2026年2月19日 / 美国东部时间下午6:28 / CBS/美联社
新墨西哥州总检察长已重新调查杰弗里·爱泼斯坦(Jeffrey Epstein)前佐罗牧场的非法活动指控。
总检察长劳尔·托雷斯(Raúl Torrez)办公室周四宣布了这一决定，称该决定是在审查美国司法部最近公布的所谓“爱泼斯坦文件”中的信息后做出的。
尽管新墨西哥州的初步调查于2019年应纽约联邦检察官的要求关闭，但州检察官表示，“此前封存的联邦调查局(FBI)文件中概述的新发现值得进一步调查。”
新墨西哥州司法部表示，该机构的特别探员和检察官将立即寻求获取完整、未经删改的联邦案件档案，并打算与其他执法合作伙伴以及州议员设立的新真相委员会合作，调查牧场的相关活动。
“与任何潜在的刑事案件一样，我们将追随事实的指引，仔细评估管辖权问题，并采取适当的调查行动，包括收集和保存任何可用的相关证据，”新墨西哥州司法部在一份声明中表示。
尽管爱泼斯坦从未在新墨西哥州面临指控，但州检察官在2019年证实，他们采访了曾到访圣达菲南部牧场的可能受害者。他们没有详细说明有多少指控者接受了采访，以及他们声称在牧场发生了什么。
新墨西哥州司法部未立即回复有关为何2019年要求州检察官关闭调查的电子邮件询问，也未回应是否有最近公布的文件中详细的具体指控促使重新调查。
路透社报道称，该州司法部正在调查爱泼斯坦文件中2019年的一封未经证实的电子邮件，该邮件称两名外国女孩的尸体被埋葬在牧场外。该部门发言人告诉路透社，他们已向美国司法部请求获取该电子邮件的完整副本。
“得知有人报告可能有人在这片土地上被埋葬，这令人震惊，必须立即将肇事者绳之以法，”新墨西哥州代表安德里亚·罗梅罗(Andrea Romero)告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。
周二，新墨西哥州真相委员会举行了首次会议。由四名州众议院代表组成的两党小组负责调查该牧场可能助长性虐待和人口贩卖的指控。
新墨西哥州议员还想知道，爱泼斯坦2008年因向未成年女孩招揽卖淫罪认罪后，为何未在该州登记为性犯罪者，以及是否存在公职人员腐败问题。
爱泼斯坦1993年从前民主党州长布鲁斯·金(Bruce King)手中购得新墨西哥州这片广阔的佐罗牧场，并建造了一座山顶豪宅。附近有一个带机库和停机坪的私人飞机跑道。该物业还包括一个牧场办公室、一个消防站和一个七车位的加热车库。
2023年，爱泼斯坦的遗产将该物业出售给了德克萨斯州共和党州审计长候选人唐·赫芬斯(Don Huffines)的家族，所得款项用于偿还债权人。赫芬斯在社交平台X上发文称，该物业已更名为“圣拉斐尔牧场”，以一位与治愈相关的圣徒命名，其家族计划在那里经营基督教静修所。
赫芬斯的发言人表示，业主从未收到地方、州或联邦执法部门要求进入牧场的请求，如果有，他们将全力配合。
联邦当局公布的文件中提到该牧场的地方有数千处。
前新墨西哥州州长比尔·理查森(Bill Richardson)（民主党人）是爱泼斯坦拥有牧场期间的客人之一。在对这位声名狼藉的金融家进行早期调查后，理查森在2006年将爱泼斯坦捐赠的5万美元州长竞选捐款转赠慈善机构。
理查森于2023年75岁去世，他的飞行日志显示，2011年他乘坐爱泼斯坦的直升机从英属维尔京群岛前往美属维尔京群岛。理查森的幕僚长布莱恩·康迪特(Brian Condit)也被列为乘客，他去年告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，他们没有参观爱泼斯坦在那里拥有的私人财产。
新墨西哥州土地专员斯蒂芬妮·加西亚·理查德(Stephanie Garcia Richard)在2019年因办公室被拒绝进入检查近2平方英里的租赁国有土地后，取消了该牧场的放牧租赁。
加西亚·理查德上周在一封信中呼吁联邦当局和州检察官确保对与该牧场相关的指控进行彻底刑事调查。她称最新文件中包含的指控“令人深感不安”。
“人们有权知道爱泼斯坦牧场发生了什么真相，并期待领导人给出答案，”她在一份声明中说。
新墨西哥州调查新闻发布当天，与爱泼斯坦文件相关的另一重大进展是：英国前安德鲁王子被捕。
这起案件涉及警方所谓的“涉嫌公职不当行为”，而非指控与年轻女性有关。司法部公布的文件似乎显示，当安德鲁担任英国贸易特使时，可能与爱泼斯坦分享了机密政府信息。
New Mexico reopens investigation into allegations at Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch
February 19, 2026 / 6:28 PM EST / CBS/AP
New Mexico’s attorney general has reopened an investigation into allegations of illegal activity at Jeffrey Epstein s former Zorro Ranch.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office made the announcement Thursday, saying the decision was made after reviewing information in the so-called Epstein files recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Although New Mexico’s initial case was closed in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York, state prosecutors say now that “revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination.”
The New Mexico Department of Justice said special agents and prosecutors at the agency will be seeking immediate access to the complete, unredacted federal case file and intend to work with other law enforcement partners as well as a new truth commission established by state lawmakers to look into activities at the ranch.
“As with any potential criminal matter, we will follow the facts wherever they lead, carefully evaluate jurisdictional considerations, and take appropriate investigative action, including the collection and preservation of any relevant evidence that remains available,” the New Mexico Department of Justice said in a statement.
While Epstein never faced charges in New Mexico, state prosecutors confirmed in 2019 that they had interviewed possible victims who visited the ranch south of Santa Fe. They never elaborated on how many accusers were interviewed or what they say took place at the ranch.
The New Mexico Department of Justice did not immediately respond to emailed questions about why state prosecutors were requested to close the investigation in 2019 or whether there were specific allegations detailed within the recent filings that were released that prompted reopening the investigation.
Reuters news agency reported that state’s Department of Justice is looking into an unverified allegation from a 2019 email in the Epstein files that claimed the bodies of two foreign girls were buried outside the property. A spokesperson told Reuters the department has requested an unredacted copy of the email from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“To know that somebody reported possible bodies being buried on this property is horrifying and must be brought to justice immediately,” New Mexico state representative Andrea Romero told CBS News.
On Tuesday, New Mexico’s truth commission had its first meeting. The bipartisan, four-member panel of state House representatives is charged with investigating allegations that the ranch may have facilitated sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
New Mexico lawmakers also said they want to know why Epstein was not registered as a sex offender there after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and whether there was corruption among public officials.
Epstein purchased the sprawling Zorro Ranch in New Mexico in 1993 from former Democratic Gov. Bruce King and built a hilltop mansion. Nearby was a private airstrip with a hangar and helipad. The property also included a ranch office, a firehouse and a seven-bay heated garage.
The property was sold by Epstein’s estate in 2023 — with proceeds going toward creditors — to the family of Don Huffines, a Republican running for state comptroller in Texas. In a social media post on X, Huffines said the property has been renamed San Rafael Ranch after a saint associated with healing and that his family plans to operate a Christian retreat there.
A spokesperson for Huffines has said that the owners have never been approached by local, state or federal law enforcement requesting access to the ranch and if they do, full cooperation will be granted.
There are thousands of references to the ranch in the documents released by federal authorities.
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, was among the guests to have visited the ranch when Epstein owned it. Following one of the early investigations into the disgraced financier, Richardson donated $50,000 in 2006 gubernatorial campaign contributions from Epstein to charity.
Richardson, who died at age 75 in 2023, also appeared in a flight log as having travelled in 2011 on Epstein’s helicopter from the British Virgin Islands to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Brian Condit, Richardson’s chief of staff, was also listed as a passenger and told CBS News last year that they did not visit the private property Epstein owned there.
New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard in 2019 canceled grazing leases held by the ranch after her office was denied access to inspect the nearly 2 square miles of leased state land.
Garcia Richard in a letter sent last week called on federal authorities and state prosecutors to ensure a thorough criminal investigation into allegations related to the ranch. She called the allegations included in the latest documents “deeply disturbing.”
“People deserve to know the truth about what happened on Epstein’s ranch and are looking to leaders for answers,” she said in a statement.
News of the New Mexico investigation came the same day as another major development linked to the Epstein files: the arrest of the former Prince Andrew in the U.K.
That case relates to what police called “suspicion of misconduct in public office,” not accusations involving young women. Documents released by the Justice Department appear to show that when Andrew was working as a British trade envoy he may have shared confidential government information with Epstein.
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