The lead Jeffrey Epstein investigator in Congress claimed on Tuesday that Donald Trump's Department of Justice failed when it ended a probe into the sex offender's New Mexico ranch.
During the President's first term, in 2019, New Mexico state authorities were investigating Epstein's Zorro Ranch, a remote 30,000-square-foot mansion, surrounded by sprawling grasslands.
However, Trump's Justice Department took over the case from the local investigators and shut down their investigation. Epstein died that year of what the government claims was a suicide while in his jail cell awaiting his federal sex trafficking trial.
'The federal government asked New Mexico to stop their investigation, I believe, back in 2019 of that ranch,' House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican and an ally of Trump who is leading the Epstein inquiry, said Tuesday.
'So there's just so many questions about how the government failed, the victims and how government failed in trying to prosecute Epstein sooner. I mean, this whole thing doesn't make sense.'
Zorro Ranch is roughly 30 miles south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is alleged to be the site of much wrongdoing. Self-proclaimed Epstein victims have alleged they were abused at the property.
Shocking files in the recently released DOJ Epstein trove claim - among other things -that two foreign women were killed during 'rough sex' at the property and later buried on site. Though the claims have come under much scrutiny.
Those revelations and more recently prompted local authorities to reopen the probe into the ranch. Authorities began searching the property on Monday. The DOJ did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said on Fox News Tuesday evening that Trump's Department of Justice shutdown a local New Mexico investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in 2019
The FBI did not answer the Daily Mail's inquiry this year about whether it ever searched the property.
Epstein's victims say they were abused at the property and some documents released by the DOJ claim two foreign women were killed and buried at the site, though the allegations have come under much scrutiny
It's unclear whether the site had already been searched by federal authorities or if it had been left untouched for years.
The FBI told the Daily Mail last month that it would not comment on allegations it never searched Zorro Ranch. Some emails in the DOJ Epstein trove indicate that federal authorities never searched the 7,500-acre property.
'Everyone has conspiracy theories on how Epstein was able to get away with it,' Comer said.
'Was it because he had powerful friends? Was it because he was an agent? We don't know, but we're gonna find out and I'm glad that they're on the ground now in New Mexico searching that property.'
New Mexico State Attorney General Raul Torrez announced that state investigators began searching the ranch on Monday.
'Revelations outlined in the previously sealed FBI files warrant further examination,' the state investigators said of the previous federal request.
According to Comer, the DOJ's Southern District of New York office shut down the 2019 local New Mexico probe into the Zorro Ranch.
'It was the Department of Justice, I believe. 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.'
One of the four bedrooms inside the sprawling property
Epstein bought Zorro in 1993 from former New Mexico governor Bruce King
According to Comer, the DOJ's Southern District of New York office shut down the 2019 local New Mexico probe into the Zorro Ranch
A drone view shows Zorro Ranch, a property formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein, near Stanley, New Mexico, March 8, 2026
Epstein ordered the burial of two 'foreign girls' near his ranch after they were strangled to death during 'rough, fetish sex', according to an email released by the DOJ earlier this year.
The email, sent by a person claiming to have worked for Epstein, also includes links purporting to show the late pedophile engaging in sex with underage girls.
The correspondence, first sent to a man named Eddy Aragon on November 21, 2019, before being forwarded to the FBI was titled 'Confidential: Jeffrey Epstein.'
The apparent sender, whose name has been redacted, claimed to have 'been there and seen it all, as a former staff at the Zorro.'
The sender alleged the girls were buried on the orders of Epstein and 'Madam G', believed to be Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's close associate, at Zorro Ranch.
Jeffrey Epstein ordered the burial of two 'foreign girls' near his ranch after they were strangled to death during 'rough, fetish sex', a person claiming to be a former worker has alleged
The email, sent on November 21, 2019 to Eddy Aragon, was forward to the FBI
In the email, the person wrote: 'Edward. This is sensitive, so it will be the first and last email depending on your discretion.'
'You can choose to take it or trash it but this comes from a person that has been there and seen it all, as a former staff at the Zorro.'
'The material below was taken from Jeffrey Epstein home as my insurance in case of future litigation against Epstein. SORRY NO QUESTIONS.'
The email added: 'What is damning about Jeffrey Epstein is yet to be written. Did you know somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G? Both died by strangulation during rough, fetish sex.'
The sender also included links to videos which claimed to show Epstein having sex with minors, threesomes and sex with underage girls.
The sender then demanded a payment of one Bitcoin in return for the video and information.