Justice Department says law bars Epstein file release to New Mexico
Federal officials rejected New Mexico’s demand for unredacted Epstein records, saying disclosure would violate law and court orders.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
The US Justice Department said it cannot give New Mexico unredacted records tied to Jeffrey Epstein, escalating a dispute over the state’s renewed criminal investigation. The department said Wednesday that federal law, court orders and privacy protections for victims and witnesses prevent it from releasing millions of unredacted documents.
The statement answered pressure from New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, a Democrat, who has accused the federal government of blocking his office’s work. Torrez said in a public letter last week that President Donald Trump’s administration had refused to turn over records his office considers critical.
The Justice Department said Torrez was asking it to go beyond what it is legally allowed to do. In its post, the department said it would continue to follow federal law and existing court orders, and said complying with New Mexico’s demand would break federal law.
State says delays hurt the case
Torrez said his office has spent more than five months seeking unredacted federal records connected to Epstein. He said New Mexico still has not received all the files it requested.
In his letter, Torrez described the department’s conduct as a deliberate refusal to cooperate. He said each day without the records makes it harder to bring a case for New Mexico survivors, because witnesses may move, memories may fade and evidence may be lost or deteriorate.
New Mexico is investigating allegations that women and girls were trafficked to Zorro Ranch, the property Epstein owned south of Santa Fe from 1993 until his death in 2019. State officials have said allegations involving the ranch were not fully examined.
Records released by the Justice Department in January included an unverified tip alleging the existence of videos showing sexual abuse and the burial of two foreign girls on the property. Survivors, including the late Virginia Giuffre, also made allegations of sexual assault and other crimes at the ranch.
Epstein files remain under scrutiny
Federal prosecutors in 2019, during Trump’s first administration, asked New Mexico to suspend its investigation into Epstein’s activities in the state so the federal case could proceed. Epstein died in jail that year, and his death was ruled a suicide.
New Mexico reopened its investigation in February after the Trump administration released millions of records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law, passed in November, required the Justice Department to publish Epstein-related records within 30 days, allowing limited redactions to protect victims.
The department eventually released millions of files, many of them heavily redacted. Some victims’ identities were exposed in the releases, according to the account of the dispute.
The handling of the files has become a political pressure point for the Trump administration. Critics have said the administration has not met its transparency pledge and have questioned whether officials are protecting powerful people named in the records.
Trump was part of Epstein’s social circle, and he has denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes. Epstein was accused of running a sex-trafficking operation with hundreds of victims.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.