Tillis Threatens to Block Blanche’s Confirmation If He Doesn’t Meet With Epstein Survivors

Screenshot via X.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) threatened to block Todd Blanche’s confirmation Thursday if the acting Attorney General does not meet with survivors of deceased child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse.

Blanche previously served as Deputy Attorney General during Pam Bondi’s tenure, and President Donald Trump appointed him to interim Attorney General after her ouster.

Keeping the gig on a permanent basis, however, requires Senate confirmation, and Blanche has drawn notably vocal criticism, if not outright hostility, from thousands of former DOJ employees, former judges, attorneys, bar associations, and other legal advocacy groups.

Blanche’s critics have cited his past work as Trump’s personal lawyer, vindictive prosecutions of Trump’s political opponents, his role in shepherding the pardons for the January 6 Capitol rioters, the handling of the Epstein files, and his controversial interview with Epstein’s former girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell — not to mention her transfer shortly thereafter to Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas, a minimum-security facility that is not commonly used to house inmates convicted of crimes as serious as Maxwell’s. The move to this “cushy prison camp” was sharply criticized by several of Epstein and Maxwell’s victims.

As for Tillis, he has been increasingly outspoken during Trump’s second term, especially after announcing he would not run for re-election to the Senate seat he has held since 2014. His seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee puts him in a position to derail Blanche’s confirmation.

Tillis declared he had “not made a final decision” about how he would vote during the committee hearing Thursday in a clip that was highlighted by the committee’s Democrats.

“I have not made a final decision,” said Tillis. “But Mr. Blanche said very quickly yesterday that he would meet with the victims — the Epstein victims — today if it could be arranged.”

Tillis noted that committee procedures meant that a vote likely wouldn’t occur for at least two weeks, and since Blanche said he was willing to meet with the survivors and their legal counsel, “I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote [him] out of this committee.”

“I’m trying to get to yes,” Tillis continued, “but this is a very important part of getting to yes. There should not be any reason why, based on what Mr. Blanche said yesterday — if he said that he would do it today, then he can certainly do it over the next two weeks.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who lost a bitter primary runoff to Trump-endorsed Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), also serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee and told reporters he was still undecided about how he would vote on Blanche’s confirmation.

Even if Blanche’s confirmation survives the committee vote, his fate is far from certain. Because Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is still in the hospital, the Republicans’ 53-47 majority is functionally even narrower. Besides Cornyn, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) also lost a contentious primary to a Trump-backed challenger and has been increasingly rebellious in opposing the president’s agenda and nominees as his time in office comes to an end. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have also repeatedly bucked Trump’s will on votes and may end up voting down Blanche as well.

This is a breaking news story and has been updated with additional content.

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