A group of Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivors are calling on senators to reject Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination amid controversy over his department’s handling of the case files.
“We were exposed. Nude pictures of victims were released. Our family safety was put at risk. Now Todd Blanche wants to be the attorney general of the United States,” the group of women said in a video posted by campaign group World Without Exploitation on Monday.
“Todd Blanche had a duty to protect us. Instead, he protected the people who committed crimes against us,” they continued.
Blanche was promoted to acting attorney general after President Donald Trump fired Pam Bondi in April. He served as deputy attorney general before that, a role he earned after working as Trump’s defense attorney in several high-profile cases.
He is set for a confirmation hearing Wednesday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senators are expected to press him on the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files, an investigation that has come under fire from all sides.
In May, his predecessor even blamed him for mishandling the releases, which included some that were held back, such as FBI interview notes with a woman who alleged Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1980s after being introduced to him by Epstein.
Blanche was also grilled last month during a House Appropriations Committee hearing, where his department was accused of withholding more than 3 million Epstein-related documents.
Among the files that were released, however, were some that exposed email addresses, nude photographs of the survivors and other information that could be used to trace them, while the names of powerful men mentioned in the documents were protected.
“Thirty years, 1,200 victims, and 6 million files — a mountain of evidence. But Todd Blanche says there are no investigative leads,” the survivors said in the video. “Todd Blanche failed us. He failed victims everywhere. We deserve better. Our country deserves better.”
Survivor Liz Stein told NBC News after the video’s release that she believes Blanche and his DOJ’s handling of the case “should be concerning to Americans everywhere.”
“What would a victim of crime in anywhere in our country feel about coming forward, and what the Department of Justice will do to protect them,” Stein said.
The survivors are not the only ones calling on senators to reject Blanche. Over 1,200 former DOJ employees cited a “culture of fear” they say Blanche has overseen.
“Since his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche has shown time and again that his guiding star is fealty to the President, not the Constitution,” Stacey Young, executive director of Justice Connection, said in a press release.