A Trump devotee running for Texas comptroller purchased Jeffrey Epstein’s secluded desert ranch in New Mexico, where multiple survivors said they were abused by the late sex offender.
Records obtained by the Santa Fe New Mexican revealed that businessman Don Huffines, 67, bought Epstein’s infamous Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County years after the disgraced financier’s death.
The sprawling property, with a 26,700-square-foot hilltop mansion, was sold for an undisclosed amount in 2023 to San Rafael Ranch LLC, which The New Mexican tied to Huffines and his family through public records requests. The property was valued at $27.5 million when it was first listed for sale in July 2021, two years after Epstein took his life at a New York correctional facility.
The ranch was valued for tax purposes at $21.1 million for tax year 2023, but San Rafael Ranch LLC protested, arguing in part that the “notoriety” of the property and the sales price justified a lower valuation, and thus, lower taxes, according to The New Mexican. The Santa Fe County assessor later valued the property at $13.4 million for tax year 2023. The following year, it was renamed from 49 Zorro Ranch Road to 49 Rancho San Rafael Road.
“Four years after Mr. Epstein’s death, the Huffines family purchased property in New Mexico listed at public auction whose proceeds benefited his victims. Prior to the auction listing, they had never visited the property,” Huffines’ campaign spokesperson Allen Blakemore said in a statement.
Huffines, a former state senator from Dallas, bills himself as a “courageous MAGA Republican” seeking to “DOGE Texas.” He boasts endorsements from Sen. Ted Cruz, conservative influencer Riley Gaines, and the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Polling released last week showed Huffines holding a steady lead over three other candidates in the GOP primary for Texas comptroller.
“He’s running for Comptroller to bring President Trump’s bold leadership and business-minded discipline to Austin,” the bio on his website reads. “He has a proven record of fighting for taxpayers, standing with President Trump, and leading with courage when it matters most.”
Epstein purchased the Zorro Ranch in 1993 from former New Mexico governor Bruce King. The notorious pedophile once confided to scientists that he wanted to spread his DNA across the human race by impregnating women at the ranch, according to four sources who spoke to The New York Times.
Several survivors said they were abused by Epstein at the ranch during their youth. Among them was Jane, who said she was only 14 when she suffered abuse at Epstein’s properties, including the one in New Mexico. Virginia Giuffre, one of the most outspoken victims, was also pictured at the ranch.
In 2019, the New Mexico State Land Office turned over 400 pages of documents related to Epstein’s purchase of the property. New Mexico lawmakers are pushing for the creation of a bipartisan “truth commission” to get to the bottom of Epstein’s crimes at Zorro Ranch.
“What we’re going to try to do is get everything on the record in the time span that he was here,” state representative Andrea Romero told KOB 4 last week. “When we heard the allegations from his various victims of people who alleged that they were trafficked here, that they were sexually abused here—some as children—I’m just heartbroken, and it’s just so disgusting to think that that happened on our watch at all.”
