The thread begins on July 30, 2012, with an email from Caitlin Wakefield at the Office of Governor Bill Richardson to Lesley Groff. Richardson had completed his second and final term as New Mexico governor in January 2011. His post-governorship office retained the "Office of Governor Bill Richardson" brand and kept Wakefield as staff.
Wakefield was writing to flag Richardson's upcoming Santa Fe schedule.
"Dear Leslie, Gov will be back in Santa Fe on August 6th & 7th and he wanted me to let you and Jeffrey know. He says that Woody Allen might be there at that time. Thanks, Caitlin." [EFTA00407143]
The email carried the Office of Governor Bill Richardson signature block and came from Wakefield's billrichardson.com address.
The August 7 Attempt
By August 7, Richardson was in Santa Fe. Woody Allen, who Wakefield had flagged as possibly joining, was in San Francisco and did not come to New Mexico. Groff emailed Wakefield just before noon:
"Hi Caitlin...Woody stayed in San Francisco, but Jeffrey is at the Ranch and the Governor is welcome to go visit him today there or Jeffrey says he could meet in Santa Fe tomorrow...might something work?" [EFTA00407143]
A short exchange followed. Wakefield: "Gov is flying back to Boston tomorrow." Groff: "Let Gov know JE was asking!" Wakefield: "Totally! ... Ill ask Gov. Im in MA. Waiting to hear back from him via email." [EFTA02163259]
Groff also supplied the ranch address: "49 Zorro Ranch Rd in Stanley, NM. I'm pretty sure he has been before.." [EFTA00407143]
The parenthetical is a small detail and a load-bearing one. Groff expected Richardson to know the property. The record shows her treating this as a possible follow-up visit, not a first-time trip.
The Context
August 2012. 4 years after Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida. 1 year after Richardson completed his second term as New Mexico governor. By that date, Richardson had been named in civil allegations brought by Virginia Giuffre naming him among the public figures Epstein had trafficked her to. Richardson denied the allegations publicly and continued to deny them through his death in 2023. This article is not about the merits of those allegations.
What the August 2012 thread establishes is that, 4 years into the post-NPA period, Richardson's staff was actively coordinating a visit to Epstein's private residence, and Groff treated Richardson's familiarity with the ranch as already established fact.
What the Record Does Not Show
Whether Richardson visited the ranch on August 7 or met Epstein in Santa Fe on August 8. Whether the earlier visit Groff referenced ("pretty sure he has been before") had occurred during Richardson's governorship (2003-2011) or after. The full scope of Richardson-Epstein correspondence outside this thread. Whether other emails between the Richardson office and Epstein's staff are indexed in the EFTA corpus. None of those questions is answered by the verified primary source.
Several Items Remain Open
The full Richardson-Epstein correspondence record. Any prior dated visit by Richardson to Zorro Ranch. Whether the August 2012 outreach was followed up after Richardson returned to Boston. Richardson's published schedule for August 7-8, 2012, if preserved in the Richardson archive. A complete retrieval is the next step.