New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez set a 31 July deadline for the US Department of Justice to share information about the abuse of girls at Zorro Ranch. The US Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment by the 31 July deadline.

The US attorney’s office for the district of New Mexico stated it substantively responded to Torrez’s request on 30 June by emailing 31 documents. A spokesperson for the US attorney’s office for the district of New Mexico said some of the emailed documents were communications directing Torrez to the southern district of New York. The US attorney’s office for the district of New he stated it did not lead or handle the Zorro Ranch investigation and therefore neither collected nor retained any investigative materials.

Torrez stated that only 31 pages of documents were handed over by federal authorities. He described the provided documents as mostly old news clippings and heavily redacted pages of little use to state investigators. In a 14 July letter to Blanche, Torrez stated he would “pursue all available legal remedies without further notice” if the 31 July deadline passed.

The southern district of New York called Torrez in July to announce that it would not cooperate. He said he had heard nothing further from Blanche or the southern district of New York. He told MS Now’s the Briefing with Jen Psaki on 23 July that he was annoyed by months of stonewalling from Blanche.

“It appears that the administration has been really focused on the management of communications around the Epstein case, rather than acting in a way that demonstrates a commitment to getting to the truth and getting to accountability,” he said. He added that the federal failure to provide documents is delaying justice for survivors and complicating the criminal investigation.

“We stood down that investigation at the explicit request of the southern district of New York, and so to have them fail to honor their agreement and then not give us access to this file is extremely unusual, and it’s complicating our ability to advance this criminal investigation,” he said. He noted that Blanche has the authority right now, with the stroke of a pen, to grant access to let investigators and prosecutors look at the files, identify co-conspirators, witnesses, corroborating evidence, and identify new potential leads.

“Every day that goes by that that doesn’t happen is another day that we’ve delayed delivering justice for the survivors,” he said. He stated in an interview with KOAT that he was not ruling out a lawsuit.

Jay Clayton, the former US attorney for the southern district of New York and the director designate of national intelligence, offered a different perspective during his confirmation proceedings. Clayton noted that the documents were subject to protective orders requiring redactions to hide the identities of victims. He told Senator Martin Heinrich during a US Senate confirmation hearing that his staff were seeking dialogue with the attorney general to reach an accommodation.

Blanche told his confirmation hearing that he was continuing to work with the New Mexico department of justice. The Department of Justice was established in 1897. PureSource News previously reported that the Inspector General is investigating DOJ Epstein Files Compliance. PureSource News also previously reported that Sullivan ordered the Justice Department to release Epstein files and that the Department of Justice released 3 million Epstein pages.

Zorro Ranch is a 10,000-acre property located in desert scrub outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jeffrey Epstein purchased Zorro Ranch in 1993 from the estate of former New Mexico governor Bruce King. Recent releases of Epstein-related files included thousands of mentions of Zorro Ranch and numerous photographs of men and young girls there. No federal search of Zorro Ranch was ever confirmed to have taken place.

Torrez reopened an inquiry first launched by his predecessor Hector Balderas in February 2019. Epstein died in jail in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.

Why It Matters

The lack of federal document sharing delays justice for survivors and complicates New Mexico's criminal investigation into abuse at Zorro Ranch. State officials halted their initial inquiry at the explicit request of federal prosecutors, who now refuse to cooperate or provide unredacted files. This impasse prevents investigators from identifying co-conspirators, witnesses, and new leads, leaving a dormant case unresolved despite evidence linking the property to Epstein.