New Mexico ‘Truth Commission’ begins investigation into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch, will issue subpoenas

By MJ Lee, Nicky Robertson, CNN

(CNN) — A New Mexico legislative panel announced on Monday it is issuing more than a dozen subpoenas as a part of its probe into Jeffrey Epstein’s “Zorro Ranch,” and called on survivors of the late sex offender and other members of the public to share what they might know about Epstein’s past crimes in the state.

“The New Mexico Survivor’s Truth Commission,” led by a bipartisan group of four lawmakers from New Mexico’s House of Representatives, said it will begin collecting evidence from a range of federal and local agencies including the US Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Epstein’s estate, several major banks, the state’s Department of Justice and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department.

“Our aim is to repair the body politic that was violated in New Mexico, in this country, and around the world by one man’s predation, and by the silence and complicity and failures of many individuals and institutions by the power to stop it, and did not,” Democratic Rep. Andrea Romero, the chair of the commission, said. “We will not be the next ones who had the power to act and chose not to.”

The committee also plans on physically surveying the ranch, speaking with survivors and coordinating with local and federal law enforcement, as well as US Congress, culminating with a final report on its findings, the lawmakers said Monday.

The next update will come in July. It was not clear exactly what kinds of evidence the commission will be seeking from these entities and how successful it will be in obtaining the information.

Monday’s developments mark one more example of the growing calls to investigate and get to the bottom of the full extent of the late sex offender’s crimes — years after Epstein’s death.

Zorro Ranch, a sprawling piece of property outside of Santa Fe and one of multiple homes that Epstein owned, has been the source of much speculation and conspiracy theories about Epstein’s abuse of young women and girls. Some of Epstein’s survivors, including Chauntae Davies and the late Virginia Giuffre, have said the ranch was one of the places where Epstein sexually assaulted them.

“I experienced a lot of trauma personally there, and it was a very isolated location to be at and it was a very scary place,” Davies told CNN in a recent interview. “You could feel the darkness there.”

The Justice Department’s recent release of millions of pages of Epstein files has fueled fresh calls from survivors, advocates, lawmakers and others to probe why for decades, local and federal law enforcement had failed to thoroughly examine Epstein’s vast sex-trafficking ring and those who aided him, including what might have transpired at Zorro Ranch.

Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, is the only person who has ever been prosecuted in relation to Epstein. She is currently serving a sentence at a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said in February that he was re-opening the state’s criminal investigation into Epstein’s activities in Zorro Ranch and has been soliciting information from the public who might have knowledge about the matter. On the heels of that announcement, state authorities conducted their own physical search of the ranch in March. It’s not clear what pertinent evidence, if any, was found during that search.

The Truth Commission recently launched a new website that includes what it says is a confidential tip line and information about its ongoing work. The panel says it has a $2 million budget and plans to coordinate with the state’s Justice Department.

“We deserve answers, we deserve the truth, we deserve transparency, justice and accountability,” Epstein survivor Rachel Benavidez, who said she was abused at Zorro Ranch, said at Monday’s hearing.

Also speaking at the New Mexico meeting, Giuffre’s sister-in-law, Amanda Roberts, implored legislators to “follow every investigative lead to its fullest conclusion, uncover the truth wherever it leads, and bring forward charges against any potential co-conspirator, abuser, enabler, or individual who knowingly helps sustain this criminal network.”

“How and why was Jeffrey Epstein able to operate a sex trafficking enterprise for so long right here in this very community?” Roberts asked.

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