Overview
- New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez formally told Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche that the Justice Department is withholding unredacted Epstein-related files the state requested and that the delays are causing “real and escalating harm.”
- The state reopened a criminal probe of Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in February and searched the property in March, but Torrez says more than 130 days have passed since his office first sought full records needed to identify survivors, witnesses, and possible co-conspirators.
- The DOJ says it “substantively responded” to New Mexico’s request in June and expresses willingness to assist the state, but Torrez’s June 30 letter made public on Thursday accuses the agency of failing to grant meaningful access.
- A bipartisan New Mexico Survivor’s Truth Commission has issued about 20 subpoenas to federal agencies, banks and others and reports some federal non-responses while preparing an interim report due July 31.
- The dispute follows heavy redactions in millions of Epstein-related files released after the Epstein Files Transparency Act and has drawn congressional scrutiny and an internal DOJ watchdog review, a dynamic that could affect evidence, witness access, and potential prosecutions.