New Mexico Sues Blanche Over ‘Withholding’ Epstein Files
New Mexico is asking a federal judge to compel the Justice Department to release files related to abuse allegations at Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch, accusing the agency and acting attorney general Todd Blanche in a lawsuit Wednesday of “stonewalling” its investigation.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a press release announcing the lawsuit the “delay is actively hurting our criminal investigation and delaying justice Epstein survivors deserve.”
Publicly released Epstein files include more than 13,000 references to Zorro Ranch and 5,000 references to New Mexico, along with evidence of “grooming, trafficking, sexual abuse and other misconduct tied to the property,” Torrez’s office said.
The Justice Department agreed in 2019 to cooperate with New Mexico if the state tabled its investigation into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch until after the Justice Department’s probe was complete, the lawsuit says, alleging state prosecutors have “faced sustained resistance to the type of information-sharing that has been routine from USDOJ under prior administrations of both political parties.”
Among the materials New Mexico has requested from the DOJ is a document “that alleges the burial of two female victims in the land surrounding Zorro Ranch” and other records that refer to Epstein’s “‘inner circle,’ to visitors to Zorro Ranch, and to staff of Zorro Ranch, some of whom are alleged to have participated in abuse or witnessed the circumstances surrounding abuse.”
Torrez’s office is asking the court to declare the Justice Department’s refusal to provide the records as unlawful and order the agency to provide access to the unredacted materials.
Torrez said he has made “repeated, documented, good-faith efforts” to obtain the records, including in a July 14 letter in which he warned his office would “pursue all available legal remedies” if the Justice Department didn’t provide the documents by July 31.
The lawsuit comes as President Donald Trump is seeking the Senate’s approval to make Blanche permanent attorney general. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced his nomination in a 12-10 party line vote after he secured support from two Republican holdouts on the committee whose support was contingent on Blanche agreeing in writing to kill the so-called anti-weaponization fund to pay Jan. 6 rioters. His confirmation faces more uncertainty before the full Senate, however, as at least one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she will vote against him and two others have not said how they will vote. With Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., absent and Collins’ defection, he can afford to lose only one more Republican vote. Blanche met with Epstein survivors last month after Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., insisted he do so to earn his vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Trump administration has faced ongoing criticism over its handling of the Epstein files after refusing to release the documents, despite Trump’s campaign promises that he would. Congress passed and Trump then signed a law requiring them to be made public, but the agency missed the initial deadline set to release the files in their entirety and many of the documents were heavily redacted or failed to redact some victim information. The Justice Department has made no indication it plans to pursue additional prosecutions related to Epstein. Blanche has defended the agency’s handling of the Epstein case, telling senators in his confirmation hearings it was a "herculean task” to release the files by Congress’ deadline, while admitting “any mistake that we made should not have been made” regarding the agency’s failure to redact some victim information.