Senator conditions Blanche support on meeting Epstein accusers

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he would not vote to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general unless Blanche met with Jeffrey Epstein survivors, forcing the Justice Department pick to answer to a controversy far outside ordinary confirmation politics. Blanche met with accusers for about an hour on July 16 after the request, a development that underscored how Epstein’s legacy still reaches into federal appointments in Washington.

Tillis, a Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee and a crucial vote for moving the nomination forward, said he had a “positive predisposition” toward Blanche but had not made up his mind. He described the meeting with survivors as an important part of “getting to yes,” signaling that support for a presidential nominee was not automatic even within his own party.

The demand matters because it shifts Blanche’s path from a standard partisan fight to a narrower test of how he would handle victims, abuse cases and public accountability if confirmed to lead the Justice Department. Epstein’s accusers had tried for months to meet with Blanche before Tillis intervened, and their push for recognition has kept pressure on nominees who are asked to show they understand the public’s distrust of how powerful men have been treated by the criminal justice system.

Blanche was already under scrutiny at his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where he faced Epstein-related questions and survivor Dani Bensky testified publicly against his confirmation. That hearing and the later meeting showed how the Epstein files remain politically potent long after Epstein’s death, with survivors still seeking acknowledgment and lawmakers still treating the case as a live test of judgment.

At least two Republican senators were also hedging on Blanche’s nomination, suggesting Tillis’s condition was not the only source of unease inside the GOP. If Blanche secures the votes anyway, the episode will still shape the narrative around his confirmation, because a single senator was able to turn a cabinet pick into a referendum on whether the next attorney general would engage directly with abuse survivors before taking office.