By Andrew Hay
June 18 (Reuters) - New Mexico legislators probing Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday subpoenaed U.S. Attorneys' offices in three states and the U.S. Virgin Islands for information on whether they chose not to prosecute the late sex offender after investigating his activities.
New Mexico's "Truth Commission" on Epstein approved subpoenas of the offices in southern Florida, South Carolina, the eastern and western districts of Michigan and the U.S. Virgin Islands in search of evidence that might
show internal communication on decisions not to press charges against the late financier, the group's chair told reporters.
The requests expand scrutiny beyond Epstein's 2007-2008 non-prosecution agreement with then-Florida U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta to prosecutors around the country who may have possessed information about his alleged crimes and chosen not to act.
"We have information that there were investigations in each of these spaces into the activities of Jeffrey Epstein," New Mexico State Representative Andrea Romero, a Democrat and chair of the investigative committee, told reporters on a video call.
The U.S. Department of Justice, and the five U.S. Attorneys' offices subpoenaed, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The summons, plus four additional subpoenas issued to New Mexico state agencies on Thursday, brought to around 23 the number of subpoenas the Truth Commission has issued to law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and other entities.
The commission, the first of its kind in the country, aims to identify officials who may have known of Epstein's alleged sexual abuse of girls and women and turned a blind eye.
The investigation could have international significance if it can find evidence public figures knew of or took part in abuse, and New Mexico's attorney general pursues prosecutions. The committee is set to publish an interim report by the end of July.
Epstein was found dead in a New York prison cell in 2019, his death ruled a suicide, after the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York charged him with sex trafficking of minors.
Rachel Benavidez, 52, a survivor of alleged abuse at Epstein's Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, applauded Thursday's subpoenas as a means to expose possible corruption involving individuals who held, or currently hold, positions of power.
"Increasingly, the public recognizes that protecting powerful individuals at the expense of victims is unacceptable," Benavidez, a registered nurse, said on the video call.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
