Investigations into Epstein’s mysterious New Mexico ranch add pressure on the Justice Department

By Kaanita Iyer, MJ Lee, CNN

(CNN) — Investigations into alleged crimes that took place at Jeffrey Epstein’s former New Mexico ranch appear to be ramping up, adding even more pressure to the Justice Department and its acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, over how they handled matters related to the late child sex offender.

New Mexico’s Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit Wednesday over what Torrez described as the DOJ’s “hiding information about Epstein and his co-conspirators” and “stonewalling” the state’s investigation. The suit came on the same day that the state’s so-called “Truth Commission” – led by four members of the state’s House of Representatives – released an interim report vowing to “uncover the truth so many for too long were blind to.”

“New Mexico is one of few jurisdictions that still may have an opportunity to hold Epstein’s associates accountable or otherwise provide some sense of justice to survivors,” Torrez wrote in Wednesday’s lawsuit. He added: “Federal inaction does not merely stall the investigation; it prolongs and compounds the suffering of survivors.”

The Truth Commission’s interim report released Wednesday said that “all records that the DOJ are withholding subject to the EFTA (Epstein Files Transparency Act) should be released.”

Both Torrez’s lawsuit and the commission’s report add to the drumbeat of criticism over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein case – at a moment when Blanche, the agency’s point person on all things Epstein, is working to mollify senators and secure his confirmation to be President Trump’s next attorney general.

Blanche’s nomination passed a key hurdle Tuesday as it advanced out of a committee for a full Senate vote, but he can now only lose two GOP votes to win confirmation.

The Justice Department, in a statement to CNN, said that it is not required to share the unredacted files and that victims’ privacy outweighs the request.

“New Mexico has provided no lawful basis to justify such sweeping disclosures,” a Justice Department spokesperson said.

When CNN asked Torrez to respond to that statement in a press conference Wednesday, he said: “To pretend that they cannot modify a protective order or to pretend that they are suddenly concerned with survivors’ rights and interests when they have failed to demonstrate that in the past – I think that that doesn’t have any real credibility.”

Appearing on CNN with Jake Tapper later in the day, Torrez pushed back on Blanche’s comments during a July Senate confirmation hearing, in which he said, “we’re continuing to work” with the New Mexico Justice Department.

“The truth is they’ve never cooperated with us,” Torrez said.

A group of survivors applauded Torrez’s efforts late Wednesday, saying in a statement:

“The DOJ’s argument that it won’t hand over files in order to protect survivors’ identities is laughable, when the DOJ has already revealed their names and personal information. By holding onto these files, Todd Blanche’s DOJ is simply continuing to protect abusers,” the statement from survivors said.

Signs of tension between parallel probes

Updates from both the attorney general’s office and the Truth Commission coming on the same day also raise questions about potential conflicts and tension between the two bodies ostensibly working toward the shared goal of investigating Epstein’s Zorro Ranch. The commission’s interim report says that it is “currently engaged in negotiations” with the New Mexico’s DOJ about an agreement on information-sharing, and that the panel is proposing that the two entities “coordinate and collaborate when conducting interviews and depositions of victims, witnesses, and other persons.”

However, the report notes: “At this time, the Commission and NMDOJ have been unable to reach an agreement.”

In recent conversations with CNN, Epstein survivors have expressed confusion about the two parallel investigations and whether the two bodies are working in tandem.

Congress forced the DOJ to release millions of files related to Epstein with the passage of a bipartisan bill late last year, but the released files include heavy and, in some cases, bungled redactions – which resulted in revealing victims’ information – prompting even more criticism from lawmakers and survivors. DOJ’s internal watchdog is reviewing the redaction process.

Last month, in a scathing letter to Blanche, Torrez accused the DOJ of withholding access to un-redacted files and argued that the lack of cooperation is preventing the state from bringing justice to survivors.

Among the trove of files related to Epstein that the DOJ released earlier this year was an unverified allegation in a 2019 email to a local radio host that “somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G.” According to Wednesday’s lawsuit, the files released by the DOJ included “over 13,000 references to Zorro Ranch and 5,000 references to New Mexico as locations where victims were trafficked, groomed, and assaulted.”

The Truth Commission’s interim report does not draw any conclusions or make investigative recommendations, emphasizing that the panel’s work is ongoing. The bulk of the 119-page report is based on Epstein files already released by the Justice Department. The panel said it is still actively soliciting information and tips from survivors, witnesses and other members of the public, and that it may attempt to obtain sworn testimony from certain witnesses.

The report also lays out several broad areas of interest for the commission beyond Epstein’s alleged abuse of girls and women at Zorro Ranch. They include “Epstein’s interest in eugenics and transhumanism, as well as reports that he facilitated forced impregnation and non-consensual medical procedures,” according to the report – a reminder that the Zorro Ranch has been the source of conspiracy theories and speculation.

For example, the report references an alleged tip that the FBI received in 2019 that said “two dead bodies” were buried at the ranch. “That information, through testimony of former Attorney General Hector Balderas, revealed that tip was never provided to his office at the time it was given to the FBI,” the report says. “The validity of the claim is unknown, nor is its source known.”

To date, the commission has issued subpoenas to 20 institutions or agencies – half of which have been in “full compliance,” according to Wednesday’s report, resulting in over 100,000 records.

Some Epstein survivors, including Chauntae Davies and the late Virginia Giuffre, have said the Zorro Ranch was one of the places where they were sexually assaulted. Another Epstein survivor, Rachel Benavidez, spoke at the Truth Commission’s hearing on Wednesday and said Epstein victims were tired of waiting for accountability.

In February, Torrez reopened the state’s criminal investigation into the property, which he said closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors.

The same month, the state’s legislature passed a measure to create the Truth Commission to also investigate Zorro Ranch. Since then, the commission has since held several public meetings and issued multiple subpoenas, including to several US attorneys offices, as well as the offices of Torrez and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, for information.

On Wednesday, the commission announced several additional subpoenas, including to the Ten Thousand Waves Spa in Santa Fe, which is referenced in the Epstein files.

This story has been updated.

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