New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez speaks at a news conference in August 2026 in Albuquerque.
As New Mexico’s legal fight with the U.S. Department of Justice continues over records on Jeffrey Epstein, Attorney General Raúl Torrez has renewed his call for Congress to pass a bill that would add teeth to a federal law on Epstein files.
Torrez, along with the attorneys general of Arizona and Nevada, led a coalition of 17 attorneys general that sent a letter Oct. 15 to congressional leaders urging passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act II.
The bill’s proponents say it would strengthen last year’s Epstein Files Transparency Act, which led to the release of millions of records related to Epstein, the late sex offender and financier who owned a ranch in southern Santa Fe County. It would give standing to state attorneys general, members of Congress and victims of Epstein and his associates to sue the U.S. attorney general for failure to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a sponsor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, also joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers last week who introduced the Epstein Wall Street Records Act, which would hold accountable financial institutions and bank executives who enabled Epstein to continue alleged sex trafficking operations by “evading internal controls meant to intercept suspicious activity.”
The New Mexico Department of Justice reopened a criminal investigation into Epstein’s activities in the state earlier this year. But the agency says it has been unable to get access to the full, unredacted federal record related to Epstein and New Mexico, and in August it sued the U.S. Department of Justice over its failure to turn over the files.
Last week, the federal governmentaskeda judge to throw out the case, arguing that sharing information is up to the discretion of the federal agency — and, regardless, turning over unredacted files would violate victims’ privacy.
Torrez said in a statement Friday the U.S. Justice Department is trying to dismiss the lawsuit “rather than turn over the records survivors and investigators are entitled to in the pursuit of justice.”
“Survivors deserve answers, not continued obstruction from a federal government with a responsibility to protect its citizens,” he said, vowing to “continue fighting for the full, unredacted Epstein files,” and urging Congress to pass the bill so states “have the information they need to pursue justice for survivors of Epstein’s horrific crimes.”
As of earlier this month, the House sponsors were afew signatures shortof what’s called a discharge petition, which would force a floor vote on the bill. The House is out of session until after the midterm elections.
Clara Bates is a politics reporter atThe New Mexican.
"We need to put the power back ... with survivors and with the investigators working to deliver justice," Leger Fernández said.
