WATCH: Sen. Durbin pushes Blanche to commit to meeting with Epstein survivors
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked U.S. attorney general nominee Todd Blanche to commit to meeting with 10 survivors of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who were in the room during Blanche’s confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Blanche did not immediately agree to directly meeting with the survivors during the hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but said experts in his department and the FBI would meet with them. He added that if the survivors have lawyers, he is “prohibited from meeting directly with” them.
Durbin repeatedly pressed for Blanche himself to be in the room meeting with the survivors, arrange the meetings within 30 days and to notify the committee when they’ve occurred. Blanche said he may not be able to notify Congress if there’s an ongoing investigation.
“All these survivors who have the courage to come before this committee, have the courage to tell their terrible stories, how they were exploited,” Durbin said. “Don’t you think it’s important that we have a prompt response by our government to these survivors?”
Blanche said there would be a prompt response for the survivors.
“I assure you the FBI, who are experts in this space, prosecutors who are experts in this space and me, if necessary, will absolutely meet with them,” Blanche said.
“You had singular responsibility for these files. There’s a delay in meeting the statutory requirement of disclosure. You were involved in that. I think you ought to be part of this,” Durbin said.
“I am definitely part of it, and I have been from Day One,” Blanche responded, adding “my heart breaks for every survivor.”
“It could get done as soon as today. It could have gotten done last week. We remain available to meet with any victim or their representative at any time.”
Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former defense attorney, stepped into the role of acting attorney general after Pam Bondi was fired in early April.
Senators questioned Blanche on his relationship to the president, as well as his role in controversial decisions at the Justice Department, including high-profile indictments of Trump’s perceived foes and the government’s handling of the Epstein files. Survivors have criticized the government for mishandling the release of the files and failing to investigate leads.
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