New Mexico officials are accusing President Trump’s Department of Justice of obstructing the state’s investigation into billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ranch.
The state’s Attorney General, Raúl Torrez, sent a letter to the DOJ last week accusing the department of withholding redacted records related to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch property, south of Santa Fe,The New York Timesreports.
“The U.S. D.O.J.’s continued withholding of unredacted records is causing real and escalating harm,” Torrez wrote to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in the letter, made public Thursday. “Every day that the U.S. D.O.J. withholds these records, the foundation upon which a New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes.”
In February, Torrez requested documents from the DOJ related to the ranch, but despite receiving assurances from department officials that they would send over the documents, nothing ever came. Torrez wrote that he even followed up five times over the next few months through different channels to no avail, impeding important leads in the probe.
“Every avenue of investigation that begins with a redacted name, a blacked-out face or an obscured date is an avenue that ends before it begins,” Torrez wrote. He told theTimesthat he hasn’t received a response to his latest letter.
Epstein’s ranch was never fully investigated by the federal government, and New Mexico authorities have said that federal prosecutors in New York asked them in 2019 tohold off, claiming that the DOJ was conducting its own probe. Nothing came of it, and the federal government never fully searched the property, which has new ownership.
Now that the state of New Mexico has decided to begin anew investigation, it’s not surprising that the Trump administration appears to be stonewalling once again. The ranch holds manysecrets, including why a mansion on the property was built bymilitary contractorBradbury Stamm Construction, better known for building classified government facilities such as Los Alamos National Laboratory and Kirtland Air Force Base. For now, those questions will remain unanswered as the Trump administration continues to try and wish Epstein away.
Just one single person has enrolled in the GOP’s $3 million anti-woke program at West Virginia University’s Washington Center.
The taxpayer-funded Civics, Culture, and Statesmanship program has seen an abysmal level of interest ahead of the upcoming fall semester.
“I do think that it’s important for the legislature and for the governor to reflect on this.... There is a question about whether or not this is the best use of public funds,” WVU political science professor Erik Herron toldWest Virginia Watch. “I think the Washington Center, ironically, seems to be exactly what it complains that higher education has become. It was created in Charleston, and it was imposed on the university, so it’s a big government mandate.”
“I’m not happy about it,” said Democratic State Delegate John Williams, who voted against the center’s creation last year. “Now we’re in a position where we’ve allocated so much money towards this program, and only one person is taking advantage of it.”
Republicans have defended low enrollment by noting that the program does not count toward university credits for students yet—a fact that does not instill confidence.
The program, mandated in 2025 via aRepublican bill, is intended to center the “great debates of western civilization,” “western history and culture,” and “the development of ideas across the political and ideological spectrum.” West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey put it more plainly, stating that the program existed to “push back on the woke ideology that has infected our schools and help return higher education to its true purpose.”
Thefall curriculumincludes classes titled “Woke,” “The New Right,” and “Nation and Migration.”
This is one of the more desperate cases of the right’songoing culture warin academia, the workplace, and beyond. Responding to what you perceive as ideological extremism in the classroom with your own ideological course—worth zero credits—is a decision steeped in delusion. We’ll see how many people are enrolled in the fall.
