Blanche to meet with Epstein survivors after Tillis demand

Blanche to meet with Epstein survivors after Tillis demand.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein and their lawyers on Thursday as he faces a contentious vote on his nomination in the Senate, according to two people familiar with the situation. It was not immediately clear how long the 4:30 p.m. meeting at the Justice Department would last.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Thursday that he would not vote to advance President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general unless Blanche meets with victims of Jeffrey Epstein and their lawyers. Blanche likely cannot advance without Tillis' vote.

"I expect that meeting to occur before I'm willing to vote out of this committee," Tillis said during the second day of Blanche's confirmation hearing. "I'm trying to get to yes, but this is a very important part of getting yes."

A group of Epstein survivors have said that they requested meetings with Blanche for months but have not heard back. Blanche said on Wednesday that a deputy could meet with lawyers for Epstein survivors as soon as "today," but said he could not meet with them directly.

In the first day of his confirmation hearing, Blanche faced difficult questioning and criticism from Democrats and some Republicans over the Department of Justice's rollout of the Epstein files, which left some victims' names and photos unredacted. Republican Senator John Cornyn told Reuters on Wednesday that he was still weighing his vote because it was not clear to him that a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund had really been abandoned.