House Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky said Wednesday he wants Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to testify in the panel’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation “as soon as possible.”
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the Oversight Committee’s top Democrat, agreed that Blanche must answer members’ questions “immediately” about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files.
Their comments come as Blanche, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, is across the Capitol testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senators hope they can confirm Blanche before they leave for the August recess, and Comer said Blanche could sit for a transcribed interview with the Oversight panel “as soon as his confirmation is completed.”
Blanche, as deputy attorney general, oversaw a haphazard release of the Epstein files that was plagued by delays and botched redactions. Ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi, in her recent transcribed interview with the Oversight Committee, pinned blame on Blanche for the issues with the rollout.
“Quite frankly, [Blanche] should have been in front of us before the confirmation,” Garcia told reporters, adding that his Democratic colleagues in the Senate were prepared to slam Blanche with questions on his role in the Epstein investigation throughout his confirmation process.
The Oversight Committee is currently questioning former Goldman Sachs senior counsel Kathy Ruemmler, who stepped down as the firm’s top lawyer following growing controversy over her emails with Epstein. Comer told reporters that the committee was prepared to question Ruemmler on her continued ties to Epstein in the later part of the convicted sex offender’s life, including the gifts she received from him.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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