{"id":1667347,"date":"2026-03-04T01:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1667347"},"modified":"2026-03-04T01:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T06:05:00","slug":"feds-told-new-mexico-to-back-off-epstein-then-they-did-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/feds-told-new-mexico-to-back-off-epstein-then-they-did-nothing\/1667347\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Told New Mexico To Back Off Epstein; Then They Did Nothing…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feds Told New Mexico To Back Off Epstein; Then They Did Nothing…<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Ni\u00f1o<\/a>\u00a0via\u00a0Headline USA<\/a>,<\/em><\/p>\n

In September 2019, federal prosecutors asked\u00a0New Mexico<\/a>\u00a0to shut down its active investigation into\u00a0Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0desert compound.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The state complied. The feds never held up their end of the deal.<\/p>\n

According to a report by\u00a0The Albuquerque Journal,<\/em>\u00a0former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas\u00a0revealed recently<\/a>\u00a0that prosecutors from the Southern District of New York pressured his office to cease its probe into sex trafficking at Epstein\u2019s Zorro Ranch<\/strong>, a 7,500 acre estate south of Santa Fe that Epstein purchased from former Governor Bruce King\u2019s family in 1993.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The stated reason was that parallel investigations could produce conflicting witness statements that defense lawyers might exploit.<\/p>\n

In exchange, the feds promised to share their own findings. That promise was never fulfilled.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

On September 8, 2019, assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey,\u00a0confirmed in an email<\/a>\u00a0that Balderas\u2019s office had agreed to halt its work and turn over all materials, <\/strong>per a report by\u00a0Time<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Epstein had died in federal custody less than a month earlier. By September 17, New Mexico\u2019s Chief Deputy Attorney General Clara Moran had sent police reports, recorded witness testimony, and documents about Epstein\u2019s use of state lands to the SDNY.<\/p>\n

By July 2020, having received nothing in return, Balderas sent a letter urging federal prosecutors to seize the ranch through civil forfeiture.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that this ranch was utilized by Epstein and others to facilitate and conceal the ongoing trafficking of children,\u201d the letter stated. The New York Times reported that he\u00a0received no response<\/a>. An internal federal email from December 2019 later confirmed that agents had \u201cnot searched the New Mexico property,\u201d as the Times reported.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

When the DOJ released over\u00a0three million pages<\/a>\u00a0of Epstein files on January 30, 2026, none of New Mexico\u2019s investigative records appeared among them, according to\u00a0NPR<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fallout has been swift. Reuters reported that Attorney General Ra\u00fal Torrez\u00a0reopened the criminal investigation<\/a>\u00a0into Zorro Ranch on February 18.<\/p>\n

The state House unanimously created a bipartisan\u00a0truth commission<\/a>\u00a0with subpoena power and a budget exceeding $2 million,<\/strong> per a report by the\u00a0Albuquerque Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, who has reviewed unredacted federal files, confirmed that multiple prominent New Mexicans are named in the investigation.<\/p>\n

Separately, Reuters New Mexico is now\u00a0probing allegations<\/a>\u00a0from a redacted email claiming two foreign girls who died at the ranch were buried nearby at Epstein\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

Comey, the prosecutor who brokered the original deal, was\u00a0fired by the Trump DOJ<\/a>\u00a0in July 2025 without explanation. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The ranch itself was sold in 2023 to a Texas developer planning to convert it into a Christian retreat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inquiry should have been expanded, not restricted,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>Balderas said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nTue, 03\/03\/2026 – 20:05<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/feds-told-new-mexico-back-epstein-then-they-did-nothing<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feds Told New Mexico To Back Off Epstein; Then They Did Nothing… Authored by\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Ni\u00f1o\u00a0via\u00a0Headline USA, In September 2019, federal prosecutors asked\u00a0New Mexico\u00a0to shut down…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1667348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1667347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1667347"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667375,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667347\/revisions\/1667375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1667348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1667347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1667347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1667347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}