Overview
- Sen. Thom Tillis made his committee vote conditional on a face‑to‑face meeting and Blanche complied by arranging a session at DOJ on Thursday.
- Survivors who attended described the meeting as perfunctory and demoralizing and said Blanche repeatedly deflected questions about DOJ document mishandling that exposed victims’ identities.
- Attendees reported Blanche told the group that the FBI, not he personally, opens investigations and that he would not commit to new probes despite earlier interviewing Ghislaine Maxwell for hours.
- Tillis publicly praised Blanche for meeting with victims which could push him toward voting to advance the nomination but the outcome remains fragile because a single Republican ‘no’ on the Judiciary Committee can stop Blanche.
- The encounter has intensified calls for oversight and legal scrutiny of DOJ record handling, sustained litigation to force fuller Epstein file disclosures, and public pressure from survivors and some lawmakers for investigations or prosecutions.