New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez reopened an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous Zorro Ranch last month, more than six years after U.S. federal prosecutors shut it down. The decision was made after Torrez’s office reviewed U.S. Department of Justice information and found that “revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination.”
In July of 2019, NM Attorney General Hector Balderas announced an investigation into Epstein’s 7,600-acre ranch located 30 miles south of Santa Fe. The announcement came a week after Epstein was arrested in New York and charged with federal sex trafficking. Balderas said his office had interviewed possible Epstein victims who had visited Zorro Ranch and that he had been in touch with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.
Federal prosecutors then asked Balderas to halt his office’s investigation into the ranch, which it did. Balderas said New Mexico provided police reports, recorded witness interviews and other investigative records to federal prosecutors in New York. His agency was told prosecutors didn’t want the “risks of parallel investigations creating inconsistent statements” that could potentially be exploited by defense attorneys.
At the time, Balderas said he understood N.Y. prosecutors would share relevant information with his office but frustratingly, cooperation between the two agencies “was a one-way relationship.” “We provided information to them to strengthen their prosecution,” said Balderas. “They were making the representation that they were going to prosecute with a multijurisdictional, multistate focus.”
The New Mexico investigative documents do not appear to be among the Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice. “In light of the recent disclosures, I remain very concerned that they did not disclose or share more information that they had in their possession,” said Balderas of federal investigators, calling prosecutors’ unwillingness to work with state investigators “a tactical mistake.”
In 2020, Balderas’ office also sent a letter to federal prosecutors urging them to seize control of Zorro Ranch to preserve evidence, offering to assist with serving search warrants at the ranch. “We believe that this ranch was used by Epstein and others to facilitate the commission and prolonged concealment of his trafficking of children, such that seizure may be pursued in conjunction with the pending criminal prosecution of Epstein’s associates and co-conspirators,” stated the letter. Balderas said he never received a response and has no reason to believe prosecutors acted on the requests.
Current NM Attorney General Torrez has not received any correspondence from N.Y. federal prosecutors since he took office in January of 2023. That year Epstein’s estate sold the ranch to real estate mogul and current Texas Comptroller candidate Don Huffines for an undisclosed sum.
Zorro Ranch was valued at more than $21 million in 2023, according to Santa Fe County, but Huffines’ San Rafael Ranch LLC, the owner of record, filed a complaint in 2024 arguing for a tax reduction and alleging the property was only worth $9 million. The Santa Fe County Assessor reduced its value to $13.4 million later that year.
The ranch appears thousands of times in the Epstein files and was used to host an elite class of guests including former NM Governor Bill Richardson, Andrew Montbatten-Windsor, Woody Allen, Robert Redford, Reid Hoffman, Joi Ito and Peter Thiel.
In addition to the alleged sex trafficking horrors and eugenics and DNA experiments that took place at the ranch, the Epstein files also reveal that the dead pedophile had petroglyphs moved from areas of the property to the yard surrounding his nearly 30,000-square-foot mansion. The petroglyphs, estimated to be hundreds of years old, are part of a geological formation known as El Creston located on the ranch property.
“The destruction and removal of petroglyphs and cultural sites at Zorro Ranch is deeply troubling, yet not surprising considering what has come to light about Jeffrey Epstein,” said Joey Sanchez, chair of the All Pueblo Council of Governors. “These sites hold profound significance as part of the living history of the Pueblos across the Southwest, reflecting the enduring connection between our people and the land.”
As House Democrats call for Attorney General Pam Bondi’s impeachment over the handling of the Epstein files, it’s important to look at how and why the investigations have gotten so botched. Geoffrey Berman was the U.S. Attorney for the District of Southern New York who prosecuted Epstein. A Republican, Berman was appointed during President Trump’s first term until he was fired by Trump AG Bill Barr in 2020. He was replaced by his deputy, Audrey Strauss, who served into the Biden administration until 2021.
Strauss led the investigation and prosecution of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Damian Williams then took over the position under Biden’s administration, followed by a series of acting directors. Trump appointed Jay Clayton to the position in April of 2025.
It would appear that not one of those federal prosecutors pursued the state of New Mexico’s evidence and reports related to Epstein and Zorro Ranch. Just as bi-partisan U.S. Attorney Generals and FBI directors have also failed to investigate what increasingly appears to be a massive global political coverup of organized crime, money laundering and drug and human trafficking.