New Mexico lawmaker resigns from job with DA, accuses AG of ‘attempt to disrupt’ Epstein commission

The New Mexico state representative who leads the House’s investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday announced she had resigned from her job with a local district attorney amid mounting criticism.

State Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) on Tuesday also said Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s recent advice that district attorneys across the state should not hire sitting state lawmakers was an “attempt to disrupt” her work leading the state House’s investigatory subcommittee on Epstein.

Romero’s employment with the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office came under scrutiny in recent weeks as Republican lawmakers called for an ethics investigation. House Minority Whip Alan Martinez (R-Rio Rancho) recently requested a legislative ethics investigation and said her work with the local DA’s office violated state laws that prohibit sitting lawmakers from simultaneously working as state employees.

Romero had previously defended her employment by citing a 2024 opinion from Torrez’s office, which cleared fellow Epstein commission member Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-Clovis) to serve as a special prosecutor in the prosecution of Alec Baldwin. Baldwin’s lawyers, citing the same law as Republican lawmakers, said Reeb’s work on the case was unconstitutional. She ultimately resigned from the case.

In a Monday letter to district attorneys statewide, Torrez wrote that his 2024 opinion “has been read more broadly than intended.” He instructed any DA’s office employing a lawmaker to rectify the situation immediately and noted that he would not pursue legal action against any office that had previously hired a lawmaker “based on an honest misunderstanding of our 2024 opinion.”

In a news release responding to Torrez’s letter, First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies’ office said the agency was “disappointed” by Torrez’s directive but would comply with it.

“Andrea Romero sought appropriate guidance from the Attorney General’s Office before accepting a part-time position with the FJDA, and our Office relied on that guidance,” the statement said. “Romero is a licensed attorney whose professional experience made her well suited for a part-time role in our office. At a time when New Mexico continues to face challenges recruiting and retaining attorneys in public service, we believe qualified professionals should have opportunities to serve their communities in different ways.”

In a Tuesday statement issued through a New York-based public relations firm that represents Monica Lewinsky, Romero said that she had resigned from her job at the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office and said that she had previously “sought and had received explicit authorization to be allowed to hold both positions, a fact the AG’s office was well-aware of.”

She said she was “deeply disappointed” by Torrez’s Monday letter and saw it as “an attempt to disrupt the work of our Survivor Truth Commission that seeks justice for the many young people who were harmed by Jeffrey Epstein and his co-collaborators in our state.”

Torrez early this year reopened a criminal investigation into Epstein and sued the federal government for allegedly blocking the release of files related to the late sex offender. In August, Torrez joined U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) to announce new federal legislation that he said would make it easier for law enforcement agencies across the nation to file legal challenges against the U.S. Department of Justice when it refuses to release Epstein-related documents.

Although Romero did not cite specific examples, she said that Torrez’s letter would impact other state lawmakers and force them to resign from their jobs.

New Mexico is the only state in the nation to not pay its lawmakers. Voters will have the choice in the Nov. 3 general election to change that.

“Serving as a legislator remains the greatest honor of my life, and no attempt to distract from our work will succeed,” Romero said.

The New Mexico Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.