Group of Epstein survivors announce opposition to Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination

By Jake Tapper, Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — A group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors came out in opposition to Todd Blanche’s nomination as President Donald Trump’s permanent attorney general, citing his participation in secret White House meetings on how to contain the political fallout from the Epstein files.

In a new statement obtained by CNN, 19 women responded to The New York Times’s reporting that Blanche and other senior officials participated in Situation Room meetings to discuss how to respond to growing pressure for more transparency as the issue became a public relations crisis for the administration.

“We are deeply disturbed to learn that so many senior members of the administration gathered in the Situation Room to discuss the release of the Epstein files as a reputational problem, rather than an opportunity to pursue investigative leads and try to figure out what actually happened,” the survivors of Epstein’s abuse said in the joint statement. “These revelations confirm our worst fears about the administration prioritizing political expediency over justice for survivors and truth for the American people.”

The survivors raised specific concerns about Blanche, who played a key role in overseeing the release of the Epstein files after Congress passed a law mandating it, who has now been nominated by President Donald Trump to permanently serve as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

“We are especially concerned that Todd Blanche, the person nominated for the highest law enforcement position in the country, was at that table. Blanche has consistently minimized legitimate concerns about how the files have been handled, including problematic redactions and the exposure of survivors’ personal information. Blanche failed to deliver transparency, and he has gravely failed survivors. This is failing upward, plain and simple,” they wrote.

“We deserve better. We deserve truth, transparency, and accountability. We deserve to be taken seriously when we come forward. And we deserve an attorney general who will use the full power of that office to pursue justice, protect others, and ensure that what happened to us never happens again,” the women continued.

Liz Stein, one of the Epstein survivors who signed the letter, told CNN, “If his nomination is confirmed, Todd Blanche would be the head law enforcement agent of our country, and we have seen consistently over the past year his behavior in regards to the Epstein case is just really concerning.”

“At the end of the day we’re victims of a crime – and what is the message that we are sending to Americans in this country about how victims of crimes should be treated? This is an issue that has been laden with a ton of political emotion but if we can’t count on our government to prosecutre crimes than we’re in big trouble,” Stein said Thursday on “The Lead.”

CNN has reached out to DOJ for comment.

In response to a request for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson pointed to how Trump has said that he has been exonerated on any matters relating to Epstein, and said, “And by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him.”

The administration provided a similar statement to the New York Times.

Earlier this week, House Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters that he planned to ask Blanche to testify in front of his committee in July as part of the panel’s ongoing Epstein probe, an indication that even Republicans still have questions about how the Justice Department has handled the Epstein matter.

As the Trump administration continues to deal with the political fallout over how the files were released, the millions of documents that were withheld, and redaction issues, former Attorney General Pam Bondi has sought to distance herself from the process and testified behind closed-doors to the panel last month that Blanche was responsible for overseeing the release of the files.

“He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files,” Bondi said at the time when asked about her role in the department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

DOJ has released approximately 3 million files compelled by Congress, but Bondi was pushed to explain why another roughly 3 million have not yet been released.

Earlier this week, Comer met with roughly a dozen Epstein survivors in a private meeting, sources told CNN.

A member of the group meeting with Comer told CNN that survivors felt heard by the chairman. The survivors also told the Kentucky Republican that some of what’s been said by witnesses that his panel has interviewed has been inaccurate and this is why witnesses should be under oath and recorded.

“We have consistently looked to meet with lawmakers just to kind of explain our story and explain what our concerns are,” Stein told CNN on Thursday.

Stein continued on to say, “We were really glad that Mr. Comer was receptive to meeting with us and it was an extraordinarily positive interaction that we had with him. I think that to hear from us directly what the particular concerns were I think that it opened his eyes in a way that they haven’t been opened before.”

Many of the people testifying as part of the panel’s Epstein investigation have appeared voluntarily, which has meant that they have not had to take a formal oath before speaking to the panel. Witnesses are reminded at the start of their interviews, however, that making false statements to Congress is subject to criminal prosecution.

“We’re continuously meeting with the survivors of Epstein,” Comer, who has said he wants to eventually hold a hearing with survivors, told reporters on Tuesday.

He pointed to recent testimony from Epstein’s longtime assistant as an example of what his committee will need to fact check with the survivors.

“Chairman Comer’s goal from the start of the Oversight Committee’s investigation has been to provide transparency for the American people and accountability for survivors. We will continue to work with survivors as we conduct our review of the federal government’s handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases,” a House Oversight Committee spokeswoman told CNN.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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