The FBI received a tip that two girls were buried at Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch – and sat on it for six years.
This week, New Mexico lawmakers released the first official government account of what happened at that ranch.
What they found in those files – and who they named – is why the DOJ just got sued.
Jeffrey Epstein Ran Zorro Ranch for 26 Years Without a Single Law Enforcement Search
New Mexico lawmakers formed a bipartisan Survivors' Truth Commission earlier this year to investigate what Jeffrey Epstein did at his Zorro Ranch outside of Santa Fe – and what law enforcement failed to do about it.
The interim report released August 5 – 119 pages long – is the first time any government has ever documented what Epstein did at Zorro Ranch.
Federal agents never set foot on the 7,600-acre property while Epstein was alive.
The FBI never opened a criminal investigation focused on sex trafficking at the ranch.
New Mexico launched its own probe in early 2019 – then federal prosecutors led by James Comey’s daughter in New York asked the state to stand down, took the evidence, and that was the end of it.
A convicted sex offender ran a $7 million-a-year operation with 50 employees under strict nondisclosure agreements for over two decades – and American law enforcement never looked.
The commission confirmed sexual abuse of at least five women and girls at Zorro Ranch between 1996 and 2012, identifying them as Jane Does 1 through 5.
One victim was groomed at the ranch beginning in 1996 with an "unsolicited topless massage."
Another was flown to the property at 15 years old in 2004 and "sexually molested for many hours."
Jane Doe 4 claims she was coerced at the ranch to have sex with Epstein and his associates – and names Bill Richardson, the Democrat governor who died in 2023, as one of those associates.
Richardson denied any wrongdoing before his death.
The commission believes at least 30 additional individuals were abused at the property – but cannot confirm their identities until the DOJ releases the unredacted files.
The DOJ Took New Mexico's Epstein Evidence in 2019 and Never Gave It Back
In July 2019, federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York contacted New Mexico's attorney general and made a deal.
New Mexico would stand down and hand over everything it had gathered.
In exchange, SDNY promised to refer all state-related matters back to New Mexico once the federal case concluded.
New Mexico did exactly what SDNY asked. Federal prosecutors in New York took the evidence and went silent.
Former New Mexico AG Hector Balderas confirmed the deal and what happened next: SDNY staff never contacted New Mexico after their case concluded.
"It's totally bizarre," Balderas told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "I sent a letter in 2020 saying, 'Hey guys, I don't know.'"
No one ever wrote back.
Those same career SDNY prosecutors – the ones who made that deal when Democrats ran Washington – are still ignoring subpoenas from the Truth Commission today.
Seven subpoenas from the commission were refused or ignored – including requests for Epstein's flight records and the evidence New Mexico handed SDNY six years ago.
New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez filed a federal lawsuit naming acting AG Todd Blanche – but the obstruction predates Blanche by years, and the evidence is being held by career SDNY prosecutors who were there under Obama and Biden.
"Todd Blanche today with a stroke of a pen could grant us the access that he claimed," Torrez said.
The publicly released Epstein files contain more than 13,000 references to Zorro Ranch and 5,000 references to New Mexico – and the unredacted version has never been turned over.
Bill Clinton and Bill Richardson Both Flew on Jeffrey Epstein's Private Plane
Epstein's chief pilot logged over 1,000 flights across 28 years on the job – and the confirmed passenger list includes former President Bill Clinton and former Democrat Governor Bill Richardson, who flew on Epstein's aircraft five times.
Epstein was a convicted sex offender who legally could not possess firearms – and he maintained an active shooting range at the ranch loaded with weapons he had no legal right to own.
Nobody checked.
Democrat-connected men flew in and out of Zorro Ranch for two decades while law enforcement stood down – and the files that could expose them are still sitting in a federal office in New York.
The commission's final report is due in December – and for the 30-plus potential victims still buried in redacted files, it cannot come fast enough.
Sources:
- Bethany Blankley, "New Mexico Truth Commission: Minors Groomed, Abused at Epstein Ranch," The Center Square, August 6, 2026.
- "New Mexico Sues Federal Government for Release of Epstein Files," Fox News, August 6, 2026.
- "DOJ Has Blocked New Mexico's Epstein Ranch Investigation Since 2019," Daily Caller News Foundation, July 2026.
- New Mexico Department of Justice, "Former AG Balderas: New Mexico and SDNY Struck a Deal on Epstein in 2019 – the Federal Government Never Held Up Its End," Press Release, July 2026.
