney General was specifically told to stand down in New Mexico's investigation into Epstein. And they did back in 2019. And then they turned over all of their documents and materials to the Southern District of New York as it was investigating and prosecuting Epstein, Maxwell, and others. And they never got their materials back. And they never got any cooperation even back then in 2019.

He also spoke about the fact that oftentimes when there's a protective order in place on a federal level like there is in Glenn Maxwell's case governing disclosure of victims, identities, etc. Normally, it's a common practice before this Trump DOJ that the feds would go and say, look, we want to actually give the state law enforcement access. So amend this protective order judge that the state can get access. This is something specifically asked of the Trump Southern District of New York, and they have been told no. No explanation, just told no. And who was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York? Jay Clayton, you know the guy that's the DNI now, the Director of National Intelligence, that Trump lackey. He's the one who told New Mexico Attorney General Royal Torres. No, we're not going to help you get this access. He says, as in AG Torres says, there's a substantial team working on this criminal investigation and have been for the last six months that involves police officers and prosecutors. And he said, look. Because one, a reporter from CNN said, hey, look, the DOJ in response to your lawsuit is said that the Epstein Files Transparency Act and protective orders are not allowing us, as in Maine, justice, to release or expose victims' private identifying information carte Todd Blanche and that New Mexico hasn't given us a legal reason to violate victims' privacy. I know. The irony is disgusting. And like in my lawsuit, Todd Blanche was to sit there and use the victims as a sword and shield, right? He's like, I am protecting the victim's privacy. And that's why I'm not giving this information to Ms. Fang. And yet we all know what he thinks about recent privacy because he was responsible for the rollout that exposed, I don't know how many of these victims and their private confidential information never fixed it. And as we sit here today, it's still out there for some of them. But. This is also the same AG Todd Blanche, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who sat down with the victims and survivors because Thom Tillis told him to. And during that meeting, he said, hurry up and get to the point. That is the Todd Blanche night in shining armor that's protecting the victims. Attorney General Ronald Torres said, look, Todd Blanche could, with a stroke of a pen, modify any orders or any type of thing with the DOJ to give New Mexico access to the Epstein files. And in fact, New Mexico has offered to send a team to main justice to access the file. So if there's a concern about it being transmitted on the internet or whatever, they've offered to go to D.C. and Todd Blanche has said no.

And this is what Torres said at the end. He said they are stonewalling and they are resisting disclosure of this information, end quote. And I agree. And that's the reason why I sued. And now New Mexico's Attorney General has sued. You know a lot of skin care makes big promises, but they can't deliver. One skin, though, is different. And that's why I've been loving their products. You know that about me. They are founded by four PhD longevity scientists that focused on one thing, skin aging. They tested all those best-selling anti-aging products on the market and found none of them were working on the actual cause of aging. They were all just working on the surface signs. So after years of research and testing over 900 novel peptides, they developed OS1. Their proprietary peptide that addresses a leading driver of visible skin aging. So you get smoother skin, you get more even tone, and you get visibly fewer fine lines. I love my OS1 face moisturizer. Swear by it. Also my OS1 lip shield. that has SPF that I'm wearing even right now. I love it so much that I've introduced it to my mom. I've introduced one skin to my friends, and they all cannot stop raving about how much it has worked seamlessly into their own skin regimens. So here's the thing. This isn't just my experience, too. OneSkins results are backed by four peer-reviewed clinical studies. Over 10,000 five-star reviews, and they've been recognized by Bloomberg and Fast Company as a leader in skin longevity. Born from over 10 years of longevity research, OneSkin is helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. And for a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using the code Fang at OnSkin.co forward slash fang. That's 15% off OnSkin.co with code fang. After you purchase, they'll ask you, where did you hear about? them. Please support our show and tell them that we sent you. Let's get into the details quickly of the lawsuit. It's important. It is a breeding glasses, folks. It is a 40-page lawsuit brought in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by the state of New Mexico buying through its Attorney General, Rodo Torres, against the United States Department of Justice in its official capacity as acting attorney general of the United States. And here's the Whopper. Paragraph two, page one. Current acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and members of the United States Department of Justice Leadership in Washington, D.C., the Southern District of New York, and the District of New Mexico perpetuate the disgrace. What disgrace? The beyond scandalous tale of national disgrace about Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators engaging in widespread trafficking and sexual abuse of young girls, some as young as 14. Torres says their conduct now actively harms victims and undermines the public interest by stonewalling New Mexico Attorney General Roel Torres' ongoing criminal investigation into conduct by Epstein and his co-conspirators at Zorro Ranch located outside. of Santa Fe. After reopening New Mexico's investigation in February of 26, Attorney General Torres and senior prosecutors he leads at the New Mexico Department of Justice have faced sustained resistance to the type of information sharing that has been routine from the U.S. Department of Justice under prior administrations of both political parties.

This is paragraph 5 now on page 3. The U.S. Department of Justice has betrayed survivors and the public related to Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators at least three times. First, the U.S. DOJ secretly negotiated a non-prosecution agreement. With Epstein, without consulting survivors. Second, bipartisan legislation from Congress required public disclosure before the end of 2025 of the files of the files, co-conspirators, redacted to protect the survivors. In other words, the Epstein Files Transparency Act. But the U.S. Department of Justice instead publicly posted, detailed, unredacted, personal information about survivors ranging from their contact information to nude images. Now, USDOJ and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche are refusing to facilitate the investigation of state law crimes by hiding information about Epstein and his co-conspirators from Attorney General Torres and state law enforcement when New Mexico is one of few jurisdictions that still may have an opportunity to hold Epstein's associates accountable or otherwise provide some sense of justice to survivors. That is why New Mexico is suing for declaratory and injunctive relief to compel the United States Department of Justice and Todd Blanche to abandon their unlawful non-cooperation policy and to comply with New Mexico's investigative demands. The lawsuit sounds in two causes of action. Let's go to the first one and the facts are really damning here and I invite you to spend some time looking at the procedural history because it details with citations to exhibits as well as naming names people in the Southern District of New York that told New Mexico's Attorney General at the time to stand down and to discontinue their investigation into what was happening with Epstein and Zohran Mamdani Ranch and to turn over New Mexico's investigative materials to the Southern District of New York. And there were reassurances made repeatedly that if something popped up that seemed irrelevant, that could also be prosecuted by the state law authorities, the feds said they would let them know and they never did. And then... Even after all this time lapses, New Mexico's like, hey, we want this information, we need this information, we want to do something about it, and the Fed sometimes have literally ignored requests from the New Mexico Attorney General. Not even out of professional courtesy have they responded. And when they have responded, they've been rude, dismissive, and uncooperative. It doesn't take a stable genius to know that it sounds like they're hiding something. They're protecting someone or others. From what? All right. So.

Let's go to the actual causes of action so I can make sure that you all know what is being alleged here. This is on page 26 of the lawsuit. Count one. Administrative Procedure Act, a law that you know very well now. Arbitrary and capricious, not in accordance with the law and in excess of statutory authority. And the nut of this... cause of action is that the United States Department of Justice has violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it is essentially, it essentially lacks any basis in any of the DOJ's regulations that would support its refusal to disclose the information that has been requested by the New Mexico Department of Justice. Now, can I take a minute with just a quick footnote legally? The Trump DOJ, when New Mexico, kind of made its initial request under Attorney General Torres to get this information, said, you need to do something called a TUI request. And without getting too much into the weeds on it, it's pretty much an information-sharing vehicle, asking an agency to give that information over. And in this instance, the DOJ has refused. denied that two-week request. And so because the DOJ didn't have a reasonable basis grounded in an agency regulation that allowed them to deny the two-year request, that is the basis of count one. The U.S., this is paragraph 129, the U.S. Department of Justice's denial of New Mexico's two-request is arbitrary capricious and abuse of discretion and otherwise not in accordance with the law. That's pretty much the grovement of count one. Now, count two is another violation of the APA. This one sounding in unlawfully withheld and unreasonably delayed agency action. And the crux of this count is the Trump DOJ's refusal to share documents is an unexplainable deviation from the ordinary and customary practices breaking down critical trust relationships that exist between state and federal law enforcement agencies. In addition to being arbitrary capricious and abusive discretion and contrary to law, the Trump DOJ has unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed DOJ agency action required by law in response to New Mexico's to re-request. So, New Mexico pretty much wants the documents. That's the prayer for relief. They want this federal court to direct the United States Department of Justice. to give them the requested information or records, and that is the prayer for relief. This is an important lawsuit. This is an official lawsuit brought by the only state that is conducting a criminal investigation into Epstein and his co-conspirators. I am... disappointed that the breakdown on the rule of law has now come to the point where a state has to sue the federal Department of Justice and its acting Attorney General for its intentional refusal to information share because it hurts the victims. It hurts the survivors.

New Mexico has made it clear it needs the unredacted records to be able to help those victims and survivors and to be able to chase down and investigate state law crimes, especially as any window of opportunity is ticking away very quickly when it comes to potential crimes that could be prosecuted. The fact that you even have an investigating agency that is willing to do something, which is in stark contrast to what we get with this Trump DOJ under Todd Blanche, should be rewarded. It should be heralded. It should be lauded. They should get the gold star for actually getting off their ass and doing something to achieve transparency and accountability. And yet, they've been forced to sue. It's a very interesting lawsuit. It's another creative legal concept to Chase. We will watch it carefully here at Katie Fang News. But you know what? This is Attorney General, Ronald Torres, of the state of New Mexico, being mad, being outraged, and demanding accountability. So you know, today, AG Torres. I like your rattling of Todd Blanche's cages. Katie Fang here. We launched the Katie Fang News channel in partnership with the Midas Touch Network so we could bring you the latest in legal and political news. Straight, no chaser. So if you're a fellow truth teller, hit that subscribe button and share the word about this channel so we can build a high information America together. Hey guys. Finding the perfect gift for the food lover in your life is easy. Thanks to Goldbelly. Goldbelly ships America's most iconic foods. straight from world famous restaurants right to your door. So if you want to treat someone to Joe's Stonecrab from Miami, Franklin Barbecue from Texas, or desserts from famous foodies like Ina Garten or Martha Stewart, Goldbelly has you covered. Just go to goldbelly.com, and for a limited time, get 20% off your first order with promo code gift. That's promo code gift. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upbound payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for $12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms.