Blanche faces Epstein survivors, DOJ independence questions in Senate hearing

Danielle Bensky, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein, and former Attorney General John Ashcroft testified on the second day of Todd Blanche’s Senate confirmation hearing, sharpening the focus on how Blanche would run the Justice Department if confirmed permanently. The Senate Judiciary Committee met in Washington, D.C., with Blanche appearing as acting U.S. attorney general and President Trump’s nominee for the job.

The hearing put Blanche under pressure on the same questions that have defined the fight over his nomination: whether he would keep the Justice Department independent, what he would do about the Jeffrey Epstein files and how he would handle the Trump administration’s proposed $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. Senators also questioned Blanche about whether he would meet with Epstein survivors, a demand that went beyond procedure and into the issue of whether the attorney general would answer to victims as well as to the White House.

That risk became sharper after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said on July 16, 2026, that he would not vote for Blanche unless Blanche met with Epstein survivors. Blanche responded by saying the anti-weaponization fund was “dead” and called it a “moot issue,” trying to defuse one of the most politically charged parts of his confirmation. The answer also signaled how he might approach a Justice Department under a second Trump administration: less as a stand-alone institution and more as an arm that would move quickly to shut down a contested policy fight.

The first day of questioning had already stretched about five hours, with Blanche facing lawmakers over the Epstein files and his prior relationship with Trump and the department. Before the hearing, Blanche had been viewed as on a “glide path” to confirmation, but the second day showed that bipartisan unease had not gone away. Republican support remained in the room, yet the testimony from Bensky and Ashcroft, along with the scrutiny from senators, made clear that the central issue was not just whether Blanche would be confirmed, but whether he would preserve the Justice Department’s independence from presidential loyalty.