New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is accusing the US Justice Department of withholding access to unredacted files related to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that the lack of cooperation is preventing the state from bringing justice to survivors.
“Every day that the USDOJ withholds these records, the foundation upon which a New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes,” Torrez wrote in a scathing letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on June 30 that was publicly released on Thursday. “Witnesses relocate and become unreachable. Memories, already strained by years of trauma, fade further. Physical and documentary evidence degrades, is lost, or is rendered more difficult to authenticate with the passage of time.”
Torrez’s letter marks the latest criticism of the US Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein case as Congress forced the department to release files related to the sex trafficker with a bipartisan bill late last year.
CNN has reached out to the US Justice Department for comment.
New Mexico is investigating allegations of illegal activity surrounding the property Epstein owned near Santa Fe, known as Zorro Ranch.
