Sen. Tillis Won’t Back Blanche As Trump AG Unless He Meets With Epstein Victims
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., won’t vote for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to move forward unless Blanche meets with victims of Jeffrey Epstein, Tillis said Thursday, after Blanche claimed to lawmakers Wednesday he would meet with Epstein victims “today” if he could—but one of those victims testified Thursday he’s never made an effort to reach out.
Tillis said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing he has “not made a final decision” on whether to vote for Blanche’s confirmation and, referring to Blanche meeting with Epstein victims, said he “expect[s] that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote [Blanche] out of this committee.”
Blanche’s nomination as attorney general has to first be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee before going to the full Republican-controlled Senate for a vote.
Epstein victims have long protested they’ve been unable to meet with the Justice Department about Epstein and the Epstein files, which victims complained included some of their information.
Blanche testified during his confirmation hearing Wednesday he was willing to meet with victims and their counsel, flip-flopping after previously claiming during the hearing he legally wasn’t allowed to meet with the victims directly.
Epstein victim Dani Bensky sharply criticized Blanche to the committee Thursday for not communicating with her and other survivors, saying the acting AG has “simply ignored us for the last eight months” and “been radio silent.”
The Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment.
“I’m trying to get to yes, but this is a very important part of getting to yes,” Tillis said Thursday about his condition that Blanche meet with Epstein victims, noting he has a “positive predisposition” toward the nominee. “If he said he could do it today, then he can certainly do it over the next two weeks,” Tillis added about Blanche meeting with victims.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Blanche’s confirmation in two weeks. Republicans only hold a one-seat majority on the committee after Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died over the weekend, making Tillis’ vote crucial to moving the nomination forward.
In addition to Tillis, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also expressed reservations about Blanche. Cornyn, who also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters Wednesday he still remained undecided about approving Blanche after questioning the acting AG during his confirmation hearing, saying he still needs better assurances from Blanche that the DOJ will not move forward with its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for political allies of President Donald Trump.Tillis and Cornyn have emerged as two of the GOP senators who are now considered to be potential swing votes when it comes to approving Trump administration policies and personnel, as both will leave the Senate at the end of this term.
Blanche gave conflicting information Wednesday when it came to meeting with Epstein victims. Under questioning from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Blanche claimed he could not meet with survivors directly if they have attorneys, saying, “If they have lawyers, as you know, I’m prohibited from meeting directly with them.” Blanche said other people at the DOJ could meet with victims if they’re represented by counsel—but also in the same exchange suggested he could meet with them as well, contradicting himself by saying, “I can meet with them. My staff will meet with them.” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., went on to tell Blanche during his questioning that the acting AG’s claims he could not meet with victims directly are “utter nonsense” and not based on any legal statutes. Blanche then appeared to backtrack and suggest he was allowed to meet with victims directly when questioned about the issue by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who also challenged Blanche’s previous assertions that he wasn’t allowed to meet with victims directly. “I never said I can’t meet with them,” Blanche said, claiming he only said before that he had to “meet through counsel” if they have lawyers. “Of course I can meet with them, I’m the acting attorney general of the United States, so yes I can.” The nominee also suggested the DOJ could swiftly meet with victims, telling Durbin, “It could get done as soon as today. It could have gotten done last week. We remain available to meet with any victim or their representative at any time.”
Epstein survivors have repeatedly pushed back when DOJ officials have suggested they’ve met with the victims or their counsel. After Blanche claimed in a previous hearing he had spoken with victims, a group of victims released a statement debunking his comments and making clear they had not met with any DOJ officials, adding, “We should not have to be this persistent to engage with DOJ.” In her testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Bensky denounced Blanche and said his comments Wednesday saying he’d meet with victims were “the first time that that was ever communicated to us.” Saying survivors had been “dismissed and ignored” by the DOJ, Bensky told lawmakers, “Todd Blanche has never attempted to listen to us, the crime victims. Survivors in this room repeatedly asked to meet with Todd Blanche, through multiple channels. He never responded.” Bensky also argued the Trump administration was refusing to look into “investigative leads” into people who could be prosecuted, which could be gathered by speaking with the victims, and slammed the DOJ for victim information that was not redacted in the Epstein files. While Blanche said during his confirmation hearing the DOJ had officials working “24/7” to quickly fix issues with redactions, Bensky argued that was “untrue,” as she and other victims had to repeatedly “beg” the DOJ to remove their information and wait months for issues to be fixed.