Former Santa Fe Opera conductor linked to Epstein - Gillian Barkhurst, Albuquerque Journal
Numerous emails link the former chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to files recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In emails, world-renowned French composer Frédéric Chaslin mocked the #MeToo movement, commented on Epstein’s “many pretty assistants” and arranged a meeting for the now-disgraced financier with a young woman while he visited Paris.
“I found a great girl for your next stay in Paris,” Chaslin wrote in a 2013 email. “Student in philosophy. 21. Looks a little like Roman Polanski's current wife.”
In a statement posted on social media, Chaslin denied that he arranged a sexual encounter and said that the woman was to be Epstein’s translator.
“This phrase could be interpreted in many different ways, but we are now in a moment where this overinterpretation has driven a divorce of reality,” Chaslin wrote in French.
Chaslin also stated that as a French speaker, he did not understand the implications of his description in English.
Although Chaslin said he knew nothing about Epstein's sex crimes, the pair met two years after Epstein was convicted on child prostitution charges in Florida in 2008. Epstein served nights in jail for 13 months and was released in July 2009, approximately a year before he met Chaslin.
Chaslin’s name appears nearly 400 times in the Epstein files, although many of the documents are duplicates.
After the Epstein files were released, the French government announced it would investigate French citizens implicated in emails and other documents.
Epstein also appears to be connected to current Santa Fe Opera Board of Directors member Peter Frank.
In a 2014 email, sent to both Chaslin and Epstein, Frank writes that “all is terrific in Santa Fe, a very successful musical summer for us here.”
Frank then asks to meet the pair in Paris.
Current Santa Fe Opera Board of Directors member Irwin Sugarman and past member Dan Perry were also sent the email, though there is no documentation of any reply.
"The Santa Fe Opera does not comment on individual personnel matters," a spokesperson for the Opera said in a statement Wednesday. "We maintain longstanding policies prohibiting harassment and inappropriate conduct and provide clear reporting channels for artists and staff."
The Santa Fe Opera did not answer questions about whether officials knew about allegations of sexual misconduct by Chaslin, nor if they planned to investigate after he appeared in the files.
As for the board members, the officials said Wednesday "we do not have any additional information to provide."
In 2010, Chaslin was awarded a three-year contract with the Santa Fe Opera.
Once in Santa Fe, Chaslin met Epstein and later visited the now-infamous Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County, Chaslin said in a statement.
New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard has called on state and federal authorities to investigate the anonymous but thus far unsubstantiated claims that two children were sexually assaulted and buried at the property.
Epstein also visited Chaslin at least once at the Santa Fe Opera, reportedly entering the backstage area and sitting in the front row for a performance of Puccini's Tosca, according to emails.
In 2012, a year before his contract was up, Chaslin abruptly abandoned his position, left the country, and began work in Jerusalem.
Then-Opera General Director Charles Mackay said that Chaslin left to “focus on composing,” according to past Journal reporting.
A 2017 email conversation between Chaslin and Epstein suggests another reason for his sudden departure.
“Hope you're fine,” Chaslin wrote in October 2017. “While the world is getting crazy at chasing men. I had a similar situation (in) Santa Fe. I feel for my fellow male species.”
Epstein replied that women would “say anything” to get their picture in the newspaper “with total disregard for the damage they cause.”
That conversation refers to the #MeToo movement, when a wave of women in and outside of Hollywood accused film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, coercion and rape in October 2017.
“Harvey (Weinstein) has 50 women who say they just escaped his grasp,” Epstein wrote. “You and I know that the only reason he would use the same routine over and over was that in the majority it worked. No one admitting their role.”
In that email chain, Epstein went on to criticize the attire of Rose McGowan, an actress who alleged that Weinstein raped her in a hotel room and was an early advocate for the #MeToo movement.
“Look at the Oscar dress of Rose McGowan, the one accusing him of rape,” Epstein wrote.
Chaslin responded, writing, “That is an excellent point!!!!”
A history of allegations
It's unclear if his departure was tied in any way to the situation he references in Santa Fe.
Chaslin did not mention these messages in his official response to the French press and the Santa Fe Opera did not say whether Chaslin was ever formally investigated by the company.
Still, Chaslin faces at least one other allegation, according to French media.
After the files were released, opera singer Amelia Feuer filed an official complaint with the French government alleging that the conductor had sexually harassed her over text messages in 2016 and offered her work and notoriety in exchange for sexual favors.
Feuer said in interviews and online that she felt empowered to speak up nearly 10 years later because of the bravery of Epstein survivors.
“Seeing so many people refusing to tolerate abuse and choosing to speak up reminds me how powerful our community can be and it gives me a bit of hope,” Feuer wrote in a Feb. 8 social media post.
New Mexico joins multistate lawsuit over federal rollbacks to children’s vaccines - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Department of Justice announced on Wednesday it had joined multistate litigation challenging federal health officials’ reduction of the number of vaccines recommended for children.
The complaint, filed in U.S. federal district court in San Francisco, seeks to overturn the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jan. 5 memo stripping universal recommendations for doctors to issue vaccines on six childhood diseases: rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The memo built on the agency’s 2025 recommendation requiring patients younger than 65 to have an underlying condition to be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The complaint, which directly names U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Acting CDC Director Jayanta Bhattacharya, alleges Kennedy’s abrupt firing and replacement of all 17 members of the CDC’s expert panel for vaccines violated federal laws.
The complaint also alleges the changes to the vaccine schedule were not based on new circumstances or science, and that the CDC “ignored the clear risk to public health posed by downgrading routine vaccinations without notice or public comment.”
The lawsuit requests the court void Kennedy’s appointments to a vaccine panel and reverse the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule recommendations.
NMDOJ officials cited the reliability and safety of vaccines in a news release Wednesday, noting that CDC researchers in 2024 estimated childhood immunizations prevented about 1.1 million deaths between 1994 and 2023, reduced illnesses by 508 million cases and prevented 32 million hospitalizations.
“For decades, our nation’s vaccine policies have been guided by rigorous science and medical expertise, helping eliminate diseases that once devastated families, ”Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a statement. “By bypassing federal law and undermining established vaccine recommendations, this administration is putting children at unnecessary risk. Public health decisions must be driven by evidence — not ideology.”
Attorneys general from Arizona and California are leading the litigation. New Mexico joins 12 other states supporting the complaint: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
At least 17 states, including New Mexico, opted to buck the new federal guidelines, as state health officials announced in January they will maintain the full childhood vaccination recommendations.
During the most recent legislative session, lawmakers passed House Bill 156, which if signed, would grant New Mexico permanent control over its vaccine recommendations after the state adopted a temporary measure in 2025. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has until March 11 to sign or veto the bill.
New Mexico Department of Health officials said HB156 secures the ability to purchase childhood vaccines and require their coverage by insurance in a Feb. 19 news release.
“We are thankful to the Legislature in ensuring access to vaccines for New Mexicans who want to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” said NMDOH Secretary Gina DeBlassie in a statement.
Former NM Congressman Pearce faces questions about public lands views as he seeks federal post - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Former Republican New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce faced multiple rounds of questions about his public lands record Wednesday during his first U.S. Senate committee confirmation hearing for director of the federal Bureau of Lands Management.
If the Senate confirms him, Pearce, who represented the state’s 2nd Congressional District from 2011 to 2019, would oversee 245 million acres of public lands, including for recreation, cattle grazing and extraction of oil and natural gas.
President Donald Trump nominated Pearce for the post in November, drawing swift condemnation from environmental groups that pointed to his record in Congress, including his co-sponsoring of bills undermining the Antiquities Act, which allows the president to designate national monuments, and opening national forests to industry.
Senators on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is the ranking member, held a roughly two-hour hearing Wednesday to question three of Trump’s nominees. Most of their attention centered on Pearce, who founded an oilfield services company in Hobbs before getting into politics and serving as the state’s Republican party chair until late 2024.
The other nominees who faced questions Wednesday are Kyle Haustveit, seeking to become the Energy Department undersecretary, and David LaCerte, seeking reappointment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The committee won’t vote on the nominees for at least a week. After that, Pearce will face a confirmation hearing before the full Senate.
In his opening statement, Pearce drew on his experience as a Vietnam veteran and time in Congress, and recounted fighting for constituents who sought federal approval or dollars to graze their cattle nearby or clear sediment from the Blue Hole recreational spring in Santa Rosa.
“If confirmed, I fully intend to uphold these same principles as BLM Director and ensure local input is a key factor in my decision-making,” he said.
Multiple Democratic senators, including Heinrich and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), asked Pearce whether he disavowed previous statements about selling off public lands. Wyden pointed to a letter Pearce co-wrote in Congress in 2012 urging for the “disposal of some of the federal government’s vast land holdings” to prevent tax hikes.
Pearce noted that while he’s not sure his position has changed, he wrote the letter out of “sheer frustration.” He added that a “wholesale” selloff of public land is currently illegal under federal law.
Heinrich told Pearce he’d received concerned letters from local elected officials in Southern New Mexico about Pearce’s previous opposition to the 2014 designation of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument and subsequent efforts to shrink the monument’s footprint.
Pearce said he does not plan to revisit the “hotly contested issue” if confirmed as BLM director.
“I very rarely look in the rear view mirror, and especially looking at this job and the amount of work ahead of us, I don’t anticipate going back and reviewing that at the end of the day,” he said.
Pearce would take over at the BLM amid Trump’s push to increase domestic energy production, boost domestic oil and gas extraction and roll back the “Public Land Rule,” which sought to ensure conservation of public lands received due consideration along with mining, timber, grazing, recreation or other uses.
In late December, he committed to the Interior Department’s Ethic Office that he would divest within 90 days of being confirmed from several oil and gas leases he held in the Permian Basin, as well as interests in companies like gas company Chevron and chip-maker NVIDIA.
Committee Chair U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who introduced legislation last June that would have mandated the disposal of up to .75% of public lands, said at the end of the hearing that he’d received 18 letters of support for Pearce’s nomination.
He identified supporters as the Navajo Nation and the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association also previously expressed support for Pearce’s confirmation.
Environmentalist groups have continued to pressure the Senate to vote against Pearce, including in a statement following the hearing Wednesday. Mike Carroll, a campaign director for the Wilderness Society, told Source NM on Tuesday that unless he disavows his previous views on public lands, Pearce is unfit to be director.
“It’s really hard to look past that history, even if he does actually disavow being in support of selling off federal public lands,” Carroll said.
Lawsuit: Santa Fe Railyard group pressured director to sign fraudulent documents - Santa Fe New Mexican
Former Santa Fe Railyard Community Corp. Executive Director Christine Robertson has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was fired because she refused to sign fraudulent documents.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Robertson’s attorney, John Day filed the complaint in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe on Tuesday.
Robertson said the board’s executive committee “repeatedly pressured” Robertson “to sign off on and approve multiple fraudulent bank documents and sign off on fraudulent board of director corporate resolutions.”
Day is calling for the New Mexico attorney general’s office to investigate the governing board of Railyard Community Corp.
The organization manages the city-owned Railyard District.
The complaint names its executive committee members as board President Rosemary Romero, Vice President Oscar Rodriguez, Treasurer Michael Chamberlain and Ron Pacheco.
Romero told the Santa Fe New Mexican that she’s unable to comment on the accusations because the matter is a personnel issue.
Duke Rodriguez dodges eligibility challenge, as judge dismisses complaint against GOP candidate - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
Duke Rodriguez survived an attempt to bump him off the ballot, as a state judge on Tuesday dismissed a court challenge filed against the Republican gubernatorial candidate.
But the question of whether Rodriguez meets a residency requirement to hold statewide office remains unanswered — at least for now.
After hearing more than an hour of arguments, District Judge Curtis Gurley of Aztec granted a motion to dismiss the complaint filed by two Republican voters that claimed Rodriguez did not meet the residency requirement in the New Mexico Constitution.
"Our courts want the voters to decide," Gurley said while announcing his ruling that granted Rodriguez's motion to dismiss the case on technical grounds.
Rodriguez, a cannabis entrepreneur who is one of five Republicans running for governor, had described the court challenge against him as a political stunt by supporters of rival candidates.
"I don't view this as just a victory for my campaign," he said in a statement after Tuesday's ruling. "Today, New Mexicans won. They won the opportunity to get beyond the politics of the past and to fix what’s broken."
During Tuesday's hearing, Rodriguez's attorney, Jacob Candelaria, argued the plaintiffs in the case — James Maes of Navajo Lake and John Rockwell of Albuquerque — did not properly serve his client and other involved parties with a copy of the court challenge.
He also argued the requirement that candidates must have "resided continually" in the state for at least five years before being elected applies only to holding office, not for running for it, making a determination at this early stage of the campaign premature.
In addition to residency, other requirements stipulated in the state Constitution for statewide office include being a citizen of the United States and being at least 30 years old.
"Our client has met all the requirements to appear on the ballot," said Candelaria, a former state legislator who has also represented Rodriguez in other court cases.
"The court should step back and let the political process play out," he later added.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit had argued that Rodriguez's extensive voting record in Arizona made him ineligible to run for New Mexico governor this year.
Rodriguez, who owns houses in both Albuquerque and Scottsdale, Arizona, voted in both the 2022 and 2024 general elections in Arizona, where he first registered to vote in 2001, according to Maricopa County records obtained by the Journal.
However, he voted in Albuquerque's regular local election — and its runoff election — last year, and was certified as a candidate by Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver's office this month after filing the necessary paperwork.
Rodriguez, who has insisted he's eligible to run for governor, is a former state Cabinet secretary who is currently the president and CEO of Ultra Health, New Mexico's largest medical cannabis company. He has sought to portray himself as a political outsider in this year's open race, saying in recent social media videos he has been largely snubbed by current GOP leaders.
He also said a state senator aligned with one of his Republican rivals had recently tried to get him to drop out of the race for governor and run for U.S. Senate instead.
Meanwhile, Rockwell and Maes were not represented by an attorney in their court challenge and occasionally struggled with courtroom procedures during Tuesday's hearing. At one point, the judge reminded them their conversations with each other were being picked up by the courtroom's microphones and could be entered into the legal record.
While acknowledging his legal limitations, Rockwell, a former Bernalillo County Republican Party chairman, urged the judge to focus on the underlying merits of the case.
"We've got a situation where this candidate hasn't lived in the state for five years and he wants to run for governor," Rockwell said.
The lawsuit dismissed Tuesday is one of two separate petitions challenging Rodriguez's eligibility to run for governor. The other challenge was filed in the 1st Judicial District in Santa Fe by fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ellison of Cedar Crest. No hearing had been set in that case as of late Thursday, according to court records.
In addition to Rodriguez and Ellison, the three other GOP candidates vying for the party's nomination in the June 2 primary election are Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, state Sen. Steve Lanier of Aztec and small business owner Doug Turner of Albuquerque.
On the Democratic side, former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman are locked in an expensive primary showdown. Former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima had also been running for governor as a Democrat but said recently he would run instead as an independent.
This year's race for governor is open since incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. The two-term Democratic governor will step down at the end of this year.