The committee on Tuesday announced the appointment of Fadduol, Cluff, Hardy & Conaway, P.C., a law firm with offices in both New Mexico and Texas, to serve as the special counsel. According to the state’s request for proposals for the work, the firm will provide legal services for the commission, gather evidence for its Epstein investigation and manage any collaborations with the New Mexico Department of Justice.
Calls and emails to the Legislative Counsel Service for additional information on the other law firms that applied for the contract were not immediately returned Wednesday.
In a news release, the commission said the appointment of special counsel ensures that investigation will be “thorough, transparent and legally sound,” and that public meetings will be scheduled later in the year.
“The Truth Commission has a responsibility to pursue the facts with care and credibility,” subcommittee chair state Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) said in a statement. “Engaging experienced legal counsel ensures that our work is conducted with the rigor and independence necessary to build public trust and deliver meaningful accountability.”
The subcommittee was established unanimously by the New Mexico House in the most recent legislative session. It has a budget of $2 million from a 2023 settlement with the state and several financial services companies for failing to identify the abuses at the ranch.
Attorney Joshua Conaway, a partner at the firm with more than two decades of experience, said in a statement the subcommittee’s work “is both significant and sensitive, and we are committed to helping ensure that its efforts are conducted with integrity, diligence, and respect for all involved.”
A call to Conaway Wednesday was not immediately returned.
In February, NMDOJ announced it was reviving an investigation into Epstein and Zorro Ranch. Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas previously told Source NM his office was investigating Epstein until federal prosecutors in 2019 asked him to shelve the query. Earlier this month, NMDOJ investigators searched the sprawling 7,500-acre property that Epstein bought from former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King in the 1990s.
The commission is scheduled to make an interim report on the investigation to the House of Representatives by July 31, and a final report by the end of 2026.
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