Sen. Thom Tillis said Thursday his vote to confirm attorney general nominee Todd Blanche is contingent on Blanche meeting with victims of the late convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
The North Carolina Republican’s new demand creates yet another hurdle for Blanche’s confirmation, which will fail to advance to the Senate floor if one Republican on the Judiciary Committee defects — assuming all Democrats on the panel oppose him. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is also undecided.
“I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote out of this committee and I’m trying to get to ‘yes,’ but this is a very important part of getting to ‘yes,’” Tillis, who is retiring at the end of the Congress, said at the second day of Blanche’s nomination hearings.
Blanche will need to have this meeting before July 30, the likely date that the Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene to vote on whether to report Blanche’s nomination favorably to the full Senate.
The current acting attorney general was not present at the hearing Thursday, having answered questions from lawmakers for hours the day before. The Thursday hearing was instead an opportunity for outside witnesses to testify for or against Blanche’s character.
One of the witnesses, invited by Democrats, was Dani Bensky, a survivor of Epstein’s abuse whose identity was exposed as part of a botched redaction process during the release of the Epstein files that Blanche, in his capacity as deputy attorney general, oversaw.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a comment asking if Blanche would agree to meet with the victims in response to Tillis’ ultimatum. Blanche said during his testimony Wednesday that he was barred from meeting with Epstein’s victims due to his job with the Justice Department but that they were welcome to meet with DOJ staff.
The requirement to meet with victims now would likely create an unwelcome dynamic for Blanche that he might try to resist, as it would make it appear as though he is being backed into a corner and can be forced to acquiesce to senators’ demands in exchange for their votes. It would also force Blanche to hold the sensitive meeting on someone else’s terms and with the victims’ knowledge that he is doing it to earn confirmation.
It could, as well, complicate Blanche’s upcoming transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Bipartisan leaders of the panel reiterated Wednesday they intend to callBlanche to testify in their ongoing Epstein investigation soon after senators vote on his confirmation.
Tillis emerged from Blanche’s confirmation hearing Wednesday appearing almost sold, repeating Thursday he had “a positive predisposition” to vote “yes” — despite having reservations about the fate of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” While Blanche said several times the fund was “dead,” Tillis has continued to clamor for passage of legislation codifying its demise.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn’t rule out they might help make that happen to satisfy Tillis — as well as for Cornyn, who made it clear Wednesday he is not convinced a controversial Trump settlement with the IRS providing for the creation of the fund as well as wide audit protections to Trump’s family and business would not one day be revived.
“A lot of it would depend on where our conference is and if the president is going to sign it obviously,” Thune said of legislation to formally terminate the account. “But I think some of those discussions are being held.”
Cornyn and Tillis are both leaving office at the end of this Congress, with Cornyn pushed out by a Trump-backed primary challenger and Tillis deciding to retire after multiple policy breaks with the president.
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
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