Donald Trump has told Americans to “get on to something else” other than the Jeffrey Epstein files, in which the president, a former friend of the deceased sex offender, is named thousands of times. But the state of New Mexico isn’t acquiescing to the president’s wishes.

New Mexico’s truth commission is preparing a slate of 14 subpoenas that target private, state and federal institutions as part of an effort to unearth details about Epstein’s activities in the state. The development marks an escalation of the commission’s efforts to shake loose lingering secrets. 

On Monday, the commission approved subpoenas for a list of more than a dozen entities, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The list includes Epstein’s estate; the Federal Aviation Administration, the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice; the U.S. attorney’s offices for New Mexico and New York’s southern district; Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase; New Mexico’s Departments of Public Safety and Justice, the governor’s office and State Land Office; the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office; and the Santa Fe Institute.

Subpoenas do not, in and of themselves, indicate wrongdoing — nor does the appearance of any name in the Epstein files. The Santa Fe New Mexican previously reported on files released by the DOJ that showed a donation of hundreds of thousands of dollars by Epstein to the Santa Fe Institute, a scientific research and education center. The institute’s president told the New Mexican in February that an audit of Epstein’s donations exists (though he didn’t provide it), and he reportedly didn’t respond to the outlet’s request for comment after the subpoena list was announced. 

The commission is conducting its work at the same time as the New Mexico Department of Justice conducts its own probe of Epstein’s activities at the ranch.

New Mexico’s Democratic-controlled Legislature launched the truth commission in February after the release of some Epstein-related files that included allegations that the bodies of two women were buried near Epstein’s New Mexico ranch, which he reportedly saw as a prime location for a plot to “seed” the human race with his DNA. There’s no evidence he ever put such a plan into motion, and to date no bodies have been discovered.

Ja’han Jones

Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.