\u00a0(The Center Square) \u2013 Texas Republicans are expressing alarm about a GOP state comptroller candidate, Don Huffines, for secretly purchasing a New Mexico ranch owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They and many others are calling for transparency and an investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Huffines\u2019 LLC purchased the ranch in 2023 with the owners\u2019 names and purchase amount kept sealed. It wasn\u2019t until after the LLC changed the name of a road and challenged property taxes in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, that through a public records request the ownership and property value were made public. Huffines\u2019 wife is listed as a trustee and his son as LLC manager, The Center Square reported.<\/a> Huffines\u2019 attorney said the proceeds of the purchase went to victims; Epstein\u2019s estate attorney in 2023 said proceeds went to cover administrative costs and creditors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Huffines, a multimillionaire and former state senator, is running a campaign on government accountability and transparency. Critics argue the campaign pledge is the opposite of his actions with the ranch purchase. He could have invited state and federal investigators onto the property to do a forensic analysis, raised the buildings where sex trafficking, rape and other crimes of violence committed against underage girls occurred, donated directly to the victims\u2019 fund, built a memorial on the property and set an example for other investors purchasing Epstein estate property, they say.<\/p>\n Among the more than three million Epstein Files released, more than 4,200 mention the Zorro Ranch purchased by Huffines. FBI witness statements include a Native American who says Epstein paid her mother to bring her and other children to the ranch for many years, where they say they were forced into sexual violence with high-profile men.<\/p>\n A woman from Cape Town, South Africa, told Sky News<\/a> Epstein repeatedly raped her, including at the ranch. The New Mexico land commissioner first called for an investigation in 2019. Investigations are being launched to find possible remains buried on neighboring state land.<\/p>\n “It shows incredibly bad judgment to be associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in any form or fashion,\u201d Wayne Hamilton, former executive director of the Republican Party of Texas, told The Center Square. \u201cIf you are buying a piece of land, the first thing that should have been done is total transparency. If the property is suspected of criminal activity, why not be transparent with state officials in New Mexico? Huffines wants to run the finances of Texas, yet he won\u2019t be transparent with his own dealings with former\u00a0Epstein\u00a0assets.\u201d<\/p>\n Tarrant County precinct chair Sheena Rodriguez, who\u2019s been advocating for trafficked children for years, told The Center Square, \u201cIt\u2019s a glaring indictment that Huffines would purchase property where girls were raped and tortured. If you were willing to do that for a good investment what else are you willing to do? We are dealing with people who live in an elitist world who don\u2019t have to worry about the price of groceries going up. They have no moral qualms about investing in property where atrocities occurred.<\/p>\n \u201cThe comptroller manages state money for the eighth-largest economy in the world. As a taxpayer, how can I trust someone to manage our money when he\u2019s making decisions like this with his personal business? He\u2019s appearing to show that his so-called Christian values don\u2019t care about sexual violence committed against innocent girls.\u201d<\/p>\n A lifelong conservative Republican and leader in Marion County, Hunter Bonner told The Center Square, \u201cI am at a loss as to why any person, who considers themselves a Christian, would want to spend one dime on anything that was previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein, other than to turn it over to law enforcement for a complete forensic investigation.\u00a0That property was owned by a disgusting creature involved in the sex trafficking and abuse of children.\u201d<\/p>\n Judy Adams, a Denton County Republican Party precinct chair, told The Center Square that when Huffines was a state senator, he helped \u201cflip his district blue.\u201d Secretively purchasing the Epstein ranch \u201cis deeply troubling. Buying the property anonymously through a newly created LLC \u2026 raises serious ethical questions about his intentions and transparency\u201d and \u201cabout his dedication to the constituents he claims to serve, and none of this aligns with true conservative principles.\u201d<\/p>\n Mary Ann Jackson, a Harris County Republican Party precinct chair, said the revelations are \u201cdisgusting and disheartening\u201d after she\u2019s been \u201cworking hard to help the Texas Republican Party. Christian conservatives are tired of all the corruption and deceit. How could a candidate running for Texas Comptroller send out flyers about how he is going to \u2018expose government corruption\u2019 cover up his own personal [purchase of Epstein property]? Why not stay away from any connection to Epstein who is the epitome of a reprobate mind? If you couldn\u2019t pass on such a financial deal, why wouldn\u2019t you invite law enforcement to investigate the sex trafficking allegations around that ranch?\u201d<\/p>\n Lynn Davenport, a former Dallas County GOP precinct chair and delegate to the Republican Party state convention,\u00a0has criticized<\/a> Huffines, her former state senator, for investing<\/a> in a biotech company that uses cells from baby hearts under 30 days old while claiming to be pro-life. She\u2019s taking issue with Huffines \u201crefusing to speak about his intentions for the property in the wake of questions surrounding potential burials of victims allegedly on the property under Epstein\u2019s ownership.\u00a0If he purchased the property for altruistic reasons to donate to the victims, why all the secrecy? He is running for Texas comptroller on a platform of transparency. I\u2019m not buying it.\u201d<\/p>\n