Attempting a Cover-up? House Oversight Chair Claims DOJ 'Asked New Mexico To Stop' Epstein Probe in 2019

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said on Tuesday that the US Department of Justice told New Mexico authorities to shut down their investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's ranch in the state in 2019, during Donald Trump's first term in office.

Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, made the comments during an appearance on Fox News's Jesse Watters Primetime. He spoke hours after New Mexico state investigators began a search of the Zorro Ranch property, located roughly 30 miles south of Santa Fe.

'The federal government asked New Mexico to stop their investigation, I believe, back in 2019, of that ranch,' Comer said. 'So there's just so many questions about how the government failed the victims and how the government failed in trying to prosecute Epstein sooner.'

Comer Identifies DOJ's Southern District of New York

When host Jesse Watters asked which branch of government issued the order, Comer identified the DOJ. 'It was the Department of Justice, I believe,' he said. 'And I believe it was because they had - I believe, it perhaps was Southern District of New York because they had taken over the investigation at that point.'

In 2019, Trump was president, and William Barr served as attorney general. Epstein was arrested that July on federal sex trafficking charges brought by the SDNY. He was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in Manhattan on 10 August 2019. Officials ruled his death a suicide.

New Mexico's own Justice Department has confirmed the state closed its earlier probe of the ranch in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York. Former state Attorney General Hector Balderas, who held the office from 2014 to 2022, has said SDNY prosecutors at the time argued that parallel investigations risked producing inconsistent witness statements that Epstein's defence lawyers could exploit.

In return, federal prosecutors reportedly promised to share their findings with New Mexico. Balderas has said that sharing never meaningfully took place.

State Authorities Reopen Epstein Ranch Investigation

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez reopened the criminal investigation on 19 February after reviewing material released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. His office said 'revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination.'

The search of the 7,600-acre property began on 9 March. The New Mexico State Police and Sandoval County Fire and Rescue K-9 team assisted in the operation. The current owners, the family of former Texas state senator Don Huffines, have granted investigators full access and are cooperating with the probe.

Epstein purchased Zorro Ranch in 1993 from former New Mexico Governor Bruce King for a reported $12 million (£9.5 million). He built a hilltop mansion on the property, along with a private airstrip and helicopter pad. His estate sold it in 2023 to the Huffines family, who have said they plan to convert it into a Christian retreat.

Among the files released by the DOJ in late January was a 2019 email from someone claiming to be a former ranch employee. The sender alleged that two 'foreign girls' had been buried in the hills surrounding the property on the orders of Epstein and 'Madam G' - believed to be Ghislaine Maxwell. The email was sent to Albuquerque radio host Eddy Aragon and later forwarded to the FBI. It included a demand for one Bitcoin in exchange for purported video evidence. That allegation remains unverified.

Federal investigators searched Epstein's properties in Manhattan, Palm Beach, and the US Virgin Islands during his 2019 prosecution. There is no public record of any federal search of the New Mexico ranch during that period.

The New Mexico House of Representatives voted unanimously last month to create a bipartisan Epstein Truth Commission with subpoena power and a budget of $2 million (£1.6 million), funded through earlier bank settlements. State Representative Andrea Romero, a Democrat who chairs the commission, has said survivors who reported abuse in New Mexico 'never did get their justice.'

The Hill reported that it reached out to the DOJ for comment on Comer's claims. As of publication, neither the department nor the FBI has publicly responded.