STANLEY, New Mexico, March 21 (Reuters) - As police for the first time searchJeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch for evidence of any abuse he may have committed at the Old West-themed hideaway, attention has focused on the powerful former politiciansin the state who continued to meet and receive campaign donations from Epstein long after hebecame a registered sex offender.
Epstein's relationships with state Democratic Party leaders, including two former governors and a state attorney general, and the institutional failings that may have allowed the convicted sex offender to perpetrate abuse at the ranch are under investigation by a New Mexico state "truth commission"- the first of its kind in the country.
Zorro Ranch, where Epstein spent about two months a year, was alleged to be a hub in his sex trafficking of children that stretched between the U.S. Virgin Islands, New York and Florida, according to a 2020 letterfrom the New Mexico Attorney General's office and numerous documents among the millions recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Epstein spent relatively little to establish himself as a major funding force in Democratic-run New Mexico. He donated just over $160,000 across five races between 2002 and 2014 , according to interviews and a review of campaign finance records. He was often the biggest outside donor to campaigns, including after his first sex offender conviction in2008.
Reuters did not find any evidence that Epstein received anything in return for his donations.
Epstein's ties with the late former Governor Bill Richardson have been well reported. The state's former top law enforcement agent, Gary King, also had contact with Epstein after he was convicted of felony sex crimes, including meeting him in 2010. Epstein donated to dozens of U.S. politicians, but nearly all of them cut ties with him after the Florida conviction.
“Once you know what’s happened, to continue to take campaign contributions is reprehensible," U.S. Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez said on the sidelines of a March 8 Zorro Ranch protest, when asked about the relationship between Epstein and Richardson and King.
King's campaign returned a donation in 2014.
Leger Fernandez, who represents the high plains area 30 miles south of state capital Santa Fe, is among those questioning why federal, state and local law enforcement never investigated complaints of sexual abuse at the ranch and why federal authorities told state investigators to drop a child trafficking probe in 2019, but never searched or seized the ranch before its 2023 sale.
King, 71, said he never visited Epstein's ranch and never asked the late financier for campaign donations after his Florida conviction.
"I personally told Mr. Epstein that the campaign would NOT accept contributions from him as a result of his admitted criminal activities," King, New Mexico's attorney general from 2007 to 2015, said in a statement in response to Reuters questions about campaign letters seeking donations from Epstein included in the DOJ files. King said he had no knowledge the letters were sent to Epstein and they appeared to be pro forma mailings to past donors.
"VICTORIA'S SECRET RANCH"
In 1993, Epstein bought 7,500 acres of land from three-times New Mexico Governor Bruce King and other members of his powerful New Mexico political family, according to county records. Gary King, who is Bruce King's son, was one of the parties to the sale. In his statement to Reuters, the younger King said Epstein paid around $3.75 million for the land - a fair market value at the time, based on New Mexico State University research. Bruce King died in 2009.
Epstein proceeded to build what became known locally as "The Victoria's Secret Ranch" for the lingerie models rumored to go there, three local people told Reuters.
A master networker, Epstein invited scientists, politicians, billionaires and Hollywood celebrities to the ranch, where some commentedon "the girls," emails in the Epstein files show.
In 2006, Epstein donated $15,000 to the campaign of Gary King. King told Reuters he did not return that money as, in 2006, he was not aware of any reports of wrongdoing by Epstein.
He recalled meeting Epstein only once, in 2010 at Santa Fe restaurant Jinja where they drank tea and Epstein expressed his condolences after King's father died. A 2009 email to Epstein said all Zorro Ranch staff would attend Bruce King's funeral service. King, who trained as a chemist, said at their meeting they briefly discussed Epstein's interaction with the Santa Fe Institute, an influential scientific foundation.
When King ran for governor in 2014, Epstein donated $35,600 to the campaign, the largest outside donation, records show. King returned the 2014 funds to Epstein companies three days after they were reported in the press on September 9 of that year, records show. Around the same time, Epstein arranged a September 8 jet charter for King to attend a campaign breakfast in Washington, according to emails in the DOJ's Epstein files. King's campaign paid for the flight, according to state records.
"If I had known of Mr. Epstein's involvement at the time, I would have asked my staff to use another charter company to conduct the flight," said King, who is retired from politics and now the president of a charity called New Mexico Children’s Foundation.
As attorney general, King said, he ran a robust outreach program to combat crimes against children and human trafficking, and received no information regarding alleged crimes by Epstein. The New Mexico Department of Justice declined to comment.
A document in the Epstein files shows FBI agents visited the New Mexico ranch in February 2007, when King was in charge of New Mexico law enforcement, and questioned manager Brice Gordon about "masseuses" Epstein flew in or hired locally. Reuters was not able to contact Gordon. King said the U.S. Justice Department never informed his office of any investigation involving Epstein or his associates.
Reuters found no evidence King had knowledge of a federal probe into Epstein at that time.
Santa Fe Police Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said in a statement his department had no record of any report concerning Epstein. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, in whose jurisdiction the ranch is located, said it was looking into any allegations it may have received regarding Epstein. New Mexico State Police did not respond to a request for comment.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez reopened the state's Epstein investigation in February.
The U.S. Department of Justice and FBI declined to comment.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Donna Bryson, Suzanne Goldenberg and Claudia Parsons)
