The president’s attorney general pick needs unanimous support of 11 Republicans on a Senate committee. But one attached a condition to his possible ‘yes’ vote.
A Republican senator whose vote is essential to President Donald Trump’s attorney general pick said on July 16 that the nominee must meet with accusers of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) made the demand during the second day of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing in Washington.
“I’m trying to get to ‘yes,’ but this is a very important part of getting to ‘yes,’” Tillis said.
Later on Capitol Hill, Blanche told reporters that he was working on setting up such a meeting. He also said the Justice Department was committed to meet with anyone who has evidence of crimes.
Epstein accuser Dani Bensky gave tearful testimony Thursday, calling for further investigation that could lead to additional prosecutable offenders.
Afterward, the North Carolina senator gave Blanche two weeks to set a meeting with the accusers. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has also said he had not yet decided whether to vote for Blanche.
Both Tillis and Cornyn will be leaving office when their terms end in January 2027.
All 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee must vote in favor of Blanche, unless a Democrat crosses over and supports him. The July 11 death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) left Republicans with a one-seat majority over the committee’s 10 Democrats.
Presidential Cabinet nominations rarely fail. Since 1801, only two nominees for attorney general withdrew, and only one such nomination was outright rejected, Senate records show.
If the committee does approve Blanche, his nomination goes to the full Senate. There, near-unanimous support of Republicans will also be needed. The GOP holds 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats; 51 votes, or 50 votes and a tie-breaking vote by Vice President JD Vance, would confirm Blanche as the nation’s 88th attorney general.
During Thursday’s hearing on Blanche’s nomination, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee’s ranking member, said to Bensky that Blanche’s name should not be “called on the floor of the United States Senate until he meets with you.”
In her testimony to the committee, Bensky alleged that Blanche has “ignored” her and other victims who contend that additional Epstein associates besides his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell deserve to be prosecuted.
Thursday’s hearing did not include testimony from Blanche. But on Wednesday, he testified that career prosecutors in the FBI and Justice Department found no evidence of other men engaging in illegal acts with Epstein’s trafficked victims.
“That does not mean it didn’t happen,” Blanche said, adding that if anyone has information, “I beg them to come forward.”
Bensky said: “There are numerous investigative leads that must be followed, despite Mr. Blanche’s claim that there are none.”
“Epstein and Maxwell did not abuse women and children alone; they did not build their operation alone,” she said. “Others enabled these crimes, exploited victims, and avoided accountability for decades.”
By Janice Hisle
