Washington — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Thursday he will not support moving Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination forward in the Senate Judiciary Committee unless Blanche first meets with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse.
Tillis raised the condition during the second day of Blanche’s confirmation hearing, where five witnesses testified about his nomination to lead the Justice Department. One of them was Dani Bensky, whose name and personal information were inadvertently disclosed in Justice Department documents released last year connected to the federal investigation into Epstein.
Tillis, whose Senate term runs through early January, said he is inclined to view Blanche favorably but has not decided whether he will ultimately back the nomination.
“Mr. Blanche said very quickly yesterday that he would meet with the victims, the Epstein victims, today if it could be arranged,” Tillis said at Thursday’s Judiciary Committee hearing. He noted that the committee is not expected to vote on Blanche’s nomination for at least two weeks and said he expects such a meeting to take place before then.
“Because it seemed to me that Mr. Blanche was willing to say that he would meet with them and counsel — I understand the restriction that counsel has to be present — I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote out of this committee,” Tillis said. “I’m trying to get to yes, but this is a very important part of getting to yes. 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.”
Speaking with reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Blanche said he had been meeting with senators and had attempted to adjust his schedule so he could sit down with the survivors.
“I’ve been here waiting. It didn’t work out,” Blanche said. “So, we’re going to see if there’s a way we can meet either later today or sometime soon.”
A Justice Department spokesperson later said Blanche’s meeting with the survivors had been rescheduled for Thursday afternoon.
“As the Acting Attorney General said yesterday during his hearing, he would meet with victims and their counsel. DOJ leadership has already spoken with nearly 30 attorneys and organizations representing Epstein victims, including World Without Exploitation, and we have always encouraged any victim with new evidence of a crime to speak with the FBI,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson continued: “After today’s hearing on Capitol Hill, Epstein victims indicated to DOJ representatives that they wished to meet with the Acting Attorney General today, not with staff. He was already in the building for previously scheduled meetings with Senators and was able to rearrange his schedule, offering to meet with victims on the Hill, as everyone was in the same location. Unfortunately, after heading to the meeting room, the Acting AG was informed that the victims were unable to attend, so the meeting was rescheduled for this afternoon. He looks forward to their discussion.”
The acting attorney general must secure the votes of both Tillis and GOP Texas Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. The Judiciary Committee is divided between 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats following the unexpected death of GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Saturday.
Tillis is not running for reelection, and Cornyn lost his Senate primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was endorsed by President Trump.
During Thursday’s hearing, Bensky told the committee that her name was among the names of more than 350 survivors of Epstein’s crimes that were submitted to the Justice Department for redaction before it released its Epstein files in December.
Bensky said in a written opening statement that she and other survivors contacted former Attorney General Pam Bondi and Blanche, but they never responded to the requests or met with them.
During questioning from senators Wednesday, the first day of his confirmation hearing, Blanche told the Judiciary panel that “mistakes were made” during the release of the Epstein files and he apologized to survivors whose personal information was erroneously not redacted in the documents. When asked whether he would meet with the survivors, Blanche said Justice Department staff was available to meet with them.
“I have never said I will not meet with survivors,” he said, adding that he is “prohibited from meeting directly with them” and must go through their lawyers first.
In addition to questions about the Justice Department’s handling of the release of the Epstein files, senators also pressed Blanche about a deal reached with Mr. Trump to settle a $10 billion civil lawsuit he filed against the Internal Revenue Service in January over the leak of his tax returns by a government contractor.
As part of the settlement, the Justice Department agreed to create a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and granted Mr. Trump, his two older sons and his companies immunity from audits and investigations related to tax returns already filed.
Facing a backlash over the “anti-weaponization” program from Republicans and Democrats alike, Blanche told the committee that the fund “doesn’t exist anymore” and is “dead.” But the immunity provision for Mr. Trump remains intact.
Cornyn has expressed repeated concern about the settlement, telling reporters that “part of the problem is that the release that he signed is so broad.”
“It really extends beyond the parties to the lawsuit, which strikes me as a bad idea, and it also seems to extend beyond Treasury and the IRS,” Cornyn said. “He said he didn’t read it that way, but I can read, too.”
Cornyn called Blanche a “very impressive guy,” but he added that “to be attorney general of the United States, you have to walk a very narrow path between being the chief law enforcement officer of the country and then being the president’s guy.”
“Seems to me that particularly on the tax case, that he certainly leaned in to help the president beyond what was necessary to resolve the case,” he added.
Cornyn said Thursday that he remains undecided on Blanche’s nomination, and won’t decide until it’s time to cast his vote on the committee.
Tillis has maintained that he’s leaning yes on Blanche’s nomination, but also won’t support him without certainty that the “anti-weaponization fund” won’t reemerge. The North Carolina Republican indicated to reporters Wednesday that he needed the president to endorse a legislative fix to guarantee that a bill could make it through the House, after suggesting the Senate could pass it via unanimous consent.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune appeared less confident. Asked by reporters Thursday morning whether it could pass by unanimous consent, and whether the president would sign it, the South Dakota Republican replied, “I don’t know.”
contributed to this report.
