Epstein Survivor Tells MS NOW She’s ‘Disturbed’ After Meeting Between Victims and ‘Patronizing’ Trump AG Pick Todd Blanche

Jess Michaels, a victim of convicted child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, slammed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for being “patronizing” and said she was disturbed after a meeting between Blanche and Epstein survivors.

Michaels joined MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace on Friday following the meeting with Blanche, who had testified earlier this week before the Senate that he could not legally meet with Epstein survivors if they are represented by legal counsel.

Michaels, who accused Epstein of raping her in New York City in 1991 when she was 22, told Wallace she felt “disappointed” and “disturbed” after the meeting with Blanche.

“How are you?” Wallace asked Michaels on Friday.

“The short answer is disappointed, disturbed, and undaunted because this seems par for the course. The way we were treated yesterday was no different than any other time. We were hoping it would be something different and it was not,” Michaels said.

She noted lawmakers pressing Blanche for the meeting during his Senate confirmation hearing, but she argued those lawmakers would be left unimpressed with Blanche’s behavior.

What was intended, she argued, “is that we would have gotten answers on why there are no investigations happening with these files, and what happened with the egregious release of victims names and identifying information while perpetrators names were redacted. And so we hoped for some response that would have said, I hear you. I agree. I take responsibility for what happened.”

Michaels said Blanche insisted there is nothing that rises to the level of prosecution in the files and if victims have new information, the investigative process will need to start over again. She described Blanche as “patronizing” during the meeting to all victims.

Epstein died of an apparent suicide in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges. His longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, which the Department of Justice said she did in coordination with Epstein. The DOJ claims though that Epstein only trafficked girls for himself and there is nothing in the files that proves a sex trafficking ring involving high profile associates.

Michaels said:

I would call it patronizing. It felt very much like an attempt to appear empathetic and it came off as condescending and patronizing. It did not come off as, “I am now applying to be the Attorney General of the United States, you are victims of a crime and I can assure you we would never want harm like this to happen to anyone and we’re on top of it.” No, that’s not what happened. He very clearly stated that there was nothing to see in the files. And if there was going to be anything investigated, we were going to have to do more legwork. We’re gonna have to go back to the FBI and share our stories again.

Watch above via MS NOW.

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