Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would not vote to advance President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Todd Blanche, unless Blanche meets with victims of Jeffrey Epstein and their lawyers.
Confirmation Hearing
Blanche is likely to struggle to advance without Tillis’ vote. During the second day of Blanche’s confirmation hearing, Tillis stated that he expects the meeting to occur before he is willing to vote out of the committee.
A group of Epstein survivors have said they requested meetings with Blanche for months but have not heard back. Blanche said a deputy could meet with lawyers for Epstein survivors, but he could not meet with them directly.
One of the survivors, Dani Bensky, testified that the group of survivors had not yet heard from the Justice Department about a possible meeting.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Previous Controversies
During the first day of his confirmation hearing, Blanche faced difficult questioning and criticism from Democrats and some Republicans over the Department of Justice’s rollout of the Epstein files, which left some victims’ names and photos unredacted.
Lawmakers also grilled Blanche on the creation of a $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund and resolution that gave Trump and his associates broad tax-audit immunity.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
