Epstein survivors urge Tillis, Cornyn to vote against Todd Blanche
A group of survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including several who met last week with attorney general nominee Todd Blanche over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files and related investigations, urged two Republican senators to vote against confirming him in a letter Tuesday.
The survivors told Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas — both of whom grilled Blanche over his handling of the files during his marathon confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee — that their meeting with Blanche amounted to “an hour of deflection, interruption, and gaslighting.”
Tillis, who is retiring at the end of his term following condemnation from President Donald Trump for inadequate loyalty, said he would not advance Blanche’s nomination to serve permanently as head of the DOJ unless he agreed to meet with Epstein survivors. Victims of Epstein’s abuse have been vocal in their dissatisfaction over how the agency handled its Epstein investigation and its subsequent release of the related files, which publicly identified swaths of survivors against their will.
At Tillis’ urging, Blanche met on July 16 with survivors, who later blasted his behavior in the long-awaited meeting as “condescending.” In the Tuesday letter, victims told Tillis specifically they understood that his intention was for them to have a “serious and meaningful” conversation with Blanche but that what transpired was “a box-checking exercise arranged only after his confirmation was put at risk.”
“Blanche’s willingness to sit in a room with us should not matter more than how he treated us once he was there,” the survivors wrote.
Following his testimony, in response to questions for the record from lawmakers, Blanche maintained he participated in two meetings with “victims of Jeffrey Epstein or their counsel, or both,” including the meeting Friday referenced by the survivors in their letter.
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Lisa Rubin is MS NOW’s senior legal reporter and a former litigator.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
