WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met Thursday with accusers of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein following the demand by a Republican senator whose support is crucial to advancing his nomination to lead the Justice Department.
Blanche met for about an hour with a group of Epstein’s accusers at Justice Department headquarters in Washington. After the meeting, Blanche told reporters that he encouraged the accusers to come to the FBI with any information that could help investigators.
The political firestorm over Epstein has been a persistent headache for the Trump administration, which released millions of investigative documents over the last year in response to right-wing clamoring for answers about the disgraced financier’s crimes and connections to high-profile people.
The Justice Department has repeatedly said it will investigate further if new information surfaces, but the government doesn’t currently have evidence to support additional prosecutions against people tied to Epstein.
“It wasn’t all cordial,” Blanche said of Thursday’s meeting. “Because there’s something that they want that I don’t think I can give them, which is some form of justice. And I want to be able to give justice in the form of prosecutions, and maybe we can do a prosecution at some point,” Blanche said.
But Blanche added, “I don’t know.”
One accuser is disappointed in Blanche meeting
One accuser, Dani Bensky, expressed frustration after the meeting, telling NBC in an interview that it wasn’t substantive or productive.
“My mind has not been changed that he will do what is best for the American people and survivors in this country,” she said.
Earlier Thursday, Bensky told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee that women harmed by Epstein repeatedly asked to meet with Blanche “through multiple channels and he never responded.”
“We deserve to be heard directly, not dismissed and ignored,” Bensky said.
Blanche has pushed back on suggestions that the Justice Department has been dismissive of the late financier’s accusers, saying officials have spoken with more than 30 representatives of the women over the course of their sweeping review of the files.
“The Department of Justice will always meet with victims or their representatives, and if those victims or their representatives have evidence that anybody committed a crime — whether it has to do with Jeffrey Epstein or anybody else — we will of course move forward and investigate and prosecute,” Blanche told reporters.
Blanche needs key Republican support to get confirmed
The meeting came hours after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said it needed to happen before Blanche could earn his vote amid criticism from accusers about the Justice Department’s handling of Epstein’s case and a trove of files related to his sex trafficking investigation.
Without Tillis’ support, Blanche’s nomination won’t make it through the Senate Judiciary Committee, which questioned Blanche for hours Wednesday about the Epstein files as well as the creation of a fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies, a tax immunity deal for the president and a slew of other issues.
Another Republican, Sen. John Cornyn, has also expressed concern over the fund and has said he remains undecided about his vote.
Tillis indicated during Blanche’s confirmation hearing Wednesday that he was leaning toward backing Blanche, who has been leading the department in an acting capacity since April. But after lawmakers heard Bensky’s testimony, Tillis said he expected a meeting between victims and Blanche to occur before he’s “willing to vote out of this committee.”
Tillis later Thursday commended Blanche for holding the meeting, writing in a social media post, “I appreciate his willingness to directly engage and listen to them.”
After missteps by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi that enraged Trump’s base, Blanche as deputy attorney general oversaw a massive review and the release of millions of files related to the investigation into Epstein. The case has captivated internet sleuths and conspiracy theorists for years, in part because of Epstein’s connections to other powerful individuals.
Blanche has also defended the department’s staggered release of the Epstein files, a process beset by problems, including redaction errors that left exposed nude photos showing the faces of potential victims.
Blanche said during his confirmation hearing Wednesday that he takes responsibility for mistakes that were made, but noted that department lawyers were given a “herculean task” to quickly review millions of files for release. Blanche said department lawyers took pains to protect the women involved, and quickly fixed any errors that were found.
“I am sorry that in about 1% of the documents mistakes were made,” Blanche said Wednesday. “But what I will say on top of that is we put tons of resources to rectifying those mistakes immediately, including pulling down documents within minutes of being informed that there were mistakes.”