The Justice Department seems to be taking a renewed glance at trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch, which was largely ignored when investigations began in 2019.
The Guardian reported Monday that the recent disclosure of documents from the DOJ showed added attention to the so-called Zorro Ranch. The sprawling property is one of the many sites believed to be where Epstein abused underage girls. At no point has the federal government conducted a search.
That isn't to say that New Mexico wasn't on the feds' radar.
Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas told The Guardian, “In spring 2019, our office investigated activity in New Mexico that was still viable for prosecution, including contact with multiple victims."
“During that time, the US attorney’s office in New York asked us to pause any further state investigation or prosecution related to Epstein, informing us that they were already conducting an active multijurisdictional prosecution,” Balderas said. “We shared all our reports and interviews to ensure they had all investigative leads and respected their request to refrain from further parallel investigation. We kept the matter open, investigated Epstein’s land leases, and continued offering our legal resources to the DoJ for further prosecution.”
He noted that neither the main DOJ nor the New York office shared anything with them. Instead, New Mexico stepped back from its investigation.
One Dec 2019 email captured a federal prosecutor telling a lawyer for Epstein’s estate co-executors that they had “not searched the New Mexico property."
Balderas told The Guardian that his office asked federal authorities “to use any available asset forfeiture tools to seize the ranch” in 2020.
“We expect to have additional information to share about our investigation as it continues to progress,” a spokesperson for the current state attorney general told The Guardian.
The brother of the victim, Virginia Giuffre, Sky Roberts, gathered a crowd outside the ranch over the weekend to demand more be done to expose those who worked with Epstein to traffic and exploit the girls, reported KOAT.
"It's a little surreal," Roberts said. "It's very important that we show that we're here in unity, and we're not going away. Whether it's on the Capitol steps or we get to come to New Mexico, we're going to do it. These survivors deserve it. This is about so much more than the survivors."
It's unclear whether the interest in Zorro Ranch was prompted by New Mexico's decision to begin its own investigation into the ranch. The New York Times reported on March 1 that in February, state officials formed a "truth coalition" with bipartisan state legislative members eager to probe the history of the ranch.
"We got word that this was happening about two days ago and we knew we had to be here," Amanda Roberts told KOAT during the weekend protest. "We're so proud of New Mexico, the citizens of New Mexico, the legislators that have pushed for this investigation. It sets the tone for the rest of the United States, and we're backing every single survivor who has suffered in silence. We're here for Virginia."
“Not only has it been overshadowed, it’s been completely ignored,” argued Albuquerque radio D.J. Eddy Aragon, who has spent years investigating Epstein.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the new owner, Republican Texas businessman and former state Sen. Don Huffines, was ordered to immediately stop renovations after the ranch was purchased. Huffines is currently running for state comptroller in Texas. Construction has already begun on what he plans to turn into a Christian retreat; however, it appears he hasn't filed for any permits with the state or local governments.
Among the 3 million documents released by the Justice Department in the past months, one individual contacted federal authorities on Nov. 25, 2019, “to report an email he received offering 7 videos of sexual abuse and the location of two foreign girls buried on Zorro Ranch." An FBI report doesn't appear on the tip until Oct. 2021.
Aragon has been talking about the allegations about women buried on the ranch for years, noting that he, too, got an email from a source in 2019 offering the information for money. He said that he forwarded the email to the FBI.
The Guardian spoke with New Mexico defense attorney John Day, who explained that there are some challenges to getting a search warrant for the property seven years after the death of Epstein. However, former Sen. Huffines indicated he was cooperating, so it is doubtful he would block any effort to search all 7,500 acres, which would amount to just under 12 square miles.
Day said that given the length of time that has passed, it might be difficult to find much evidence.
He said that the first steps would be in sifting through "the human side" of the investigation, meaning anyone who could have worked on the ranch. The other key investigation would be to search all the Epstein documents for any mention of "New Mexico" or individuals with zip codes in the state.
New Mexico's Department of Justice emailed the U.S. DOJ asking for another version of the email indicating girls might be buried at the ranch. The state DOJ also spoke with Stephanie Garcia Richard, New Mexico’s state land commissioner, about agricultural leases that Epstein's ranch had for more than 25 years.
