新墨西哥州检察长拉乌尔·托雷斯设定的7月31日截止日期已过，但美国司法部未能交付关于已故性犯罪者爱泼斯坦曾拥有的佐罗牧场女童虐待事件的完整调查文件[1]。司法部仅提交了31页材料，其中主要为旧报纸剪报和经过严重删节的文件[1]。
托雷斯办公室在7月14日的信函中向司法部发出警告，表示将"在无进一步通知的情况下追求所有可用法律救济"[1]。在随后的采访中，托雷斯表示"我没有排除任何可能。我不排除提起诉讼"[1]。他指责联邦检控机构阻挠州级犯罪调查[1]。司法部长托德·布兰奇和前南区纽约办公室检察官杰伊·克莱顿曾先后承诺提供合作，但均未兑现承诺[1]。
这起调查始于2019年2月，由当时的新墨西哥州检察长赫克托·巴尔德拉斯启动[1]。爱泼斯坦于1993年从已故新墨西哥州州长布鲁斯·金的遗产中购得佐罗牧场[1]。爱泼斯坦本人于2019年8月在纽约监狱中去世[1]。
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez set a July 31 deadline for the U.S. Department of Justice to deliver unredacted files related to child abuse at the Zorro Ranch, a property formerly owned by deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein [1]. The Justice Department failed to meet this deadline, instead providing only 31 pages of material consisting largely of newspaper clippings and heavily redacted documents [1].
Torrez warned in a July 14 letter that he would "pursue all available legal remedies without further notice" if cooperation was not forthcoming [1]. In subsequent remarks, he stated: "I have not ruled out anything. I do not rule out litigation" [1]. The attorney general accused federal prosecutors of obstructing the state-level investigation into crimes allegedly committed at the property.
The investigation into abuse at the Zorro Ranch, which Epstein purchased in 1993 from the estate of former New Mexico Governor Bruce King, was first launched by then-Attorney General Hector Balderas in February 2019 [1]. Epstein died in a New York prison in August 2019 [1]. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York notified Torrez in July that it would not cooperate with the state inquiry [1]. Despite earlier commitments to assist from Justice Department officials Todd Blanche and former Southern District prosecutor Jay Clayton, neither pledge materialized [1].