New Mexico’s attorney general on Thursday ordered the reopening of the state’s criminal investigation into alleged crimes at a ranch owned by late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, based on new information made public by the US Justice Department, the state Department of Justice said.
The US Justice Department on Jan. 30 released millions of Epstein-related files in the latest disclosure shedding new light on the financier’s criminal activities in New Mexico over three decades.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez ordered the investigation into Epstein’s ranch south of the state capital, Santa Fe, to be reopened after his predecessor, fellow Democrat Hector Balderas, closed it in 2019 to avoid overlap with federal probes. Pressure to uncover Epstein’s crimes has become a political headache for President Donald Trump, a Republican.
“Revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination,” New Mexico Department of Justice spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez said in a statement.
The renewed probe comes two days after New Mexico’s Democratic-controlled legislature launched what lawmakers described as the first comprehensive investigation into Epstein’s alleged crimes at Zorro Ranch, which is 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Santa Fe.
Lawmakers have opened a committee that will take testimony at the statehouse. The investigation announced Thursday is a separate criminal probe led by the state’s top prosecutor.
As part of the criminal investigation, special agents and prosecutors will seek immediate access to the US Justice Department’s complete, unredacted case file on Epstein and work collaboratively with the legislature’s investigative committee, Rodriguez said.
The criminal investigation will include the “collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available,” she added.
The US Justice Department and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.
Zorro Ranch was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023 to Texas businessman and politician Don Huffines. A spokesperson for Huffines said the owners had never been approached by law enforcement requesting access to the ranch but would “grant full and complete cooperation” if they were.
In a social media post Monday, Huffines said he planned to turn the ranch into a Christian retreat.
The New Mexico Department of Justice said Wednesday it was investigating an allegation that emerged from the Justice Department release that Epstein ordered the burial of the bodies of two foreign girls on hills outside Zorro Ranch.