By Kaanita Iyer, CNN
(CNN) — New Mexico’s House of Representatives has approved creating a bipartisan special committee to investigate the ranch that the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein owned in the state.
The measure, which passed Monday, directs the committee, called the Truth Commission, to look into the “allegations of criminal activity” on the property — known as Zorro Ranch — and decide whether other “legislative action” is required. The committee has the authority to “compel the attendance of witnesses” and to “issue subpoenas.”
“[T]he house of representatives is concerned that the failure to investigate the alleged criminal activity at Zorro ranch and the risk of potential consequences of that activity continue to affect the safety and welfare of the state and that continued legislative inaction threatens public confidence in state government,” the measure reads.
The measure passed with 62 votes, with no members in opposition. Eight lawmakers were excused from voting.
The committee’s creation is the latest call for transparency and further investigation in the aftermath of the US Department of Justice’s release of a trove of Epstein files, which has sent shockwaves across several industries after revelations of the late financier’s ties with prominent figures.
US Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico applauded the passage of the measure Tuesday, saying in a meeting with the measure’s co-sponsors, “New Mexico is acting where the federal government is failing to do so.”
“For many, many years, there were allegations of sexual assault and abuse that happened at Zorro Ranch here in New Mexico, which is one of multiple properties that Jeffrey Epstein held, and those crimes were never fully investigated — neither by local authorities nor the FBI,” said Stansbury, a Democrat.
State Rep. Marianna Anaya, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, told CNN it is “a relief” that the measure passed, especially in a bipartisan manner, and added that the committee is prepared to hold the state accountable.
“We really find that it’s our responsibility as current lawmakers to make sure that we not only investigate but that we hold people accountable — not just Jeffrey Epstein himself, but those who enabled him, as well as institutions that failed these survivors. So even if it means holding the state accountable, we think that it’s necessary,” the Democratic lawmaker said.
Anaya, who was approached by another co-sponsor in September about creating the commission, stressed that the committee’s power to subpoena will be “really critical.”
“So in addition to investigating the physicalities of the property itself, we are also partnering with our New Mexico Department of Justice to make sure that survivors can come forward, witnesses can come forward, in a way in which is taken seriously unlike years previous,” Anaya said.
Before the committee is defunct on January 1, 2027, it must submit at least two reports — one to state House leadership on or before July 31 and one to all House members on or before December 31, according to the measure text.
Among the US Justice Department’s latest release of millions of pages of documents related to Epstein is a 2019 email sent to Eddy Aragon, the host of a local radio show, that alleged that “somewhere in the hills outside the Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G.”
“Both died by strangulati