Todd Blanche Backtracks After Promising to Meet Epstein Survivors

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche tried to claim at his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday that he was committed to meeting with Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, but quickly backtracked. 

“When it comes to the victims of this horrible man, we will never, never not talk to victims. We will never not do everything we can to prosecute anybody that committed any crimes against any of these women,” Blanche told the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

But when pressed by Democratic Senator Richard Durbin on why he hasn’t met with Epstein survivors yet, and whether he’ll commit to doing so in the next 30 days, he struggled to answer. 

“If they have lawyers, as you know. I’m prohibited from meeting directly with them,” Blanche said. “I have met with counsel for survivors, as have many people in the Department of Justice. But if they are represented by counsel, we will work with their counsel.”

“It can get done as soon as today. It could have gotten done last week. We remain available to meet with any victim at any time.”

That’s not what Epstein’s survivors say. In May, Blanche said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that he had met with survivors and their lawyers, drawing an immediate statement from 18 of Epstein’s victims, who said he was lying. 

“Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has not met with any of us. As survivors, we previously sought a meeting with former Attorney General Bondi and Department of Justice officials, but no meeting occurred,” the survivors said. “We should not have to be this persistent to engage with DOJ—the department responsible for handling the Epstein files, protecting their privacy, and answering for years of secrecy and failure.”

Last month, 19 victims came out publicly against Blanche’s attorney general nomination after a New York Times report revealed he was among the Trump administration officials who met in the White House Situation Room to discuss how to respond to public pressure for more transparency on the government’s Epstein files.  

These survivors have multiple grievances against Blanche for inconsistent redactions on the released files, which have put some of them in danger after exposing their names, personal information, and illicit photos.

“We are especially concerned that Todd Blanche, the person nominated for the highest law enforcement position in the country, was at that table. Blanche has consistently minimized legitimate concerns about how the files have been handled, including problematic redactions and the exposure of survivors’ personal information. Blanche failed to deliver transparency, and he has gravely failed survivors. This is failing upward, plain and simple,” the women said last month. ...