By Kaanita Iyer

(CNN) — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is accusing the US Justice Department of withholding access to unredacted files related to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that the lack of cooperation is preventing the state from bringing justice to survivors.

“Every day that the USDOJ withholds these records, the foundation upon which a New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes,” Torrez wrote in a scathing letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on June 30 that was publicly released on Thursday.

“Witnesses relocate and become unreachable. Memories, already strained by years of trauma, fade further. Physical and documentary evidence degrades, is lost, or is rendered more difficult to authenticate with the passage of time,” Torrez added.

Torrez’s letter marks the latest criticism of the US Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein case as Congress forced the department to release files related to the sex trafficker with a bipartisan bill late last year.

New Mexico is investigating allegations of illegal activity surrounding the property Epstein owned near Santa Fe, known as Zorro Ranch.

A Justice Department spokesperson told CNN that the agency “substantively responded last month to requests from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.”

“The DOJ reiterates that it 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 in a statement. “Should that investigation uncover potential Federal crimes, the DOJ will work closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate and, as appropriate, prosecute.”

The New Mexico criminal probe was reopened in February after the US DOJ’s release of millions of files related to Epstein, which included a 2019 email received by a local radio host that alleged that “somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G.” That allegation is unverified, but it is also not clear to what extent it had been investigated by law enforcement before the recent renewed interest in Epstein.

Some of Epstein’s survivors, including Chauntae Davies and the late Virginia Giuffre, have said the ranch was one of the places where they were sexually assaulted.

Several lawmakers criticized the heavy redactions in the Epstein files the DOJ began releasing in December 2025, and the US DOJ’s internal watchdog is reviewing the redaction process.

Some members of Congress have been allowed to view the unredacted documents but they had to “travel to a DOJ annex, sit at one of four DOJ-owned computers, use a clunky and convoluted software system provided by DOJ, and search for and read documents while DOJ staffers look over our shoulders,” according to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

In last week’s letter, Torrez outlined six attempts from the New Mexico DOJ office to reach the federal agency, including a February 13 request for documents and an effort last month to set up an in-person meeting during Torrez’s visit to Washington, DC.

“Despite verbal assurances of cooperation from the USDOJ, 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 (New Mexico Department of Justice’s) initial request,” Torrez wrote. “The NMDOJ views this length of time as an unreasonable delay under any rule of reason.”

As part of the criminal investigation, New Mexico authorities searched Zorro Ranch in March.

Separately, the state has a special legislative panel called “The New Mexico Survivor’s Truth Commission,” which is also investigating Zorro Ranch. Last month, the committee subpoenaed multiple banks, several US Attorneys offices, as well as the offices of Torrez and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, for information.

The-CNN-Wire
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