A group of women who survived Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse has released a video calling on senators to vote against Todd Blanche’s candidacy to become the next attorney general over his alleged mishandling of the Epstein files.
President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Justice has occupied the role on an acting basis since Pam Bondi’s firing in April and is now in contention to secure the job permanently, pending approval by a majority of lawmakers in the upper chamber of Congress this week.
However, Blanche was the face of the DOJ’s release of federal iestigative material on the late billionaire pedophile following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November, a chaotic process that saw the publication of around 3.5 million documents in three tranches across December and January and attracted complaints about redacting errors.
In the video published by the campaign group World Without Exploitation, the survivors state that their identities and personal information were disclosed in the files against their wishes, saying their privacy had been compromised and their safety put at risk and appealing to senators to vote against Blanche, whom they hold responsible for the blunders.
“Todd Blanche had a duty to protect us,” they say in the clip. “Instead, he protected the people who committed crimes against us.”
The survivors also express scorn for Blanche’s claim that there are “no investigative leads” for the DOJ to follow up, despite what they characterize as “a mountain of evidence” being made available about Epstein and his network of wealthy co-conspirators.
“He failed victims everywhere,” they contend. “Vote no on Todd Blanche for attorney general.”
Speaking on NBC News after the release of the video, survivor Liz Stein said Blanche’s potential promotion was “beyond concerning to us,” claiming he had shown little interest in pursuing justice for the victims.
Fellow survivor Joanna Harrison said she had felt “forced” to lead a public life as a campaigner as a result of having her identity exposed by the files, saying the release had been re-traumatizing for her, rather than cathartic.
Stein also criticized Blanche’s decision to interview Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in prison in Florida last summer, after which she was relocated to another facility in Texas, stating that Maxwell has a history of proving herself an unreliable witness.
Senate Judiciary Democrats have meanwhile revealed they have invited another survivor, Danielle Bensky, to testify as part of a panel of outside witnesses Thursday, a day after Blanche appears before the senators, to outline her objections to his permanent appointment.
Announcing the invitation, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement: “Dani Bensky is a brave survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s horrific crimes.
“Her name has been included in multiple batches of released Epstein Files, due to Todd Blanche’s failures. She’s attempted multiple times to redact her information without success.”
Durbin added that his committee’s minority witness list will also include former DOJ pardon attorney Liz Oyer, who, he said, had been “fired by Blanche for refusing to rubberstamp gun ownership rights to Mel Gibson, a convicted domestic violence abuser and friend of Donald Trump.”
Bensky and Oyer “will offer compelling testimony about the dangers of Todd Blanche weaponizing the Justice Department in service of Donald Trump, rather than the American people,” Durbin said.
