By Erica Stapleton and Andrew Hay
Zorro Ranch is seen in an aerial view near Stanley, New Mexico
SANTA FE, Feb 16 (Reuters) - New Mexico lawmakers on Monday passed legislation to launch what they said was the first full investigation into what happened at Zorro Ranch, where the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is accused of trafficking and sexually assaulting girls and women.
A bipartisan committee will seek testimony from survivors of alleged sexual abuse at the ranch, located about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, the state capital. Legislators are also urging local residents to testify.
Epstein died in what was ruled a suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.
The so-called truth commission, comprising four lawmakers, seeks to identify ranch guests and state officials who may have known what was going on at the 7,600-acre property, or taken part in alleged sexual abuse in its hacienda-style mansion and guest houses.
The Democratic-led investigation adds to political pressure to uncover Epstein's crimes that has become a major challenge for President Donald Trump, weeks after the Justice Department released millions of Epstein-related files that shed new light on activities at the ranch.
The files reveal ties between Epstein and two former Democratic governors and an attorney general of New Mexico.
The legislation, which passed New Mexico's House of Representatives by a unanimous vote, could pose risks to any additional politicians linked to Epstein in the Democratic-run state, as well as scientists, investors and other high-profile individuals who visited the ranch.
The $2.5 million investigation, which has subpoena power, aims to close gaps in New Mexico law that may have allowed Epstein to operate in the state. The committee starts work on Tuesday, and will deliver interim findings in July and a final report by year-end.
"He was basically doing anything he wanted in this state without any accountability whatsoever," said New Mexico state Representative Andrea Romero, a Democrat, who co-sponsored the initiative.
Testimony to the committee could be used for future prosecutions, she said.
Victim advocates applauded the move, saying Zorro Ranch had been overlooked by federal investigations that focused on Epstein's Caribbean island and New York townhouse.
"Many of the survivors had experiences in New Mexico, and as we've learned, you know, there were local politicians and other people that were aware of what was happening in New Mexico," said attorney Sigrid McCawley, whose law firm has represented hundreds of Epstein survivors.
They include the late Virginia Giuffre, who was abused many times at the ranch, she said.
The U.S. Department of Justice passed a request for comment to the FBI. The FBI declined comment.
EPSTEIN OPERATED AT THE RANCH FOR DECADES
Several civil suits accuse Epstein of sexually assaulting girls at Zorro Ranch. He was never charged for the alleged offenses.
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Romero said there was no record of federal law enforcement searching what was known locally as "the playboy ranch" where Epstein is accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl as early as 1996.
Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas launched a probe in 2019 that was put on hold at the request of federal prosecutors to avoid "parallel investigation," he said in a statement.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has assigned a special agent to probe allegations that may come through the truth commission, spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez said.
A state house committee rejected accompanying legislation to extend New Mexico's statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault to allow civil actions by Epstein survivors, said state Representative Marianna Anaya, who co-sponsored the legislation to create the truth commission. The legislation raised concerns about increased insurance costs for public institutions facing abuse lawsuits, Anaya said.
Epstein bought the ranch in 1993 from Bruce King, a three-time New Mexico Democratic governor who died in 2009. Epstein's estate sold the property in 2023 to Texas businessman and politician Don Huffines, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. Huffines is prepared to cooperate with any law enforcement investigation of the ranch, the newspaper reported on Monday, citing his spokesperson.
Epstein flew in guests and "masseuses" to the ranch, and hired local massage therapists to work there, ranch manager Brice Gordon told the FBI in 2007, according to a report in the Epstein files.
In an unsealed 2016 court deposition, Giuffre testified Epstein's partner Ghislaine Maxwell told her to give the late former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson a "massage" at the ranch. In Giuffre's memoir, she said an instruction from Maxwell to provide a "massage" meant a victim should provide a sexual encounter to an abuser.
Richardson's representative Madeleine Mahoney in a 2019 statement said Giuffre's allegations were "completely false."
Gordon told the FBI that most of the masseuses Epstein used at the ranch were hired locally through the spa Ten Thousand Waves, a Santa Fe institution, or by referrals.
Spa spokesperson Sara Bean said in a phone interview last Tuesday that Ten Thousand Waves neither provided nor referred masseuses to Zorro Ranch.
In the documentary "Surviving Jeffrey Epstein," former Santa Fe massage therapist Rachel Benavidez accused Epstein of sexual abuse when she was hired to work at the ranch.
Investment consultant Joshua Ramo said on Sunday he visited the ranch once for a 2014 lunch on behalf of professors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, who were present. Ramo, at the time CEO of consulting firm Kissinger Associates, said he and Epstein met with business figures and scientists around 14 times in New York between 2013 and 2016.
"I deferred to the due diligence of the institutions involved, assuming that his presence signaled he had been appropriately vetted," Ramo, in a statement, said of his ranch visit and other meetings with Epstein. "I feel a deep sense of grief for the survivors of his crimes."
Emails show Epstein contacted Ramo in 2015 to tell him he was going to Ten Thousand Waves, suggesting they meet for lunch in Santa Fe. Ramo responded, "I assumed we were meeting at the pink bottom ranch." Ramo, who is currently CEO of consulting firm Sornay LLC, said he had no recollection of that comment, or whether the two met that day.
Over the years, Epstein contributed to the political campaigns of New Mexico Democrats such as Richardson and King's son Gary King, a former New Mexico attorney general. When contributions were reported in the press, the men pledged to either return the money, or give it to charity.
Gary King flew on a plane chartered by Epstein when he was running for New Mexico governor in 2014, according to emails in the Epstein files. Epstein said he would cover around half the cost of the $22,000 charter and King would pay the rest. King did not respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Erica Stapleton in New Mexico and Florida, reporting by Andrew Hay in New Mexico; editing by Donna Bryson and Diane Craft)
By Erica Stapleton and Andrew Hay Zorro Ranch is seen in an aerial view near Stanley, New Mexico SANTA FE,...
