Epstein survivors and family members stand behind former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Jeffrey Epstein survivor Dani Bensky as she speaks on the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing of Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on his nomination to become attorney general on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 16, 2026.
Ken Cedeno | AFP | getty images
Victims of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein criticized Todd Blanche after he met with the acting attorney general at the Justice Department, with a sitting senator, Thom Tillis, urging Blanche to seek Senate confirmation as the permanent US attorney general.
Those victims described Blanche as condescending and evasive and said he was motivated to speak to them face-to-face on Thursday afternoon only by President Donald Trump seeking his nomination. Senate Judiciary Committee.
“After meeting Todd Blanche, I feel even more confident in urging senators to vote against his confirmation as Attorney General of the United States,” Anne Farmer, one of those victims, said in a statement Thursday night.
Farmer said, “I found him to be arrogant, condescending, and deliberately non-committal to survivors – a stark contrast to his public testimony during his confirmation hearing.” “Pointing to the failures of the previous administration, he refused to take accountability for mistakes made under his leadership.”
But Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he appreciated Blanch’s participation, potentially clearing the way for a vote on Tillis’ nomination.
Tillis warned earlier Thursday that he was unwilling to vote to advance the nomination to the full Senate until Blanche met with Epstein’s victims.
“I expect this meeting to happen before we vote to come out of committee,” Tillis said Thursday morning.
If Tillis or any other of the 11 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee votes against Blanche, it could doom her confirmation chances as all 10 Democrats on the panel are expected to vote against her. The death of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham last weekend created a Republican vacancy on the committee.
If the Senate does not confirm Blanche, she can continue to serve as acting AG.
The DOJ said Friday morning that Blanch had “productive, preliminary discussions” with the small group of victims.
Some victims have criticized Blanch and the DOJ for poorly releasing documents about Epstein, including personally identifying information about survivors, as well as for refusing to meet with them at first.
Blanch was nominated as attorney general after Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi in April over her handling of the Epstein files.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on July 15, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Vin McNamee | getty images
Another Epstein survivor, Liz Stein, called the meeting with Blanche “disappointing” in an interview with MS Now’s “The Weeknight”.
Stein said, “It had nothing to do with us and everything to do with Blanche checking a box so she could get a promotion.”
Dani Bensky, who testified against Blanche’s nomination in the Judiciary Committee on Thursday, said in a statement, “Unfortunately, Todd Blanche treated the meeting merely as a ‘check-the-box’ exercise intended to secure votes for his confirmation.”
“He kept dancing around his words, repeatedly interrupting us and couldn’t do anything that demonstrated good faith or began to restore trust,” Bensky said.
Bensky criticized Blanch for not adequately accounting for why the DOJ “disclosed victims’ identifying information and images” in its initial release of the Epstein files.
“And he offered no credible plan to investigate and hold accountability beyond Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” Epstein’s convicted partner said.
“I hope that Senator Tillis will recognize that this meeting was inadequate,” Bensky said. “Todd Blanch is not qualified to serve as Attorney General.”
Amanda Roberts, sister-in-law of late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, told CNN in an interview that “it felt like he only had it because his hand was forceful.”
But Tillis, in one post on x After the meeting, wrote, “I commend Todd Blanch for doing what all of his predecessors over the past two decades never did: meet with the victims of Epstein’s horrific crimes.”
“I appreciate his willingness to engage with them directly and listen to them,” Tillis wrote.
A DOJ spokesperson said in an email to CNBC on Friday: “Acting Attorney General Blanch, senior DOJ officials, FBI special agents, and victim services representatives met with Epstein victims (Thursday) and had a productive, preliminary discussion.”
“Acting AG Blanch answered questions and did what was necessary to move the investigation forward,” the statement said.
The spokesperson said, “While some victims said they had not reached out to the FBI under this administration, he encouraged victims to meet with FBI investigators as a next step and attendees talked about scheduling interviews with agents after the meeting.” “The Department of Justice is committed to pursuing justice for all victims of human trafficking and sex crimes.”
It remains to be seen whether Tillis will vote to remove Blanche from the Judiciary Committee.
Both she and Texas Senator John Cornyn, a fellow Republican on the panel, also separately raised concerns about the DOJ’s creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund under Blanch.
The fund, which would have compensated alleged victims of prosecutorial overreach by the DOJ, was established as part of a controversial settlement of a lawsuit by Trump against the Internal Revenue Service over the illegal leak of his tax records by an IRS contractor.
Facing opposition from Republican senators and others, Blanch told a House subcommittee in June that the funding had been exhausted.
However, Tillis, Cornyn and other critics of the fund have raised concerns that the Trump administration could revive it.