New Mexico has sued the US Department of Justice and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, accusing federal officials of obstructing a renewed criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s activities at Zorro Ranch.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in Washington, DC, followed the department’s apparent failure to meet a July 31 deadline for providing records concerning alleged abuse at the property.
Attorney General Raul Torrez reopened the state investigation in February after recently released Epstein files contained more than 13,000 references to the ranch and about 5,000 references to New Mexico.
He argues that unredacted federal records could help investigators identify victims, witnesses and additional criminal conduct connected to the 10,000-acre property south of Santa Fe.
The Justice Department has said privacy law prevents it from providing state officials with unredacted documents.
The US attorney’s office in New Mexico also said it substantively responded to Torrez’s request by sending 31 documents on June 30.
Torrez countered that the material largely consisted of old news reports and heavily redacted pages offering little value to investigators.
His complaint seeks a court declaration that the department acted illegally by withholding evidence.
It also asks the court to order compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and federal regulations governing requests for official documents during litigation.
New Mexico first opened an investigation into Zorro Ranch in February 2019 but later paused it at the request of federal prosecutors pursuing their own Epstein case.
According to the lawsuit, federal authorities never searched the ranch or took sufficient steps to preserve potential evidence there.
Epstein owned the property from 1993 until his death in a New York jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges.
Survivors previously reported sexual and physical abuse at the ranch, while photographs released in the Epstein files showed men and young girls at the property.
The ranch was sold in August 2023 and is now owned by businessman and former Texas state senator Don Huffines.
Torrez maintains that continued delays are hindering the state investigation and prolonging survivors’ pursuit of justice.
The Justice Department was contacted for comment on the latest filing.