New Mexico’s Zorro Ranch sits at the heart of a Senate showdown over who’s protecting Jeffrey Epstein’s paper trail — and whether Trump’s pick to run U.S. intelligence will keep stonewalling the state’s own investigation.
At Wednesday’s confirmation hearing for Director of National Intelligence, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., pressed nominee Jay Clayton on why the Department of Justice still won’t hand New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez the unredacted Epstein records tied to Zorro Ranch. Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said his office is “seeking dialog with the attorney general” but stopped short of committing to release the files.
Heinrich’s push follows a June 30 letter from Torrez to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, which called DOJ’s delay “unreasonable under any rule of reason” after more than 130 days without a response.
Heinrich also confronted Clayton over a January release of Epstein grand jury material that exposed victims’ email addresses and nude photos — a breach Clayton personally certified for Southern District documents. National outlets including NBC and ABC confirmed the hearing centered on Clayton’s Epstein file handling as senators weigh replacing acting DNI Bill Pulte.
Heinrich also pushed Clayton to justify past comments backing a $1.8 billion Trump fund meant to compensate people he called “inappropriately” prosecuted — a category that includes Jan. 6 defendants convicted of assaulting police. Clayton said he wasn’t referring to that specific fund. The hearing itself was a rescheduled affair: Trump abruptly canceled Clayton’s original June 17 confirmation date.