santafenewmexican.com · The New Mexican · September 9, 2026
Romero should resign from Epstein 'truth commission' | Editorials | santafenewmexican.com
# Romero should resign from Epstein 'truth commission'
- The New Mexican - Sep 8, 2026 - 18 mins ago - 0
The Legislature’s establishment of the Epstein “truth commission” earlier this year offered hope that in one state, at least, survivors would be heard.
However, we did caution at the time the commission was established that true justice was unlikely, saying, “Considering activities at the ranch and elsewhere took place over decades and that Epstein died in jail, it’s unclear what punishment of perpetrators will emerge.”
Still, there was hope investigators could find answers, including discovering why so many prominent New Mexicans — whether from government, law enforcement and science — seemed to look the other way when Jeffrey Epstein moved to the state. Businessman Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, are convicted sex traffickers who used their New Mexico property — Zorro Ranch — to molest and rape young women.
In its months of operations, the truth commission has generated headlines, even hiring its own PR firm. But it still has failed to deliver answers — and to be fair, the answers are decades old with many major players deceased.
Now, the activities of commission chairwoman Andrea Romero are threatening to overshadow whatever conclusions the panel might reach. She has become a distraction and should step down from the commission.
First came the removal of the name of Deb Haaland, Democratic nominee for governor, from the interim commission report. As we wrote before, the removal was unnecessary given that everyone already knew Haaland had been a passenger on a plane connected to Epstein.
Her running mate, 2014 gubernatorial candidate Gary King, had chartered the flight to Washington, D.C., and Haaland took her seat as instructed. She did not look at the flight manifesto, and what’s more, it’s ridiculous to expect she would investigate the ownership of every plane on which she was a passenger. A unilateral removal was uncalled for, and its removal damaged the bipartisan work on the commission. Republicans on the truth commission were not part of the decision.
Now, a commotion — rightly — has arisen from Romero’s decision to take part-time work, despite advice from Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office that as a sitting legislator, she could not work as a lawyer at the District Attorney’s Office.
That’s based on both state law and a Department of Justice opinion; the law bars state officers from paying legislators for state services. Obviously, that doesn’t include all state employees who are lawmakers. Teachers and school administrators, for example, can both be lawmakers and work in public school systems.
Romero says the AG’s Department of Justice initially green lighted the part-time job, while Torrez made clear that, no, his office had not. Before Romero landed the job in the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, she directed $100,000 of capital outlay funds to the office. She now has resigned.
They are pointing out that holding the two positions — lawmaker and attorney in the DA’s Office — violates state law. House Republican Whip Alan Martinez and a private citizen have filed ethics complaints about Romero’s job. They also would like to see her charged, although Torrez has said that’s unlikely.
Voters, ultimately, can decide her fate as a lawmaker. She is unopposed in 2026, but there’s another election in two years. If people in District 46 aren’t happy with her, they should find a primary challenger to retire her from the Legislature.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent investigating events of the past, with little — to date — to show for it. Sex trafficking continues in New Mexico today. The best tribute to past sufferers of sex crimes would be investigating and locking up criminals currently exploiting victims.
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