New Mexico Sues Justice Department and Acting Attorney General Over Access to Unredacted Epstein Files
The Facts
- New Mexico filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., against the U.S. Department of Justice and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, seeking unredacted files on Jeffrey Epstein.
- The complaint alleges the Justice Department has been "stonewalling" the state's criminal investigation into alleged crimes at Epstein's former Zorro Ranch by refusing to provide the records.
- The lawsuit asks a judge to intervene and compel the federal government to turn over the requested materials to state investigators.
- Torrez's office says it made about 10 requests for the records — beginning informally and later, at the Justice Department's direction, as formal Touhy requests — and received denials or no response.
- New Mexico reopened its Epstein investigation in February and Torrez said the state sought records that "may be critical to identifying victims, witnesses, and additional criminal conduct at Zorro Ranch."
- Zorro Ranch, a property Epstein formerly owned in Santa Fe County roughly 30 miles south of Santa Fe, is referenced thousands of times in publicly released Epstein files; Torrez's office cites more than 13,000 references to the ranch and 5,000 to New Mexico.
- The suit was filed the same day a New Mexico legislative panel known as the "Truth Commission," made up of four state House members, released an interim report on its parallel inquiry.
- The Justice Department has previously called the accusation that it refused to cooperate false, and has pointed to victim privacy in its handling of Epstein records.
- Reporting notes the dispute is politically charged for the Trump administration, and that the state probe could have consequences beyond New Mexico if it identifies and prosecutes others alleged to have abused girls and women at the ranch; New Mexico is described in the filing as one of few jurisdictions still positioned to seek justice for survivors.
Context
What is Zorro Ranch and why is it central to the dispute?
Zorro Ranch is a property Epstein once owned in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, described as a hilltop estate with a 26,700-square-foot mansion about 30 miles south of Santa Fe Guardian,Independent. Victims have said they were trafficked and abused there, and Torrez's office says publicly released files contain evidence of grooming, trafficking and sexual abuse tied to the property NYT,Forbes.
What is a Touhy request, and how does it figure into the case?
According to the lawsuit, New Mexico's inquiries began informally and then, at the Justice Department's own instruction, the state submitted formal Touhy requests — the federal process for seeking testimony or records from Justice Department employees — which the federal government rejected POLITICO. Torrez said his office made 10 separate requests and received either no response or denials Hindustan Times.
What remains unresolved?
A federal judge has not ruled on whether to order the Justice Department to release the unredacted materials Hindustan Times,U.S. News & World R…. The Guardian reported the filing followed a July 31 deadline Torrez had set for the department to share information, which he said passed without the records being provided Guardian. The suit also lands while Blanche's nomination to serve as attorney general is moving through the U.S. Senate, where the department's handling of Epstein records has been a point of contention Newsweek.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Roughly ten requests, including the formal Touhy filings the Department itself directed, drew denials or silence — a failure to answer that neither framing treats as defensible.
- Where Left and Right split
- Victims and witnesses at Zorro Ranch who cannot compel disclosure themselves, or a state owed an answer after following federal procedure exactly.
How left and right read it
More than 13,000 references to Zorro Ranch sit in the released Epstein files, and New Mexico says roughly ten requests for the unredacted records brought denials or silence. Torrez's stated purpose is identifying victims and witnesses — the people with the least power to compel anything on their own. That is the cost of withholding. If a transparency law and a state criminal investigation both can't pry these files loose, who exactly is the redaction protecting?
“The government was compelled to release what it knew about Epstein's activities and crimes by a transparency act signed by Donald Trump in November, but Democrats and critics have accused Blanche of covering up many of the files.” — The Guardian
New Mexico sued the Justice Department and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in federal court Wednesday, asking a judge to compel unredacted Epstein records. The state's office says it made roughly ten requests, informally and then as formal Touhy requests filed at the Department's own direction, drawing denials or nothing. That sequence matters. A state that follows the procedure it was handed is owed an answer on the record, not silence.
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