Epstein's' Zorro Ranch Part 2: The Governor, the Tech Boys, and the Ranch That Never Got Searched.
The people who visited, the politicians who knew, and the itinerary nobody wanted to talk about.
This is a part of the 49 Zorro Ranch Road Series
Part One | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Victim Standalone
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Aerial view of Zorro Ranch mansion in New Mexico EFTA00028566
Last time, we talked about how the ranch worked — the shell companies, the bank accounts, the Gordons — the couple running the day to day and recruiting girls for the ranch through Ten Thousand Waves spa. The fact that the federal government decided — for reasons nobody has fully explained — to never search the place, will never sit right.
But, this part is different. This part is about the people — who came to Zorro Ranch, what they did once they got there, and what the federal documents reveal about the political network that kept the whole thing spinning round and round. The paper trail is longer and more twisted than most people realize. We dived in.
The Sitting Governor sold a Convicted sex offender a Ranch
Here’s a fact that stops you cold:
Jeffrey Epstein bought Zorro Ranch in 1993 from Bruce King and at the time, King was the sitting governor of New Mexico.
Not a former governor, not someone who sold it years later. but the sitting governor sold a convicted sex offender a sprawling ranch that would become his most protected property. The transaction was a private sale through something called Zorro Trust — later renamed Cypress Inc — the same shell company Epstein used to hold grazing leases on state land surrounding the ranch. Bruce King died in 2009 and his son, Gary King, became New Mexico’s Attorney General in 2007 and stayed until 2014. That timeline is key: Gary King was the state’s top law enforcement officer during Epstein’s Florida conviction and the first federal investigation into his network.
To be clear — there is no public evidence connecting Gary King to anything that happened at Zorro Ranch. None. I want to say that plainly, because it’s not fair to imply something that isn’t there. The family name is tangled up in this story whether anyone likes it or not, and Epstein bought land from a governor. Facts are facts. That land became his fortress, hub of his network, and for years, the state’s top prosecutor was the governor’s son. That doesn’t prove anything — but it’s part of the origin story.
Governor. Diplomat. Epstein’s Repeat Guest
Bill Richardson had the kind of resume most politicians can only dream about. Congressman, UN Ambassador, Secretary of Energy under Bill Clinton, and Two-term governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011 — but, he also kept showing up in Epstein’s orbit.
The Epstein Files have his name in contact records, flight logs, and meeting schedules spanning multiple years. At least 9 documented meetings with Epstein happened after the 2008 Florida conviction—the one that should have made any respectable politician run the other way.
One of those meetings was a visit to Little Saint James in 2010, that’s Epstein’s private island, and Richardson was still governor at the time.
The “Z” of Zorro Ranch. Epstein’s nod to the fictional vigilante.
Sworn Testimony, not Speculation
In a 2016 deposition, Giuffre testified that Ghislaine Maxwell directed her to give Richardson a “massage” at Zorro Ranch. In Giuffre’s world — and this is documented in multiple testimonies — ”massage” was code, it meant a sexual encounter.
Richardson denied everything of course, and a spokesperson called Giuffre’s claims “completely false”, saying Richardson had never met her and had never seen Epstein “in the presence of young or underage girls.”
Richardson died in August 2023. He was 75, and he died right as documentation of his post 2008 relationship with Epstein was starting to surface publicly. He was never charged with any crime related to the Epstein case.
The Trip Started and Ended in the Same Place
Here’s what Epstein’s own calendar shows: On August 2, 2015, he left Zorro Ranch and flew to San Jose, California. The calendar entry is EFTA00285038. Click to look.
Screenshot of Jeffrey Epstein’s internal calendar, August 2-3, 2015. EFTA00285038
He checked into the Rosewood Sand Hill hotel in Menlo Park. That afternoon he met with Peter Thiel in Palo Alto and that evening JE had dinner at Baume Restaurant on California Avenue. The guest list: Mark Zuckerberg, Joi Ito, and Reid Hoffman. (Read Joi Expose here, others to come)
The next day, August 3, Epstein flew to Burbank where he went to look at a plane for sale in Los Angeles. He took Joi Ito with him for that little errand, and then he flew back.
Back to where exactly? Well, Zorro Ranch. That’s what his itinerary tells us.
This is the part I want you to sit with — Zorro Ranch wasn’t just a stopover and it wasn’t a vacation home he visited sometimes, it was his base of operations for the whole Silicon Valley trip. He left from there and he returned there. That’s just what the calendar shows.
There’s more — a second itinerary from the same period — EFTA00344593 — confirms the schedule. A third document, EFTA00848642, shows that Peter Thiel was specifically invited to Zorro Ranch itself. New Mexico is the key.
To be clear: none of these men have been accused of any crime connected to the ranch. I’m not saying they did anything wrong there but what the documents establish is proximity. Epstein used Zorro Ranch as his home base for meetings with some of the most powerful people in tech and venture capital. That’s a fact. The paper trail proves it.
Three Names, One set of Photographs
The Epstein Files include undated photos taken at Zorro Ranch — you see the mansion and the stables with young women on horses. You see young women practicing archery with their faces redacted, presumably to protect their identities.
But 3 men are left unblurred.
Jean-Luc Brunel. Noam Chomsky. Woody Allen.
Here’s what we know about each of them in relation to the ranch:
Brunel was a French modeling agent and he was arrested in France as part of the Epstein investigation. He died in custody in 2022 — the official cause was suicide also. Not everyone believes that.
Chomsky has admitted knowing Epstein and he’s confirmed they had a relationship. But he’s always denied knowing anything about Epstein’s crimes, whether that’s plausible is for readers to decide. I know what I think.
Woody Allen has never been publicly accused of anything connected to the ranch itself, and I want to be clear about that, but he is in the photos.
None of these 3 men have been charged with any crime related to activity at Zorro Ranch. The photographs document presence and that presence, that networking, it matters when you’re trying to understand who knew what, and when they knew it.
Zorro Ranch, New Mexico
The Survivors
At least ten women and girls have said it publicly that they were trafficked to Zorro Ranch, abused there, or groomed there. Their stories span decades and you can find them in court filings, sworn depositions, trial testimony, and published memoirs.
Here are some of their names:
Annie Farmer testified at Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 federal trial. She was brought to the ranch at 16, Maxwell groped her during a massage. Epstein assaulted her and she told an FBI agent about what happened in New Mexico back in 2006.
“Jane” — a woman whose real name has never been made public — testified she was flown to the property at 14. She said she was forced to participate in orgies.
Chauntae Davies has stated she was raped at the ranch at least twice and had interactions with Bill Clinton.
Virginia Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025 and in her posthumously published memoir, she wrote that Zorro Ranch felt like “Disneyland” when she first arrived. She described manicured grounds, a tennis court, a grass airstrip, and what Epstein called his “castle.” Virginia writes that the property “had its own miniature town that housed his servants and groundskeepers.”
Rachel Benavidez was a massage therapist in Santa Fe, she was hired to work at the ranch starting in 2000. She has stated that Epstein sexually abused her — here are her words
“I ask the FBI and local law enforcement to continue uncovering the evil abuse and trafficking that took place on Zorro Ranch, and hold all those involved, who turned a blind eye, fully accountable.”
These accounts existed before Epstein died, they existed before he was arrested and they existed while the FBI was actively building its case.
The ranch was never searched and that was a choice — plain and simple.
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Sources
EFTA00285038 — August 2, 2015 itinerary: Zorro Ranch / Rosewood Sand Hill / Thiel / Zuckerberg / Ito / Hoffman / Baume Restaurant (DOJ EFTA Dataset 9)
EFTA00344593 — Corroborating August 2015 schedule (DOJ EFTA Dataset 9)
EFTA00848642 — Thiel invited to Zorro Ranch, New Mexico (DOJ EFTA Dataset 9)
Virginia Giuffre, 2016 deposition in Giuffre v. Maxwell — Richardson allegation
Virginia Giuffre, Nobody’s Girl (posthumous memoir, October 2025) — Zorro Ranch description
Santa Fe New Mexican: “Records show Gov. Richardson met with Epstein for years after conviction”
KRQE News: “Former Gov. Bill Richardson denies involvement in Epstein sex-trafficking ring” (Aug. 9, 2019)
U.S. v. Ghislaine Maxwell — Annie Farmer trial testimony (2021)
The Telegraph: ‘Playboy ranch’: the Epstein home you didn’t know existed (Feb. 20, 2026)
NBC News: ‘How Epstein lured girls to his Zorro Ranch and kept authorities away,’ March 2026
Colorado Politics: ‘New Mexico launches truth commission investigation,’ February 22, 2026
Epstein Exposed — Bill Richardson profile (1,597 documents, 6 flights)
Anadolu Agency: ‘New Epstein files reveal abuse allegations at New Mexico ranch,’ February 9, 2026