Todd Blanche Tells Fox News, ‘It Isn’t a Crime to Party With Mr. Epstein’

 

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche offered a bizarre reaction to the ongoing revelations from the Epstein files, commenting that “it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”

After mounting pressure — including from his fellow Republicans — President Donald Trump signed a law last November to release the files related to deceased child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, with a deadline of Friday, Dec. 19. The law required a wide release of millions of documents, photos, videos, and other files, with redactions limited to victims’ names and other identifying information.

Blanche admitted during an appearance on Fox & Friends that the Department of Justice would not be able to meet the Dec. 19 deadline. Since then, there have been additional releases of files that have revealed additional powerful people who were in communication with Epstein, thousands of mentions of Trump, and controversial failures to redact victims’ names. In the most recent release, the files also included nude images of victims that the DOJ had failed to redact.

Blanche was asked about the Epstein files on Monday’s episode of The Ingraham Angle, with the host kicking off the discussion with these missed redactions.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that names of dozens of victims were left unredacted,” said Laura Ingraham. “These were reportedly women who were minors at the time or have not come out publicly yet. I know there was an attempt to rigorously go through these documents, redact what was needed to be redacted. How did those names slip through?”

“Look, you’re right. Mistakes were made,” said Blanche, saying that “hard-working lawyers” had been working on these files “for the past 60 days” on the equivalent of “two Eiffel Towers” in height if the documents were stacked up.

“The minute that a victim or their lawyer reached out to us since Friday, we immediately dealt with it and pulled it down, and we’re continuing to do that,” Blanche said. “We knew there would be mistakes. I said that to the American people on Friday. Everything we did was to protect victims, and that’s the case today, just like it was Friday. What we’re talking about, by the way, is .002% of –”

“But it matters to them, right?” Ingraham replied.

“It matters to me, too,” said Blanche. “Absolutely.”

After asking Blanche about comments from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) about the DOJ not speaking to the victims — which Blanche claimed was “a lie” — Ingraham asked him about possible additional prosecutions.

“Is there any chance that any of these individuals who partied with Epstein and engaged in, you know, relations with minors will be prosecuted?” she asked.

“Well, look, I’ll never say no, and we will always investigate any evidence of misconduct, but as you know, it’s not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein,” replied Blanche. “So as horrible as it — it’s not a crime to e-mail with Mr. Epstein. Some of these men may have done horrible things, and if we have evidence that allows us to prosecute them, you better believe we will. But it’s also the kind of thing that the American people need to understand that it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein. It’s not a crime –”

“Didn’t look like that’s all that was going on in some of those photos,” Ingraham interjected. “I mean, if the photos could speak, some of them look pretty bad.”

“That’s right, and unfortunately, photos can’t speak,” said Blanche, “so we need witnesses, and we need evidence –”

“Are there videotapes that you have?” Ingraham asked. “Beyond the ones that –”

“They’re all released,” Blanche insisted. “Not of any individuals, men having improper, you know, sex or anything with victims. But there’s videos. They’re all released, for everybody to see.”

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.