New Mexico has had enough of the federal runaround on Jeffrey Epstein’s secrets. On Wednesday the state’s attorney general hauled the Justice Department and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche into federal court, demanding the full, unredacted files that could finally expose what really happened at the predator’s sprawling Zorro Ranch.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed the 40-page complaint in Washington, accusing the DOJ of “stonewalling” a legitimate state criminal investigation into trafficking, abuse, and worse on New Mexico soil.
Publicly released Epstein material already contains more than 13,000 references to Zorro Ranch and roughly 5,000 to the state itself. Torrez says the redactions are blocking the identification of victims, witnesses, staff, and members of Epstein’s inner circle who may still face state charges.
“New Mexico has a duty to protect survivors and investigate crimes committed in our state so that perpetrators can be held accountable,” Torrez said.
He continued, “We asked the Department of Justice to cooperate by providing access to records that may be critical to identifying victims, witnesses, and additional criminal conduct at Zorro Ranch. Their delay is actively hurting our criminal investigation and delaying justice Epstein survivors deserve.”
The lawsuit claims New Mexico is one of the few jurisdictions still positioned to deliver any justice. Federal prosecutors never even searched the ranch. Now the state is trying to finish the job and is being blocked at every turn.
Torrez told reporters his office has made at least ten formal requests since reopening the probe in February. Informal outreach was met with promises of cooperation, then instructions to file Touhy requests—only for those to be rejected. A July 14 letter warned that legal action would follow if the materials were not produced by July 31. They were not.
Hellbound and Down 