Feb 19 (Reuters) - New Mexico's attorney general on Thursday ordered the reopening of the state's criminal investigation into alleged crimes at a ranch owned by late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, based on new information made public by the U.S. Justice Department, the state's Department of Justice said.
The U.S. Justice Department on January 30 made public millions of Epstein-related files in the latest release that sheds new light on the financier's criminal activities in New Mexico over three decades.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez ordered the reopening of the investigation of Epstein's ranch south of state capital Santa Fe after his predecessor, fellow Democrat Hector Balderas, closed it in 2019 to avoid overlap with federal probes. Pressure to uncover Epstein's crimes has become a political headache for President Donald Trump, a Republican.
"Revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination," New Mexico Department of Justice spokesperson Lauren Rodriguez said in a statement.
The renewed probe comes two days after New Mexico's Democratic-controlled legislature launched what lawmakers said was the first comprehensive investigation into Epstein's alleged crimes at Zorro Ranch, which is 30 miles (48 km) south of Santa Fe.
The lawmakers have opened a committee that will take testimony at the state house. The investigation announced on Thursday is a separate, criminal probe and led by the state's top prosecutor.
As part of the New Mexico criminal investigation, special agents and prosecutors will seek immediate access to the U.S. Department of Justice's complete, unredacted case file on Epstein and work collaboratively with the legislature's investigative committee, Rodriguez said.
The criminal investigation will include the "collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available," she added.
The U.S. Justice Department and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Epstein died in what was ruled a suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges.
Zorro Ranch was sold by Epstein's estate in 2023 to Texas businessman and politician Don Huffines. A spokesperson for Huffines, in a statement, said the owners had never been approached by law enforcement requestingaccess to the ranch, but would "grant full and complete cooperation" in the event they were.
In a social media post on Monday, Huffines said he planned to turn the ranch into a Christian retreat.
The New Mexico Department of Justice on Wednesday said it was investigating anallegation, which emerged from the U.S. Department of Justice release, that Epstein ordered the burial of the bodies of two foreign girls on hills outside Zorro Ranch.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Additional reporting by Erica Stapleton in Phoenix, Arizona, Editing by Donna Bryson and Matthew Lewis)
