New Mexico’s AG says DOJ is stonewalling probe of Epstein ranch

US admin July 10, 2026 0 Comments

New Mexico’s AG says DOJ is stonewalling probe of Epstein ranch — again

New Mexico’s top law enforcement official is fed up and claiming that the Justice Department — effectively acting at the behest of President Donald Trump — is obstructing an investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s former ranch.

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On Thursday, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sent a letter to acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche — a former Trump defense attorney who has sought to prevent further release of the Epstein files. Torrez criticized the DOJ for failing to turn over records he requested that might shine light on the estate, known as Zorro Ranch.

New Mexico lawmakers and authorities opened investigations into Zorro Ranch and Epstein’s other ties to the state after a document released by the DOJ earlier this year outlined an allegation that the late convicted sex offender had the bodies of two women buried near the estate. The ranch reportedly was also where Epstein envisioned launching an effort to populate the planet with children bearing his genes, though there’s no evidence thus far that he acted on the eugenicist plan.

The ranch has recently garnered controversy for Texas Republican Don Huffines, whose family purchased the ranch. Amid backlash, Huffines has vowed to turn the estate into a Christian camp.

In his letter, :

Without complete and prompt access to relevant unredacted records held by the United States Department of Justice (“USDOJ”), survivors of serious criminal conduct at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico are being denied justice. That harm is a direct consequence of the USDOJ’s continued failure to comply with the NMDOJ’s outstanding records request.

Torrez, who threatened to pursue a state court subpoena if necessary, also warned that the DOJ is causing “real and escalating harm” to his office’s investigation:

Every day that the USDOJ withholds these records, the foundation upon which a New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes. Witnesses relocate and become unreachable. Memories, already strained by years of trauma, fade further. Physical and documentary evidence degrades, is lost, or is rendered more difficult to authenticate with the passage of time.

In a statement, a spokesperson said the DOJ “substantively responded last month” to requests from Torrez’s office, adding: “The DOJ reiterates that it welcomes New Mexico undertaking additional investigation of the Zorro Ranch and stands ready to provide necessary assistance with New Mexico’s investigation.”

Torrez’s letter refers to a request the U.S. Justice Department made during Trump’s first term in 2019, in which it asked New Mexico’s Justice Department to suspend its investigation.

“The NMDOJ’s investigation was effectively suspended by federal request in 2019, its file released to federal authorities, and its survivors left without an accounting of what occurred in New Mexico,” the letter says. “The USDOJ now holds in its possession the very records that would allow the NMDOJ to resume what federal intervention interrupted.”

Even Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., sounded suspicious of the DOJ’s request earlier this year, during a Fox News interview.

“There’s just so many questions about how the government failed the victims and how government failed in trying to prosecute Epstein sooner,” the House Oversight Committee chairman said. “I mean, this whole thing doesn’t make sense.”

On this point, it seems Comer and Torrez agree. And the context of the Trump administration’s desperate push to sweep the Epstein files under the rug — along with the president’s numerous appearances in them — can’t be ignored here.

Trump has said the country needs to move on, even as questions remain about his and his allies’ ties to Epstein. Bombshell reporting from The New York Times recently spotlighted his administration’s panicked efforts to gain control of the narrative. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Now, New Mexico’s attorney general is basically throwing down the gauntlet — and challenging the administration in a way that only stands to bring the Epstein controversy back to the fore.