A recently released trove of thousands of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s emails offer glimpses into his time in New Mexico, including the prominent people he invited to his home here and when he scheduled visits.
The United States House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 pages of records earlier this month amid a renewed push to share with the public more about the disgraced financier with longstanding ties to elected officials, business leaders and celebrities, including Former President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump.
That release included more than 2,000 thousand emails Epstein exchanged between 2009 and 2019. Several dozen mention New Mexico or related phrases, according to Source New Mexico review, including in news articles or from Epstein himself.
Epstein bought a 7,500 Santa Fe-area property called Zorro Ranch from former Gov. Bruce King in 1993.It was sold at an undisclosed price in 2023, four years after Epstein’s death in custody awaiting federal sex trafficking charges.
According to court documents, the ranch, which has its own airstrip and helipad, was the site of sex trafficking, including by Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 as Epstein’s co-conspirator.
The emails show Epstein invited prominent figures—none of whom have been accused of any crimes associated with Epstein— including author Deepak Chopra, linguist Noam Chomsky, billionaire Tom Pritzker, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and filmmaker Bill Sieger, to his ranch at various times. It’s unclear from the emails whether any of those people took him up on his offer, though one email from Epstein to Chomsky asks if he wants to “visit again.”
The emails also show Epstein scheduled visits to the area, including for about two weeks in August 2016 and between Feb. 24 and March 1, 2017, following visits to New York and Paris.
In addition to the emails, other released documents mention former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, including an excerpt of a draft article about Epstein, which Semafor confirmed came from journalist Michael Wolf. In the excerpt, Wolff recounts asking Richardson at lunch how he knew Epstein.
“Jeffrey,” Richardson replied, according to Wolff’s telling, “is the biggest landowner in New Mexico.
In addition to efforts by Congress to release more Epstein files, two New Mexico state lawmakers have announced plans for a truth commission that will seek to document abuses and gather testimony from victims, witnesses and perpetrators in a series of public hearings.
Reps. Marianna Anaya (D-Albuquerque) and Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) told an interim legislative committee in early November that the commission will cost about $2 million, with funding from an untapped revenue source dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking. Lawmakers from both parties said they approved of the commission and urged the lawmakers to follow leads wherever they take them.
Two New Mexican attorneys general have opened previous investigations into Epstein’s activities in the state: Hector Balderas’ criminal investigation in 2019 closed within the year without filing any charges. In 2023, current Attorney General Raúl Torrez investigated the role financial services companies played in failing to identify the abuses at the ranch.
Timeline of emails at https://sourcenm.com/briefs/by-the-s-new-mexico-mentions-in-recent-epstein-email-release/
