July 17, 2026 • 22 mins
After Republican Senator Thom Tillis demanded Acting Attorney General finally meet with Epstein survivors as a condition for his vote to confirm him, Todd Blanche sat down with several of the women at the Justice Department; it didn’t go well. Several of the women said they were even more convinced that Blanche should not become our next Attorney General, some calling him evasive at best, abrasive and condescending at worst. Blanche had a much different way of characterizing the meeting, calling it “productive”. Blanche’s nomination is not a given, just one Republican “no” vote will end his path to AG.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, that folks. It is Friday, July seventeenth, and Epstein
survivors have been begging and leading for a meeting with
Attorney General Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. They finally got
the meeting yesterday. It probably made things worse. And with that,
welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Rom. I
(00:24):
only say that as a matter of all the reports
that are coming out about the meeting, No excuse me,
I shouldn't say reports about people who are in the
meeting are directly reporting what happened in there and did
sound like it went great?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, I actually was nodding my head when you made
that statement, because that is the best way to put it.
In fact, several of the Epstein survivors who came out
from that very meeting it was about an hour long,
happened at the Justice Department, said they're even more convinced
now that he should not become the next Attorney General
(00:55):
of the United States.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
As crime and how could you possibly make this word
opportunity that appears to have been missed ropes.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yes, because it appears to have been contentious. And it's
interesting because when you hear his version of how he
thinks things went. It is directly opposed to what the
survivors came out and said in terms of how they
think it went.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
He still didn't make it sound like a wing great.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Right, but it was a lot sunnier because he used
the word productive.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yes, that was not a word used by any of
the survivors. And look, I do think it's important to
note how this meeting came about, because it wouldn't have
happened if it hadn't been for Republican Senator Tom Tillis.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
That's the truth.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
So you're telling me he didn't do this out of
the goodness of his heart.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
No, he was forced to change of heart.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Nothing.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Nope. So here's the deal.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
There was literally a demand by Tom Tillis of Acting
Attorney General Todd Blanche to meet with these victims because
they in his confirmation hearings.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
This week.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Ten Epstein survivors attended the hearing. They were holding up
pictures of themselves as young girls when they were abused
by Epstein, and including a Virginia Geuphra's family they were
there as well, and one of them testified and she
talked about how they had been trying for months and
(02:23):
months and months to meet with Blanche, who they claim
has refused to meet with him. He claimed that he
wasn't allowed to if they had representation.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
He made up all of these excuses.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
But at the end of the day, after hearing directly
from a survivor, that is when Senator Tillis said, guess what,
I'm not going to vote for you.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
I'm not going to vote to confirm or to get
you out.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Of this committee unless you meet with them, and it
needs to happen before I vote.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
I look, this is a Republican from North Carolina who
if he decides not to vote for Blanche, Blanche is
not even going to get a vote in the full Senate.
This thing ain't even getting out of committee now, Robes,
I haven't seen reaction. Please tell me if you have
to the survivors their reaction to Tillis, because this is
(03:15):
something Robes. It doesn't seem like this was coordinated. I
don't even know if he had planned this or he
was just moved kind of in this hearing. But Robes,
he is solely responsible for them getting the meeting they've
been asking for. I know it didn't go well, but
that's kind of a big deal.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
It is a big deal. But it also is incredibly
sad to think that it took him having skin in
the game, so to speak. So Blanche knew that if
he didn't have this meeting, he was literally not going
to become Attorney General. That sucks and that is the
only reason why he agreed to this meeting. And then
when he had the opportunity, if you are willing to
(03:53):
take the version from the survivors themselves, he had this
opportunity and he blew it. He blew it, and here's
the deal. Unfortunately, I say unfortunately for the survivors. Tillis
already reacted to the meeting, and everyone said what they
thought happened to the meeting or their reaction to the meeting.
He put this out on social media and said, I
(04:15):
appreciate his meeting Todd Blanche's willingness to directly engage and
listen to him. He's signaling that because Blanche took the meeting,
he's likely to vote to confirm him, or to at
least allow the vote to take place on the floor
of the Senate. We will get into later in this
episode why that's still not or at least his confirmation
(04:38):
is still not a sure thing, because this is a
razor thin margins Republicans have because of the passing of
Lindsay Graham. So there's a lot going on that contributed
to what we saw happened yesterday. I think we should
start maybe with the survivor's account of what or how
they said this meeting went, and I should mention the survivor,
(04:59):
Danny Bea. She is the one who testified in front
of the committee, and it was her testimony that we
do believe it was an impromptu thing that elicited this
demand from Tillis. But she said that and she broke
down in tears when she was testifying. She said that
her name was not redacted from the Epstein files. She
said her phone number, her address, her place of work,
(05:22):
all of it out there for everyone, and it was humiliating.
She said hundreds of victims were in the same situation
she is. She said, they've been receiving threats. Some people
have lost their jobs, certainly they've lost their confidentiality and
their privacy. And I think after hearing her emotional testimony,
that is what had Tillis so upset that he demanded
(05:42):
Blanche actually meet with these survivors because she said, he's
never even responded to their request. Is that unthinkable to
you that the acting Attorney General hasn't even responded to
repeated requests of a meeting.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I mean, I don't know what their calculations are, but
they have always has been trying to distance this administration
and in particular, this president, from Jeffrey Epstein. I'm sure
they were making I'm not saying it was right, but
it makes sense given what we have seen, that they
would refuse to have the meeting. It makes yeah, It's
in line with how they roll. Not to respond. That's
(06:18):
just a matter of I don't even I don't even
respect to you as a human, I don't care about
you and what you've gone through. That is the other
level of not even just to give an answer or response.
And I guess I don't know if something got lost,
but if that is actually true, I don't know that.
I mean, hollow. How shitty do you have to be
to a person who has sexually abused that you won't
even respond to their request for a meeting?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
That's ah and the place.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And one, and the question is should that person then
become the Attorney General of the United States? And that
is what is at stake. So after the meeting, Bensk
had this to say. She said that Blanche treated the
meeting as quote, a mirror check the box exercise, intended
to secure votes for his confirmation. He danced around his wording,
(07:07):
repeatedly interrupted us, and could not commit to anything that
would demonstrate good faith or even begin to restore trust.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Was the first part that I said. Treated it like say.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
That again, Blanche treated it as a mirror check the
box exercise, intended to secure votes for his confirmation.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Here's the thing, Robes, we all know that's exactly what
it was. He had an opportunity to turn it into
something else. He didn't have to treat it like that.
We know that he was doing something he was forced
to do, understood, But Roes, he could have He could
have done something so wonderful in there with those women.
Just to sit and listen. If you gotta get yelled at,
(07:47):
if you got to get cursed out, sit there and
you take it, and you respect what these folks went
through and have continued to go through, and how they
continue to be revictimized. Just to blow it in that way,
we all, no, you're forced to be there we get it.
You don't have to act like it.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
See, And that's exactly what I was going to say.
The fact that he.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Acted like it is what's so disturbing to me. And
like you said, he had such an opportunity. Can you
imagine if those women came out and said, Wow, the
first time we feel heard, for the first time, we.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Feel seen by this administration.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Correct, correct, and look the survivor Ani Farmer. I got
chills reading how she described because to your point about
him even.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Acting like he was forced when he sat down.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
She said, this is She's the one who said she's
even more confident in urging senators to vote against his
confirmation as the United States Attorney General. She said, I
found him abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors, a
market contrast to his public testimony during his confirmation hearing.
(08:53):
She's saying, the man they saw behind closed doors was
not the man who was up there testifying in of
that committee to try and secure his nomination.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Even for pr reasons, he should have gone and performed better.
This could have helped him if they came out of there,
whoa what if they walked out of there and did
a press conference together. What if right? There are images
of him embracing them in some way, holding hands, just
sitting and listening something. Yes, you could have dismissed it
as just pr but this was the better way to go.
(09:24):
It's just it was Robes. They got such an opportunity
and the White House administration blew it. This. I don't
this is disappointing.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yes, and I also thought this was interesting. She made
a point, and I would have liked to have heard
his answer. So Annie Farmer, her sister Mary, was also
an Epstein survivor, and she, of note, is the first
known official accusation against Jeffrey Epstein of child sexual abuse.
Guess what year Annie Armor's sister Mary went to the
(10:02):
FBI or went to law enforcement and said Jeffrey Epstein
sexually assaulted me. Guess when her complaint was nineteen ninety six.
Her complaint was the first known and it was an
official accusation to the FBI, and she said she wanted
she wanted to ask Blanche to investigate why her sister's
(10:26):
claims were never followed up on, and she said that
Blanche would not commit to any investigation into why her
sister's complaints weren't heard. Isn't that the crux of the problem.
Isn't this what these survivors are trying to uncover? Why
did the government turn a blind eye to something they
(10:49):
were told was happening to young women? And that is
a fair question. And why wouldn't you even be open
to investigating the why?
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Now? I from another standpoint on this one, at least
I could see why in a one hour meeting that
was put together pretty hastily. Sure he couldn't commit in
the moment to say yes, yes, yes, yes that I
can understand a little. You can still answer the question better.
We've seen this plenty of times and commit. You know what, Senator,
I'm not sure now. I must haves here. We'll get
(11:22):
back to you on that. You know what, I promise
we will follow up on. You can absolutely time.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yes, I get what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
He couldn't say one hundred percent, let's start this investigation now.
But I think there could have been an acknowledgment by everyone.
No one was expecting this meeting. It was impromptu. But
you know what, I think those are serious accusations that
absolutely need to be looked into. And you can be
assured this is going to be on my list of
what I'm going to be looking into when I.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Become attorney general. He could have said that, but that
would have been a lie.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's the problem, right, And she went on to say
his evasiveness felt like a deliberate attempt to claim that
the Attorney General's office is powerless in this matter by
passing the bunk once again, because he kept telling them
just go to the FBI, Just go to the FBI.
And she's like, yeah, my sister did where did that
get her? So she said, he is once again leaving
(12:11):
survivors trapped in the same endless loop of searching for
answers and receiving none. You have talked about this endless loop.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
This is what was the thing that you just said, ropes.
He said, go talk to the FBI. Yeah, don't you
hate being pasted her? It's like getting customer service.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yes, that's exactly what it's like. They're like, yeah, well,
I'm going to transfer you.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
That's what He's just transferring them, and they're in a
loop and they can't get out of this loop. And
we've all been there with other much less serious issues
that are frustrating.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
This is devastating, hod Blands. We have him in front,
We have him in front of us. He's sending us
to cash Betel to get answers.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Oh wow, when you put it like that, I can
understand the frustration. All right, When we come back, we
just told you how the survivors depicted that meeting at
the Justice Department on Thursday. When we come back, we're
going to tell you about Blanche's very different take on
the meeting and why his nomination is still in jeopardy
(13:13):
even if Senator Tom Tillis votes to confirm him. Welcome back,
everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. We are
talking about the Well, it depends on who you ask.
I wanted to say contentious meeting between Epstein's survivors and
(13:39):
want to be Attorney General Todd Blanche. It was a
forced meeting, and by the survivor's accounts, he made it
very well known. He didn't want to be there and
he didn't do anything. In fact, he did everything to
make it worse instead of better.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
I didn't see any report. We talked about condescending and
that was uncomfortable, but I didn't see any reports of
yelling or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Right, Well, it's funny you mentioned that because one of
the first things that Todd Blanche said when he was
asked about the meeting when he was speaking to reporters,
he said, well, there wasn't any shouting that was literally started.
He literally said, there wasn't any shouting, that's the standard.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Well, nobody was yelling, though you knew it wasn't going to.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Go, so I actually wrote in my notes lol, like
that's that's your takeaway. He did call the meeting productive,
which flies in the face of what the survivors were
saying and what he did acknowledge.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
He said it wasn't all cordial.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
That was his nod to any contention that happened, and
then he went on to say, because there's something that
they want that I don't think I can give them,
which is some form of justice, and I want to
be able to give justice in the form of prosecutions,
and maybe we can do a.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Prosecution at some point, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
There was the non committal thing, and then I want
I want to get your take what stands out from
this next comment he said, ad Blanche said, I've said
to them the same thing I've said publicly, publicly, repeatedly,
which is what?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Which is that I want?
Speaker 2 (15:08):
And everybody at the Justice Department wants to prosecute anybody
that we can for committing crimes against any of the
Epstein victims, So I encourage them, Like I've been saying
publicly that if they have any information, they should go
to the FBI. What Yeah, But he kept saying publicly,
trying to act as if see I've I've been transparent.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
I've been saying the same thing the entire time.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
We'd love to help, but they need to take everything
to the FBI.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
I know you said publicly at least three times he did.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
He said, I've said to them the same thing I've
said publicly, publicly, repeatedly, which is that I want And
everybody at the Justice Department wants to prosecute anybody that
we can for committing crimes against any of the Epstein victims.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
So I encourage them.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I've been saying publicly that if they have the information,
they should go to the FBI.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I'm going to transfer you to the FBI. Now, hold on,
where is cash?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
The cash hotail is going to transfer them where? I mean,
what is the next thing? Where can they This is
the thing ropes you keep get. This is customer service.
Everybody keeps telling you they're not the one responsible for
your problem. They're not the one they can fix your
pa I'd love to help, Yeah, let me hold please, Hey,
take my number in case we get disconnected? Right, that
thing we all do. This is what they keep getting disconnected.
(16:34):
They keep getting somebody in front of them, making a
promise of some kind, thinking we can get help, only
to be put on hold again and again.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And for months. He wasn't even answering the phone.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
So you know, when it rings and it rings and
it rings, and no one picks up, and when they
finally do they transfer you, that feels like what happened yesterday,
which they call back.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Thing they do now, they say, if you'd rather not hold,
leave your number and we'll call you back.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
I don't trust that at all.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I wanted to get your take because this was something
else that was a sticking point for these survivors during
the confirmation hearing, and there were headlines about this. Blanche
issued what they called a rare apology to the victims,
whose names were not redacted.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Here was his quote.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I am sorry that in about one percent of the documents,
mistakes were made. But what I will say on top
of that is we put tons of resources to rectifying
those mistakes immediately.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
That was the whole statement.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I'm sorry that in about one percent of the documents,
mistakes were made.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
That's what he said.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Is that the whole statement.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Well, that was the apology. Yes, that was his apology.
That made headlines.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
We get it. Wait, headline positive headlines.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Like people were saying it was a rare apology, and
it kept saying mistakes were made.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
I saw those headlines everywhere.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
And by the way, the survivor got up there and
refuted it and said it took until April. Her name
was out in January, took until April for her name
to be taken down, and she claims some people's names
are still up. So there were no immediate rectifications of
the mistakes.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
We talk about Apollo. We hear so many public apologies
and they're done so poorly. It's not difficult. What's the
first lining in.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
It was so bad?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I am sorry that in about one percent of the documents,
mistakes were made.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I am sorry that mistakes were made that led to
someone's name and information getting out there. Publicly, and even
though it only happened in a small percentage of cases,
if it happened in even one, I can't imagine what
that person is going through. We are sorry for the mistakes,
we are getting it. That's it.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
That's how you say a couple of lines.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
He didn't say anything worse, didn't put him in any
worse situation. You just acknowledge when you say I'm sorry
that in one percent you are validated dismissive of It
doesn't matter. If there are two hundred victims and one
got the name out, it doesn't matter because you could
talk about a one percent for the person that happened
(19:06):
to it was one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah, that was rubbing salt in the wound.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I don't know how he didn't see that, but that
I didn't really realize that that's what he said. And
when I read that today, I needed to point that out.
So now Blanche's nomination is in jeopardy. As we said
at the beginning of this, so after the death of
Linda Graham, Republicans have an eleven to ten margin over
the Democrats in the Judiciary Committee. That's the committee that
(19:32):
votes to send it to the floor. So we heard
about Tillis sounds like he's going to vote to send
it to the floor because he had that meeting. However,
Texas Republican John Corny, he's been waiting for his moment.
He will decide the outcome because a single no byer
Republican literally ends Todd Blanche's chance of getting to become
(19:56):
attorney general. And let us remind you, John lost his
re election because Trump didn't like him. He was angry
about his voting and endorsed his primary challenger. So Cornyn
is going to end his political career, his long standing
political career career as a Texas Senator because of President Trump.
(20:18):
So what is Cornyn going to do? Is he going
to to push forward Trump's nominee for attorney general? Here
was his quote after the meeting. I don't have to
make a decision until the vote is called, So I'm
not ready to make the decision now.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Good yam let the White House sweat it out. That
Blanche sweated out. Good for him. Yeah, you know what this,
I'm kind of happy for it.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
It could be his final revenge parting goodbye.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Kind of happy for him. I kind of am let
him have his He is it. He is holding the
cards right now. I even if okay, let's say it
gets out of committee, it's still not guaranteed necessarily once
to get it to the full Senate, what do we
fill fifty three forty seven? But we're fifty two forty
seven because McConnell is not coming back to vote now.
(21:09):
Graham just died, but his sister is in the role now,
so I guess we could.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
She would be I think yes, she was sworn in
this week, so she's not on the committee.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
So that's yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
But when you get to the full full Senate, yes,
she's probably a solid vote. But any the margins are
thinner now, so you're fifty two forty seven. Can't lose
pretty much anybody. You can't have anybody out sick.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
It's going to be tight.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
But I am still waiting to see if this gets
out of committee.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
I am.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I am very interested to see what John Cornyn decides
to do. And I do think it's fitting that he
gets to decide. That he does have the power.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
There are some I cannot break it down and explain
it now, but there's some maneuvering the president can do
that even if attorney general are interim or acting doesn't
get approved, he can keep him some way legally in
the job, even though he's not going to officially be
the attorney general. There's some wiggle room they have for
(22:09):
extending his time there. I don't know if they are
going to do that, willing to do that. Yeah, that
probably will do that, but I don't know. It's complicated.
It's moves they can make, but and there's timing, and
there's some way they can maneuver and just keep them
there as acting or as interim. Oh wow, Oh yeah,
(22:31):
he can't make him. Oh yeah, he doesn't have the
right to officially make him attorney general. That's not what
I was saying.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
He just keep him acting attorney general for an indefinite
period of time. Well, this is certainly far from over.
We will continue to monitor the developments. We always appreciate
you listening to us. Everyone.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
I'm Amy Robot alongside TJ. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Hey, that folks. It is Friday, July seventeenth, and Epstein
survivors have been begging and leading for a meeting with
Attorney General Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. They finally got
the meeting yesterday. It probably made things worse. And with that,
welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Rom. I
(00:24):
only say that as a matter of all the reports
that are coming out about the meeting, No excuse me,
I shouldn't say reports about people who are in the
meeting are directly reporting what happened in there and did
sound like it went great?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, I actually was nodding my head when you made
that statement, because that is the best way to put it.
In fact, several of the Epstein survivors who came out
from that very meeting it was about an hour long,
happened at the Justice Department, said they're even more convinced
now that he should not become the next Attorney General
(00:55):
of the United States.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
As crime and how could you possibly make this word
opportunity that appears to have been missed ropes.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yes, because it appears to have been contentious. And it's
interesting because when you hear his version of how he
thinks things went. It is directly opposed to what the
survivors came out and said in terms of how they
think it went.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
He still didn't make it sound like a wing great.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Right, but it was a lot sunnier because he used
the word productive.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yes, that was not a word used by any of
the survivors. And look, I do think it's important to
note how this meeting came about, because it wouldn't have
happened if it hadn't been for Republican Senator Tom Tillis.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
That's the truth.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
So you're telling me he didn't do this out of
the goodness of his heart.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
No, he was forced to change of heart.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Nothing.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Nope. So here's the deal.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
There was literally a demand by Tom Tillis of Acting
Attorney General Todd Blanche to meet with these victims because
they in his confirmation hearings.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
This week.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Ten Epstein survivors attended the hearing. They were holding up
pictures of themselves as young girls when they were abused
by Epstein, and including a Virginia Geuphra's family they were
there as well, and one of them testified and she
talked about how they had been trying for months and
(02:23):
months and months to meet with Blanche, who they claim
has refused to meet with him. He claimed that he
wasn't allowed to if they had representation.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
He made up all of these excuses.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
But at the end of the day, after hearing directly
from a survivor, that is when Senator Tillis said, guess what,
I'm not going to vote for you.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
I'm not going to vote to confirm or to get
you out.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Of this committee unless you meet with them, and it
needs to happen before I vote.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
I look, this is a Republican from North Carolina who
if he decides not to vote for Blanche, Blanche is
not even going to get a vote in the full Senate.
This thing ain't even getting out of committee now, Robes,
I haven't seen reaction. Please tell me if you have
to the survivors their reaction to Tillis, because this is
(03:15):
something Robes. It doesn't seem like this was coordinated. I
don't even know if he had planned this or he
was just moved kind of in this hearing. But Robes,
he is solely responsible for them getting the meeting they've
been asking for. I know it didn't go well, but
that's kind of a big deal.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
It is a big deal. But it also is incredibly
sad to think that it took him having skin in
the game, so to speak. So Blanche knew that if
he didn't have this meeting, he was literally not going
to become Attorney General. That sucks and that is the
only reason why he agreed to this meeting. And then
when he had the opportunity, if you are willing to
(03:53):
take the version from the survivors themselves, he had this
opportunity and he blew it. He blew it, and here's
the deal. Unfortunately, I say unfortunately for the survivors. Tillis
already reacted to the meeting, and everyone said what they
thought happened to the meeting or their reaction to the meeting.
He put this out on social media and said, I
(04:15):
appreciate his meeting Todd Blanche's willingness to directly engage and
listen to him. He's signaling that because Blanche took the meeting,
he's likely to vote to confirm him, or to at
least allow the vote to take place on the floor
of the Senate. We will get into later in this
episode why that's still not or at least his confirmation
(04:38):
is still not a sure thing, because this is a
razor thin margins Republicans have because of the passing of
Lindsay Graham. So there's a lot going on that contributed
to what we saw happened yesterday. I think we should
start maybe with the survivor's account of what or how
they said this meeting went, and I should mention the survivor,
(04:59):
Danny Bea. She is the one who testified in front
of the committee, and it was her testimony that we
do believe it was an impromptu thing that elicited this
demand from Tillis. But she said that and she broke
down in tears when she was testifying. She said that
her name was not redacted from the Epstein files. She
said her phone number, her address, her place of work,
(05:22):
all of it out there for everyone, and it was humiliating.
She said hundreds of victims were in the same situation
she is. She said, they've been receiving threats. Some people
have lost their jobs, certainly they've lost their confidentiality and
their privacy. And I think after hearing her emotional testimony,
that is what had Tillis so upset that he demanded
(05:42):
Blanche actually meet with these survivors because she said, he's
never even responded to their request. Is that unthinkable to
you that the acting Attorney General hasn't even responded to
repeated requests of a meeting.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I mean, I don't know what their calculations are, but
they have always has been trying to distance this administration
and in particular, this president, from Jeffrey Epstein. I'm sure
they were making I'm not saying it was right, but
it makes sense given what we have seen, that they
would refuse to have the meeting. It makes yeah, It's
in line with how they roll. Not to respond. That's
(06:18):
just a matter of I don't even I don't even
respect to you as a human, I don't care about
you and what you've gone through. That is the other
level of not even just to give an answer or response.
And I guess I don't know if something got lost,
but if that is actually true, I don't know that.
I mean, hollow. How shitty do you have to be
to a person who has sexually abused that you won't
even respond to their request for a meeting?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
That's ah and the place.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And one, and the question is should that person then
become the Attorney General of the United States? And that
is what is at stake. So after the meeting, Bensk
had this to say. She said that Blanche treated the
meeting as quote, a mirror check the box exercise, intended
to secure votes for his confirmation. He danced around his wording,
(07:07):
repeatedly interrupted us, and could not commit to anything that
would demonstrate good faith or even begin to restore trust.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Was the first part that I said. Treated it like say.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
That again, Blanche treated it as a mirror check the
box exercise, intended to secure votes for his confirmation.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Here's the thing, Robes, we all know that's exactly what
it was. He had an opportunity to turn it into
something else. He didn't have to treat it like that.
We know that he was doing something he was forced
to do, understood, But Roes, he could have He could
have done something so wonderful in there with those women.
Just to sit and listen. If you gotta get yelled at,
(07:47):
if you got to get cursed out, sit there and
you take it, and you respect what these folks went
through and have continued to go through, and how they
continue to be revictimized. Just to blow it in that way,
we all, no, you're forced to be there we get it.
You don't have to act like it.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
See, And that's exactly what I was going to say.
The fact that he.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Acted like it is what's so disturbing to me. And
like you said, he had such an opportunity. Can you
imagine if those women came out and said, Wow, the
first time we feel heard, for the first time, we.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Feel seen by this administration.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Correct, correct, and look the survivor Ani Farmer. I got
chills reading how she described because to your point about
him even.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Acting like he was forced when he sat down.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
She said, this is She's the one who said she's
even more confident in urging senators to vote against his
confirmation as the United States Attorney General. She said, I
found him abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors, a
market contrast to his public testimony during his confirmation hearing.
(08:53):
She's saying, the man they saw behind closed doors was
not the man who was up there testifying in of
that committee to try and secure his nomination.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Even for pr reasons, he should have gone and performed better.
This could have helped him if they came out of there,
whoa what if they walked out of there and did
a press conference together. What if right? There are images
of him embracing them in some way, holding hands, just
sitting and listening something. Yes, you could have dismissed it
as just pr but this was the better way to go.
(09:24):
It's just it was Robes. They got such an opportunity
and the White House administration blew it. This. I don't
this is disappointing.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yes, and I also thought this was interesting. She made
a point, and I would have liked to have heard
his answer. So Annie Farmer, her sister Mary, was also
an Epstein survivor, and she, of note, is the first
known official accusation against Jeffrey Epstein of child sexual abuse.
Guess what year Annie Armor's sister Mary went to the
(10:02):
FBI or went to law enforcement and said Jeffrey Epstein
sexually assaulted me. Guess when her complaint was nineteen ninety six.
Her complaint was the first known and it was an
official accusation to the FBI, and she said she wanted
she wanted to ask Blanche to investigate why her sister's
(10:26):
claims were never followed up on, and she said that
Blanche would not commit to any investigation into why her
sister's complaints weren't heard. Isn't that the crux of the problem.
Isn't this what these survivors are trying to uncover? Why
did the government turn a blind eye to something they
(10:49):
were told was happening to young women? And that is
a fair question. And why wouldn't you even be open
to investigating the why?
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Now? I from another standpoint on this one, at least
I could see why in a one hour meeting that
was put together pretty hastily. Sure he couldn't commit in
the moment to say yes, yes, yes, yes that I
can understand a little. You can still answer the question better.
We've seen this plenty of times and commit. You know what, Senator,
I'm not sure now. I must haves here. We'll get
(11:22):
back to you on that. You know what, I promise
we will follow up on. You can absolutely time.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yes, I get what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
He couldn't say one hundred percent, let's start this investigation now.
But I think there could have been an acknowledgment by everyone.
No one was expecting this meeting. It was impromptu. But
you know what, I think those are serious accusations that
absolutely need to be looked into. And you can be
assured this is going to be on my list of
what I'm going to be looking into when I.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Become attorney general. He could have said that, but that
would have been a lie.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That's the problem, right, And she went on to say
his evasiveness felt like a deliberate attempt to claim that
the Attorney General's office is powerless in this matter by
passing the bunk once again, because he kept telling them
just go to the FBI, Just go to the FBI.
And she's like, yeah, my sister did where did that
get her? So she said, he is once again leaving
(12:11):
survivors trapped in the same endless loop of searching for
answers and receiving none. You have talked about this endless loop.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
This is what was the thing that you just said, ropes.
He said, go talk to the FBI. Yeah, don't you
hate being pasted her? It's like getting customer service.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yes, that's exactly what it's like. They're like, yeah, well,
I'm going to transfer you.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
That's what He's just transferring them, and they're in a
loop and they can't get out of this loop. And
we've all been there with other much less serious issues
that are frustrating.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
This is devastating, hod Blands. We have him in front,
We have him in front of us. He's sending us
to cash Betel to get answers.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Oh wow, when you put it like that, I can
understand the frustration. All right, When we come back, we
just told you how the survivors depicted that meeting at
the Justice Department on Thursday. When we come back, we're
going to tell you about Blanche's very different take on
the meeting and why his nomination is still in jeopardy
(13:13):
even if Senator Tom Tillis votes to confirm him. Welcome back,
everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. We are
talking about the Well, it depends on who you ask.
I wanted to say contentious meeting between Epstein's survivors and
(13:39):
want to be Attorney General Todd Blanche. It was a
forced meeting, and by the survivor's accounts, he made it
very well known. He didn't want to be there and
he didn't do anything. In fact, he did everything to
make it worse instead of better.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
I didn't see any report. We talked about condescending and
that was uncomfortable, but I didn't see any reports of
yelling or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Right, Well, it's funny you mentioned that because one of
the first things that Todd Blanche said when he was
asked about the meeting when he was speaking to reporters,
he said, well, there wasn't any shouting that was literally started.
He literally said, there wasn't any shouting, that's the standard.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Well, nobody was yelling, though you knew it wasn't going to.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Go, so I actually wrote in my notes lol, like
that's that's your takeaway. He did call the meeting productive,
which flies in the face of what the survivors were
saying and what he did acknowledge.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
He said it wasn't all cordial.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
That was his nod to any contention that happened, and
then he went on to say, because there's something that
they want that I don't think I can give them,
which is some form of justice, and I want to
be able to give justice in the form of prosecutions,
and maybe we can do a.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Prosecution at some point, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
There was the non committal thing, and then I want
I want to get your take what stands out from
this next comment he said, ad Blanche said, I've said
to them the same thing I've said publicly, publicly, repeatedly,
which is what?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Which is that I want?
Speaker 2 (15:08):
And everybody at the Justice Department wants to prosecute anybody
that we can for committing crimes against any of the
Epstein victims, So I encourage them, Like I've been saying
publicly that if they have any information, they should go
to the FBI. What Yeah, But he kept saying publicly,
trying to act as if see I've I've been transparent.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
I've been saying the same thing the entire time.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
We'd love to help, but they need to take everything
to the FBI.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
I know you said publicly at least three times he did.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
He said, I've said to them the same thing I've
said publicly, publicly, repeatedly, which is that I want And
everybody at the Justice Department wants to prosecute anybody that
we can for committing crimes against any of the Epstein victims.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
So I encourage them.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I've been saying publicly that if they have the information,
they should go to the FBI.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
I'm going to transfer you to the FBI. Now, hold on,
where is cash?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
The cash hotail is going to transfer them where? I mean,
what is the next thing? Where can they This is
the thing ropes you keep get. This is customer service.
Everybody keeps telling you they're not the one responsible for
your problem. They're not the one they can fix your
pa I'd love to help, Yeah, let me hold please, Hey,
take my number in case we get disconnected? Right, that
thing we all do. This is what they keep getting disconnected.
(16:34):
They keep getting somebody in front of them, making a
promise of some kind, thinking we can get help, only
to be put on hold again and again.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And for months. He wasn't even answering the phone.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
So you know, when it rings and it rings and
it rings, and no one picks up, and when they
finally do they transfer you, that feels like what happened yesterday,
which they call back.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Thing they do now, they say, if you'd rather not hold,
leave your number and we'll call you back.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
I don't trust that at all.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I wanted to get your take because this was something
else that was a sticking point for these survivors during
the confirmation hearing, and there were headlines about this. Blanche
issued what they called a rare apology to the victims,
whose names were not redacted.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Here was his quote.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I am sorry that in about one percent of the documents,
mistakes were made. But what I will say on top
of that is we put tons of resources to rectifying
those mistakes immediately.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
That was the whole statement.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I'm sorry that in about one percent of the documents,
mistakes were made.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
That's what he said.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Is that the whole statement.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Well, that was the apology. Yes, that was his apology.
That made headlines.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
We get it. Wait, headline positive headlines.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Like people were saying it was a rare apology, and
it kept saying mistakes were made.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
I saw those headlines everywhere.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
And by the way, the survivor got up there and
refuted it and said it took until April. Her name
was out in January, took until April for her name
to be taken down, and she claims some people's names
are still up. So there were no immediate rectifications of
the mistakes.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
We talk about Apollo. We hear so many public apologies
and they're done so poorly. It's not difficult. What's the
first lining in.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
It was so bad?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I am sorry that in about one percent of the documents,
mistakes were made.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I am sorry that mistakes were made that led to
someone's name and information getting out there. Publicly, and even
though it only happened in a small percentage of cases,
if it happened in even one, I can't imagine what
that person is going through. We are sorry for the mistakes,
we are getting it. That's it.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
That's how you say a couple of lines.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
He didn't say anything worse, didn't put him in any
worse situation. You just acknowledge when you say I'm sorry
that in one percent you are validated dismissive of It
doesn't matter. If there are two hundred victims and one
got the name out, it doesn't matter because you could
talk about a one percent for the person that happened
(19:06):
to it was one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Yeah, that was rubbing salt in the wound.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I don't know how he didn't see that, but that
I didn't really realize that that's what he said. And
when I read that today, I needed to point that out.
So now Blanche's nomination is in jeopardy. As we said
at the beginning of this, so after the death of
Linda Graham, Republicans have an eleven to ten margin over
the Democrats in the Judiciary Committee. That's the committee that
(19:32):
votes to send it to the floor. So we heard
about Tillis sounds like he's going to vote to send
it to the floor because he had that meeting. However,
Texas Republican John Corny, he's been waiting for his moment.
He will decide the outcome because a single no byer
Republican literally ends Todd Blanche's chance of getting to become
(19:56):
attorney general. And let us remind you, John lost his
re election because Trump didn't like him. He was angry
about his voting and endorsed his primary challenger. So Cornyn
is going to end his political career, his long standing
political career career as a Texas Senator because of President Trump.
(20:18):
So what is Cornyn going to do? Is he going
to to push forward Trump's nominee for attorney general? Here
was his quote after the meeting. I don't have to
make a decision until the vote is called, So I'm
not ready to make the decision now.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Good yam let the White House sweat it out. That
Blanche sweated out. Good for him. Yeah, you know what this,
I'm kind of happy for it.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
It could be his final revenge parting goodbye.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Kind of happy for him. I kind of am let
him have his He is it. He is holding the
cards right now. I even if okay, let's say it
gets out of committee, it's still not guaranteed necessarily once
to get it to the full Senate, what do we
fill fifty three forty seven? But we're fifty two forty
seven because McConnell is not coming back to vote now.
(21:09):
Graham just died, but his sister is in the role now,
so I guess we could.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
She would be I think yes, she was sworn in
this week, so she's not on the committee.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
So that's yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
But when you get to the full full Senate, yes,
she's probably a solid vote. But any the margins are
thinner now, so you're fifty two forty seven. Can't lose
pretty much anybody. You can't have anybody out sick.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
It's going to be tight.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
But I am still waiting to see if this gets
out of committee.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
I am.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I am very interested to see what John Cornyn decides
to do. And I do think it's fitting that he
gets to decide. That he does have the power.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
There are some I cannot break it down and explain
it now, but there's some maneuvering the president can do
that even if attorney general are interim or acting doesn't
get approved, he can keep him some way legally in
the job, even though he's not going to officially be
the attorney general. There's some wiggle room they have for
(22:09):
extending his time there. I don't know if they are
going to do that, willing to do that. Yeah, that
probably will do that, but I don't know. It's complicated.
It's moves they can make, but and there's timing, and
there's some way they can maneuver and just keep them
there as acting or as interim. Oh wow, Oh yeah,
(22:31):
he can't make him. Oh yeah, he doesn't have the
right to officially make him attorney general. That's not what
I was saying.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
He just keep him acting attorney general for an indefinite
period of time. Well, this is certainly far from over.
We will continue to monitor the developments. We always appreciate
you listening to us. Everyone.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
I'm Amy Robot alongside TJ. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Hosts And Creators
Amy Robach
T.J. Holmes
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