Overview
- Blanche met privately with Jeffrey Epstein survivors on Thursday after Sen. Thom Tillis said he would withhold support until a meeting occurred; multiple survivors described the encounter as a perfunctory, demoralizing box‑checking exercise.
- The Justice Department said the meeting was a “productive, initial discussion” in which Blanche and senior DOJ officials urged survivors to share new evidence with the FBI and outlined next steps for investigations.
- Senators pressed Blanche at two days of Judiciary Committee hearings on redaction errors that exposed victims’ identities and on his prior role as President Trump’s personal lawyer, including a slip where he called himself Trump’s lawyer then corrected to “I was his lawyer.”
- Republicans hold a one‑vote edge on the Judiciary Committee after Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death, so a single GOP defection — notably from Sen. John Cornyn — could produce a tie that stops the nomination from advancing to the full Senate.
- Lawmakers also pressed Blanche about a disputed $1.8 billion “anti‑weaponization” settlement that he called “dead” but acknowledged might remain contractually enforceable, a point that has heightened doubts about DOJ independence and the scope of his authority.