New Mexico sues DOJ and Todd Blanche over Epstein investigation obstruction.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued the Justice Department Wednesday, demanding complete and unredacted access to federal Epstein investigation files. The lawsuit centers on the state's criminal probe of Zorro Ranch, Epstein's Santa Fe County property.

• At least 10 state requests to the DOJ for the records have gone unanswered.
• Zorro Ranch appears at least 13,000 times in the Epstein files.
• $27.5 million: the ranch's estimated value when listed for sale in July 2021.
• Federal records cited in the suit describe over 1,000 survivors of Epstein's network.

Why it matters: The state's investigation seeks to identify additional victims, corroborate evidence, and establish the full scope of alleged crimes at the ranch. A prior New Mexico criminal investigation into Epstein closed in 2020 without charges.

• Survivors including Annie Farmer have described abuse at Zorro Ranch under Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

How 35 sources split on this story

What’s next: A New Mexico legislative subcommittee with subpoena power began operating with a $2 million budget to gather testimony and records through the end of 2026.

• The subcommittee budget comes from a 2023 settlement over failures to detect abuse at the property.
• Will a federal court compel the DOJ to produce the unredacted records, and on what timeline?
• Did the 2020 New Mexico investigation close prematurely, and do the federal files contain evidence that would have changed that outcome?