New Mexico’s former attorney general has come forward with shocking evidence that the federal government tried to cover up a criminal probe into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch.
Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an exclusive investigative report that state officials slowed down his state’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch and that the federal government “burned” his office in its investigation of the property.
New Mexico’s former attorney general is taking the Justice Department to task for slowing down his state’s renewed probe into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that the federal government “burned” his office in its investigation of the… pic.twitter.com/S2l933Xdz9
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 21, 2026
According to Balderas, federal investigators made an informal deal with the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) to provide evidence for New Mexico’s investigation into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.
However, Balderas claimed the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) failed to follow through on its informal agreement made on July 23, 2019, with the NMDOJ to refer any state-related matters of the Epstein investigation back to the NMDOJ.
Balderas, who left office as New Mexico attorney general on Jan. 1, 2023, corroborated his statement by citing a newly discovered handwritten note and an email from James Comey’s daughter released with other Epstein files earlier this year.
Balderas sent a letter on Monday to the current New Mexico Attorney General calling out the “SDNY, and by proxy the U.S. DOJ” for their role in what he alleged was a direct impediment to his office’s investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.
It remains unclear exactly who wrote the July 2019 note, but Balderas believes it came from either a staff member or legal assistant in the New York office.
“Agreed NMDOJ will stop interviews + refer all matters to SDNY. SDNY will refer any state-related matters to NMAG @ [the] conclusion of SDNY case,” the handwritten note says, according to the report.
An email in the Epstein files from Sept. 8, 2019, also appears to corroborate the handwritten note that Balderas just discovered.
The email was sent by Maurene Comey, who was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in 2019, to an undisclosed address.
“We spoke with the New Mexico AG’s office back in July 2019. In essence, they agreed to cease any investigation into sex trafficking and share whatever they had gathered to date regarding sex trafficking activity with our office,” Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, wrote in the September email.
“We have not communicated with anyone from the New Mexico AG’s office since that conversation in July 2019.”
The deal between New Mexico, New York and the DOJ was initially made public when a 2019 letter was published in the Epstein files. The letter was from Balderas to Comey and included attachments with all of the NMDOJ’s evidence and interviews.
Zorro Ranch first entered the national spotlight in a 2003 Vanity Fair profile that described Epstein’s sprawling New Mexico estate and private aircraft, but the Ranch became a focus of the sex-trafficking scandal after his 2019 arrest.
Epstein was never charged with a crime in New Mexico, and the first publicly documented law enforcement search of the property occurred on March 9, 2026, The Associated Press reported.
New Mexico state representatives are now in the process of investigating Epstein’s Zorro Ranch through their Truth Commission, which has an interim report due on July 31 and a final report due on December 31, according to New Mexico House Resolution 1.
Despite the renewed investigation, Balderas is now concerned that critical evidence may have been removed or destroyed in the elapsed time between the initial NMDOJ investigation.
“The [New Mexico] house of representatives is concerned that the failure to investigate the alleged criminal activity at Zorro ranch and the risk of potential consequences of that activity continue to affect the safety and welfare of the state and that continued legislative inaction threatens public confidence in state government,” a statement according to New Mexico House Resolution 1, otherwise known as the Truth Commission, read.
This is an ongoing story. Check back for updates.