New Mexico filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Justice and acting attorney general Todd Blanche, accusing the agency of obstructing a state criminal investigation into allegations of abuse at a property owned by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
New Mexico attorney general Raúl Torrez reopened the investigation in February after the Zorro ranch, located approximately 30 miles south of Santa Fe, was referenced extensively in recently released files related to Epstein. The lawsuit was filed after the department missed a July 31 deadline to provide investigative materials to state authorities. Torrez had previously stated he would pursue legal action if the deadline was not met.
According to the filing, the state seeks information about alleged historical abuse of girls and young women at the property. Torrez contends that materials provided by federal prosecutors consisted primarily of old news clippings and heavily redacted documents of limited investigative value. The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the department acted illegally in withholding evidence and to compel compliance with federal transparency requirements governing the Epstein files and regulations covering document requests in litigation contexts.
Epstein died in custody in New York in August 2019 while facing child sex-trafficking charges. The ranch, which he purchased in 1993, has not been subject to any confirmed federal search warrant, unlike other properties central to Epstein’s alleged criminal activities. Multiple survivors have previously provided testimony regarding abuse they experienced at the location. Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, who led the initial Epstein investigation, indicated they would not cooperate with the state’s inquiry, according to Torrez.
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