The Democratic frontrunner in the race for New Mexico’s next governor once rode on a private jet linked to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, newly-released emails reveal.
Deb Haaland was a passenger, along with then-New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Gary King and three others, on the chartered plane in 2014 to attend a meeting in Washington, DC.
At the time, Haaland was running for lieutenant governor.
Epstein — who pled guilty in 2008 to one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18 — had arranged for the jet on behalf of King, according to the emails.
“Please call Gary King when you have a moment… He said he was returning your call but also wanted to speak to you about possibly using your plane to get him from Santa Fe evening of Sept 8th (around 8pm) so he could make a breakfast in DC on Sept. 9th,” an email to Epstein reads.
A flight information sheet shows that the jet was chartered by JEGE LLC — a company connected to Epstein and registered to his island in the Virgin Islands.
Haaland, the former Secretary of the US Department of the Interior, denied knowing the plane had ties to the sicko, who killed himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City while awaiting sex trafficking charges in 2019.
“Deb never had any interaction with him and the way in which the plane was chartered was never communicated to her,” Hannah Menchhoff told The Post.
“Jeffrey Epstein is a despicable predator who committed heinous crimes and Deb strongly supports a full investigation into the crimes committed both in New Mexico and abroad.”
Haaland is currently leading in the polls in the New Mexico governor’s race.
King, however, had a history with Epstein. In 1993, his father and former New Mexico Governor, Bruce King, sold the Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County to the disgraced financier.
State officials recently announced their reopening of the investigation into Epstein’s lesser-known property for alleged criminal activity.
Despite asking Epstein to coordinate a jet, King told reporters on September 9, 2014 — the day after he flew on it — that he would return $35,600 in campaign contributions from companies associated with Epstein because it’s “the right thing to do,” according to reporting from the Santa Fe New Mexican.
“Mr. Epstein purchased a parcel of ranch land and built a very large house there a few years later. This would be the reason I knew who Mr. Epstein was,” King told The Post. “In all the years since the sale, I have not been on the property or in the house that was built.”
Emails also show King met with Epstein in New Mexico back in August of 2010 — two years after he pled guilty to soliciting prostitution.
“Gary King’s assistant called and said Mr King can meet with you this Saturday in Santa Fe,” according to the email.
King clarified his association with Epstein, telling The Post that he only personally met with the pedophile financier one time when he offered to express his condolences for the passing of his father.
“We reminisced about what a great man my father was and how much my father was respected by his peers in NM [New Mexico] and nationally,” King said. “I believe we also discussed Mr. Epstein’s relationship with the Santa Fe Institute,” adding that nothing else was discussed during the hour and a half long meeting.
As for leasing the private jet, King said it was his campaign organization, The Committee to Elect Gary King, that chartered the plane, and he “would not have personally reached out to Mr. Epstein or affiliated businesses asking to use his airplane any time in 2014.”
“To the best of my knowledge, none of the contacts identified themselves as working for Mr. Epstein,” King said.
“If I had known in advance that the jet ‘belonged’ to Mr. Epstein, I would have asked my campaign to contract with a different company.”
