Todd Blanche is unfit to serve as US attorney general, Epstein survivor tells Senate panel
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Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a key vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Thursday he will not vote to advance the nominee of US President Donald Trump for attorney general, Todd Blanche, unless Blanche agrees to meet with Jeffrey Epstein's victims and their lawyers.
Blanche cannot advance to a full Senate vote without Tillis' approval.
“I'm waiting for that meeting to happen before I'm willing to vote out of this committee,” Tillis said on the second day of Blanche's hearing to become the country's top law enforcement officer. “I'm trying to get a yes, but this is the most important part of getting a yes.”
Dani Bensky testified Thursday that Epstein's survivor group had not heard from the Justice Department about a possible meeting.
“Victims of crime deserve better from the top law enforcement officers in the country,” she said. “We deserve to be listened to directly, not wasted and ignored.”
Democrats have benefited from the new election of US President Donald Trump. Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche defended the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files, while National Intelligence Director Jay Clayton refused to concede that Trump had lost the 2020 election.
Blanche said Wednesday that the deputy could meet with attorneys for Epstein survivors as soon as “today,” but said he would not be able to meet with them directly.
Bensky also shared the pain Epstein survivors felt as the release of files mandated by the Epstein Transparency Act led to widespread inaccuracies.
“Todd Blanche was among the leaders in the release of nude photos of survivors, the release of Jane Does, and the disclosure of more than 100 victims' information and documents describing the terrible acts of abuse, including mine,” he said, telling the team not to confirm the nominee.
Bensky told US media that she was sexually abused by Epstein in her New York City home from the age of 17, at intervals over the course of a year. She told Reuters earlier this year that she met Epstein in 2004 after being hired to give the financier a massage.
Bensky, now a teacher, went public with his Epstein allegations in 2021. But he said it wasn't until the Justice Department began releasing Epstein's files, and unredacted documents identifying his contact information, that he began receiving violent threats on social media from several men across the country.
Blanche on Wednesday acknowledged that “mistakes were made” in the release of the files and said the department is committed to investigating and prosecuting the criminal conduct of anyone else related to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
“If we read today, if we read next week, if we read next month that we can investigate, indict and prosecute someone for the Epstein files, you better believe we're going to do that,” Blanche said Wednesday.
Tillis, Cornyn votes matter
Blanche, Trump's nominee to replace Pam Bondi as US attorney general, faced a flurry of questions on Wednesday and Tillis is one of two key Republicans who have threatened to overturn her confirmation.
Republicans held an 11-10 vote on the committee, which lost a member to the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham from South Carolina last weekend.
Democrats on the committee have pledged to oppose Blanche as well, meaning the acting attorney general cannot lose a single Republican.
On Wednesday, lawmakers surprised Blanche in the creation of a $1.8 billion US “anti-weapon” fund and a decision that gave Trump and his associates broad immunity from tax audits. Both of those deals came from an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump against the IRS.
The fund and the tax exemption decision drew bipartisan ire, as lawmakers said both were an effort to enrich Trump and his allies. After this incident, Blanche told the lawyers that the fund was dead, but she refused to write down the fund.
The Trump administration has established a $1.8 billion fund to support Americans facing political persecution at home — but there are questions about accountability and who would benefit most from the money. Andrew Chang explains how the Anti-Weaponization Fund began in the case of US President Donald Trump himself, and concerns about conflicts of interest. (Image credits: The Canadian Press, Reuters, Adobe Stock and Getty Images)
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas – who is months in office after losing the primary to Trump-backed Ken Paxton – told Reuters on Wednesday that he was still considering his vote because it was not clear to him whether the fund had actually been dropped.
If the House Judiciary Committee recommends Blanche for confirmation, the full Senate will vote, where Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats.
The second day of Thursday's confirmation hearings included testimony against Blanche's nomination from Bensky and others.
Testifying on Blanche's behalf were John Ashcroft, former attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, and Jennifer Bos, an Illinois woman whose daughter was killed in 2025.
Bos said Blanche is a strong advocate for victims of crimes committed by people who are not authorized to be in the U.S. An undocumented Mexican man has been charged with murder in the death of Megan Bos and is awaiting trial.
