Todd Blanche met with Epstein survivors at Justice Department headquarters on Thursday afternoon, after a Todd Blanche Epstein file meeting demand emerged during his confirmation hearing. The meeting came with a Senate Judiciary Committee vote expected on July 30.
Thom Tillis said on Thursday morning, during the second day of Blanche’s confirmation hearing, that he expected Blanche to meet with survivors before he would vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Tillis said, “There should not be any reason why, based on what Mr. Blanche said yesterday, if he said that he would do it today, then he can certainly do it over the next two weeks.”
Justice Department headquarters
Blanche met with Dani Bensky, Sky Roberts and other survivors at Justice Department headquarters late Thursday afternoon. Bensky later said the meeting left her and other survivors feeling betrayed.
She said Blanche treated the session as a “check-the-box” exercise intended to secure votes for his confirmation. Bensky also said he did not adequately account for the release of materials that exposed survivors’ identifying information and images, and that he offered no credible plan to pursue accountability beyond Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Dani Bensky and Sky Roberts
During the meeting, Blanche told the group, “I’m not asking you guys to commit to anything today, and I don’t expect that I have to commit to anything, too.” When Roberts asked, “What do you need from us to help you open an investigation?” Blanche replied, “I need testimony and evidence.” He also said, “The FBI has the power to open investigations, not me,” and, “I’m just the attorney general.”
Blanche attended with Alessandra Serano and other DOJ and FBI personnel. He whispered to Roberts that he empathized with him because Blanche had lost his sister too.
July 30 vote
After the meeting, Blanche said, “It wasn’t all cordial,” and added that he wanted to give justice in the form of prosecutions. He said, “And I want to be able to give justice in the form of prosecutions, and maybe we can do a prosecution at some point,” then followed with, “I don’t know.”
The sequence leaves the confirmation process pointed at the July 30 committee vote, with survivors saying they heard no commitment on an investigation and Blanche saying he could not open one himself. For Blanche, the next step is whether his answers to the committee satisfy senators who tied his meeting with survivors to his path forward.
