← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
New Mexico Investigators Still Waiting for Epstein Records (7/13/26)
00:11:58
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of obstructing his office’s renewed criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch by withholding unredacted federal records. Torrez said more than 130 days...
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
A
What's up, everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're gonna head back down to New Mexico and get an update on the battle between the state of New Mexico and the federal government over Epstein files that are in the possession of the DOJ that New Mexico has subpoenaed. And Attorney General Raul Torres is saying that the DOJ doesn't want to play ball. And now this is building on what we talked about previously, about how the DOJ didn't want to turn these documents over and how they were dragging their feet. And I think it's also worthy to note that Pam Bondi was fired two days, roughly two days after the DOJ agreed to turn over this documentation to New Mexico. So is that part of why Pam Bondi was fired? I don't know. Maybe. But one thing's for damn sure, the DOJ is not interested in turning this information over to New Mexico. So today we have an article from the International Business Times and the headline, trump administration accused by New Mexico of blocking crucial Jeffrey Epstein Ranch files. This article was authored by Christelle May Napiza. New Mexico's top prosecutor says the Trump administration is running out the clock on justice for Jeffrey Epstein's victims. Attorney General Raul Torres published a letter on July 9 accusing the U. S. Department of justice of stonewalling his state's criminal investigation into Epstein Zorro Ranch. The letter, sent to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and dated June 30, 2026, says more than 130 days have passed since New Mexico first requested unredacted records. The Justice Department disputes the characterization, saying it stands ready to help. Then what are you waiting for? If you're so ready to help, why don't you just help everything? They say the messaging that comes out of the DOJ is it doesn't match with the reality on the ground. They talk all this nonsense and none of it lines up, none of it pans out, and it turns into nothing more than another hustle. Torres letter states plainly that access to the requested records has not been granted. No substantive response has been provided, and more than 130 days have now elapsed since the NMDOJ's initial request. He calls that delay unreasonable under any rule of reason. And I agree. If the DOJ is so transparent and they're so interested in transparency, well, here's an idea. Start being transparent. But that seems to be a little bit too difficult for them. So much so that we had to have a freaking law put on the books to make them Comply? Does that sound like the most transparent administration, who or doj in history? His office reopened the Zorro ranch investigation in February 2026 after federal authorities released a batch of Epstein related files. Some of those documents concern the ranch, which Epstein owned in Santa fe County from 1993 until his death in 2019, and where he is alleged to have hosted trafficking victims. Yeah, there's no allegations. That's what happened. It's not if it happened. It's to what extent and how many people were abused and how many people in New Mexico knew. That's really the question at this point. If we want to bring people to account and we want people to be held responsible for whatever roles they may have played, then that's what you go after. Who knew who enabled it, and who looked the other way for personal gain? According to Torres letter published in full by the New Mexico Department of Justice, heavily redacted open source records already established that multiple survivors were brought to Zorro Ranch on numerous occasions where they were subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation. He says the unredacted versions in federal custody hold the names of survivors, witnesses, co conspirators and other individuals that New Mexico investigators need to build a case. And that all fits. I just have a hard time believing that the DOJ would be a roadblocker unless they have something to hide or unless they're protecting somebody. But that would never happen. Right? That's just a big old conspiracy theory. New Mexico's probe is not new. Then Attorney General Hector Balderas attempted to investigate Zorro ranch in 2019, only for federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to ask the state to stand down while they pursued their own case against Epstein. Which is just bs. There should have been concurrent investigations going on in these states. People like Mr. Balderas, he owed that to the residents of New Mexico. Right. I'm gonna punt and let the feds take care of this. What? There's allegations of a trafficking ring down in Stanley, New Mexico, and you're punting to the feds? Here's an idea. Why don't you treat those accusations and those rumors the same way you would if somebody was selling drugs? You know, show up to their house with a tank and rip the wall off. Yeah, same kind of. Epstein died in federal custody weeks later, and the case against him was never completed. Torres letter argues that the outcome left New Mexico survivors without accountability, stating that the investigation was effectively suspended by a federal request in 2019, its files were released to federal authorities and its survivors were left without an accounting of what occurred in New Mexico, all by design. Unfortunately, that's why they focus so much on the island. They don't want you talking about what happened in Zorro Ranch. They don't want you talking about New Mexico. So focus on the island. Focus on Manhattan. Because if people focused on what happened to New Mexico, I'm not sure that these people could survive that. As far as, you know, politically speaking or professionally now, as far as justice goes, we'd have to have a DOJ that actually gave a damn. But I think there is plenty of evidence of what was going on in New Mexico. He warns that the current delay is compounding that original harm. Every day that the US DOJ withholds these records, the foundation upon which a New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes, Torres wrote, adding that witnesses relocate and become unreachable, and physical and documentary evidence degrades, is lost, or is rendered more difficult to authenticate with the passage of time. And those are always the fears when you're dealing with an investigation that sprawls for years, right? An expansive investigation that has been going on for decades. A lot of the players, a lot of the people, they're going to get older, they're going to pass away. Documents are going to be lost, whether on purpose or, quote, unquote, an accident. And that's always been the goal, to exhaust this case into oblivion. The stakes were sharpened by a 2019 FBI tip described in the released Epstein files, in which an informant offered a conservative talk show host what he described as video evidence of abuse and the location of remains believed buried on the property for the price of one Bitcoin. And look, like I've told you from the beginning, be very, very cautious about what you believe. Now, I'm not saying discount anything, but there's a difference between evidence and proof, and there's a difference with what we can prove and what we know. So I would suggest being very, very cautious of disinformation, because the Epstein files was seated with it. And the whole entire idea was to get people saying that, oh, look, this is so ridiculous. Everything else has to be ridiculous, too. That was the point. And unfortunately, it was pretty damn effective. I mean, how many people clung on to the most salacious parts right away, trying to, you know, drive those points home with no evidence? And when you're talking about the things we're talking about here, you better have some evidence, right? Because if not, forget it. At least as far as I'm concerned, the days of trust me, bro, are long over. The Justice Department disputes Torres account. A department spokesperson told CNN the agency substantively responded last month to requests from New Mexico Attorney general's office, adding that the department welcomes New Mexico undertaking additional investigation of the Zorro Ranch and stands ready to provide necessary assistance with New Mexico's investigation. The spokesperson said that should that investigation uncover potential federal crimes, the DOJ will work closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate and as appropriate, prosecute. Oh yeah, we're all very confident in that the DOJ is going to investigate itself, boys and girls. Everybody can rest easy. Torres letter documents six separate outreach attempts to federal officials, including a formal records request filed on February 13 and an effort to arrange an in person meeting during a visit to Washington, according to CNN's review of the correspondence. Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, has separately complained that lawmakers permitted to view unredacted files were made to do so on department owned computers inside of a DOJ annex while staff looked on. Well, look, there's a lot of classified material, but I think that these congressmen and senators, they should have some kind of privacy while they're looking at this stuff. You mean to tell me we need a DOJ goon hanging over their shoulder? The dispute unfolds against the backdrop of the Epstein Files Transparency act, which Trump signed after initially opposing the release of the files and which required the department to publish its Epstein records within 30 days with minimal redactions. Legislators have since questioned whether the department fully complied, given that the bulk of the files were not published until late January and many arrived heavily redacted. Torres letter states his office will treat the records request as denied if it goes unanswered by the end of July, raising the prospect of a state court subpoena. Whether the records arrive on time or not, New Mexico says the survivors of Zorro Ranch cannot afford to wait much longer. Look, I agree, man. Enough is enough and at some point the DOJ has to get called out on their Now I don't know when that's going to happen, obviously, considering who's in charge, but at some point the bill's going to come due and the only question is who's going to pay it. All right, folks, that's going to do it for this one, but I have no fear. Plenty more is certainly on the way, including a recap of what went down at the Tyler Robinson preliminary hearing and where things currently stand in the state's case against Tyler Robinson. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.