(The Center Square) – State investigations are underway into the former Epstein ranch in New Mexico now owned by Texas businessman and state comptroller candidate Don Huffines.
The legislature passed a resolution authorizing the investigation by a special commission. Referred to as the “Truth Commission,” they held their first hearing on Tuesday.
Actions were taken after New Mexico General Land Office Commissioner Stephanie Garcia again called for an investigation after more criminal allegations were revealed in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice. She first called for an investigation in 2019, which was launched that year by the former state attorney general. His investigation was halted by federal authorities as an investigation moved forward in the Southern District of New York.
Since then, no federal, state or county criminal investigation has been launched into the ranch and no criminal searches were conducted on the property, state authorities have confirmed with The Center Square. No action was taken after Santa Fe County residents raised concerns for years about alleged survivor claims of child sex trafficking, rape and torture at the ranch and on neighboring properties.
The resolution was filed by state Reps. Andrea Romero and Marianna Anaya, both Democrats, with cosponsors including Republicans Andrea Reeb and William Hall. It established a special committee to investigate allegations of criminal activity and public corruption related to the ranch located near Stanley in Santa Fe County.
Convicted felon and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s Virgin Island company, Cypress Inc., owned the property from 1993 to 2023. In 2023, it was sold to Huffines, who did not disclose he purchased it. It was only after a property tax dispute that Huffines’ ownership was publicized through a public records request by the Santa Fe New Mexican, The Center Square reported.
Romero, who represents the district where the ranch is located, is chairing the commission. Reeb was a prosecutor for 30 years, known for prosecuting sexual assault crimes, including of children. Anaya is a victims advocate and Hall is a retired FBI agent.
The resolution states the legislature acknowledges the ranch has been a matter of “great public concern since 2019” but “previous legislatures have not responded to this great public concern.”
The ranch “was an instrumentality of serious criminal activity that was not investigated, prosecuted or otherwise acted upon by state or local officers before potential investigations, prosecutions or other actions were time barred pursuant to state law,” the resolution states. The legislature states it is concerned “that the failure to investigate the alleged criminal activity at Zorro ranch and the risk of potential consequences of that activity continue to affect the safety and welfare of the state and that continued legislative inaction threatens public confidence in state government.”
At the first hearing, Moreno said residents had long expressed concern about the ranch, saying it kept coming up in conversation “as a place that [Epstein] sought refuge with a number of victims who have gone on the record, that were trafficked here, that were abused here, and we have had no official public record of those crimes.”
The commission has a budget of more than $2 million and is hiring legal experts, experienced investigators, project managers, and support staff to process “a substantial volume of evidence and new evidentiary findings depending on different interviews and compilations of investigations” Romero said.
The investigation is slated to be completed by July 31 with a report due to the legislature by Dec. 31, according to the resolution.
The commission has full subpoena authority and is requesting Epstein sex trafficked and rape survivors to provide testimony, including about what may have occurred at the ranch.
“That perpetrator could not act alone. They could not run a sex ring alone. They could not commit these types of financial crimes alone,” Anaya said. She said the enablers “must also be held accountable, including the state itself, if needed.”
The commission is also providing victim support services. They are “dedicated to being trauma informed in the way that we go about things to be victim centered,” Anaya said. “If you do want to share, we’ll be here and we will be operating with confidentiality.”
Free resources are also available now, 24/7, to help sexual assault survivors she said through NMSAhelp.org.
