New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Thursday released a letter sent to U.S Department of Justice officials contending the federal agency has delayed release of multiple records related to the state’s criminal investigation of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s activities at his Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe.
The June 30 letter asserts that the heavily redacted “open-source” records establish multiple survivors brought to Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County “on numerous occasions, where they were subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation.” Moreover, those records, Torrez writes, show that the USDOJ has records that contain the names of survivors, witnesses, co-conspirators and others the New Mexico Department of Justice needs to “fulfill its obligation to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct” that occurred in the state. Thus far, he says, New Mexico’s efforts to “obtain these materials through cooperative means have been extensive” and unsuccessful, with more than 130 days passing since the AG’s initial request.
“Every day that the USDOJ withholds these records, the foundation upon which a New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes,” Torrez writes. “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.”
A USDOJ spokesperson provided a statement to Source NM that said the agency “substantively responded last month to requests from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. 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. Should that investigation uncover potential federal crimes, the DOJ will work closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate and, as appropriate, prosecute.”
Torrez reopened an investigation into Epstein’s activities in the state in February, and his office noted at the time that it had been previously closed at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, a point his new letter restates, noting the NMDOJ’s “urgent need for this information is a direct result” of complying “in good faith” with that request.
The letter concludes by saying the New Mexico AG will expect the requested records by the end of July or consider its request denied.