The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that federal law bars it from turning over unredacted files about Jeffrey Epstein that New Mexico officials have been seeking, deepening a growing conflict between the nation’s top law enforcement agency and state investigators.
The dispute intensified after New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez publicly released a letter Tuesday, charging that the DOJ was intentionally blocking the state’s criminal investigation of Epstein by withholding the requested documents.
“Federal law, court orders, and privacy protections for victims and witnesses do not allow us to release millions of unredacted documents,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to follow federal law and the court orders that are in place.”
New Mexico, under Democratic leadership, reopened its investigation in February into what allegedly took place at Epstein’s former ranch located south of the state capital, Santa Fe. Epstein is accused of abusing women and girls at that location over a span of nearly three decades.
Torrez said that after his office formally requested the unredacted files back in February, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Mexico responded on July 10 — delivering only 31 pages of material. According to Torrez, those documents consisted of already-public records, heavily redacted content that was essentially useless, or simply photocopies of local newspaper stories.
“It is a reflection of a deliberate choice not to cooperate,” Torrez wrote in Tuesday’s letter. His office had not responded to a request for comment by Wednesday.
Separately, the New Mexico state legislature has launched its own parallel investigation. Last month, lawmakers issued subpoenas to U.S. attorneys’ offices in three states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, seeking answers about whether — and why — those offices declined to prosecute Epstein.
The legislature’s so-called “Truth Commission” is expected to release a preliminary report before the end of this month. Meanwhile, Attorney General Torrez has not yet announced any findings from his office’s probe.
Victims and advocacy groups have continued to push the DOJ to release the full, unredacted Epstein files, an issue that has put pressure on President Donald Trump, who has publicly stated that the country should move on from the matter.
