The First Findings From New Mexico’s Epstein Truth Commission (8/9/26)

New Mexico’s legislative “truth commission” investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s activities in the state released its initial 119-page report, concluding that authorities had failed for years to adequately investigate what occurred at Epstein’s Zorro Ranch near Santa Fe. The commission said federal investigators had concentrated primarily on Epstein’s crimes in New York, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands while allegations involving New Mexico were largely left unexplored. The report also criticized state and local authorities for relying on federal agencies rather than aggressively investigating potential crimes within New Mexico themselves. Lawmakers said the commission’s work was intended to determine not only what happened at the ranch, but whether failures, negligence or possible public corruption allowed Epstein to operate there with little scrutiny for decades.


The initial report did not appear to unveil a large body of previously unknown evidence, instead assembling information from public records, prior reporting, released Epstein documents and survivor accounts as the commission continued its investigation. Among the testimony considered was that of survivor Rachel Benavidez, who alleged that Epstein abused her at Zorro Ranch in the late 1990s. The commission’s release came as New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez was separately pursuing a reopened criminal investigation and suing the Justice Department for records he said federal officials had refused to provide. Together, the legislative inquiry and the attorney general’s investigation represented a renewed effort to examine Epstein’s New Mexico operation, identify who may have participated or enabled it, and determine why meaningful scrutiny of Zorro Ranch had taken so long.




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New Mexico's legislative truth commission on Epstein releases initial report | News | santafenewmexican.com