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The Todd Blanche Confirmation Fight and the Future of Epstein Justice · The Epstein Chronicles

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  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. One of the biggest impediments to Todd Blanche
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  Speaker 1: getting the nomination to become the Attorney General is the
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  Speaker 1: way that he's handled the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. And if
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  Speaker 1: that's the benchmark, as it should be, then we all
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  Speaker 1: know that Todd Blanche shouldn't be confirmed. But it looks
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  Speaker 1: like he's going to be. And once again, the people
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  Speaker 1: that are going to suffer the most are the people
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  Speaker 1: who have already been harmed. Because Todd Blanche and his
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  Speaker 1: do-nothing DOJ have shown us they have no desire to
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  Speaker 1: actually chase justice. And all they want to do is
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  Speaker 1: move on. So today we have an article from The
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  Speaker 1: Guardian and the headline, Blanche led DOJ likely to derail
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  Speaker 1: Epstein's survivor pursuit of justice. Experts say this article was
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  Speaker 1: authored by Victoria B. Kempis. As Donald Trump's former defense lawyer,
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  Speaker 1: Todd Blanch, appears poised for confirmation as Attorney General, numerous
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  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein survivors have sounded the alarm that a U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Justice Department helmed by him would derail their pursuit of justice. Look,
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  Speaker 1: there's no doubt. But the truth is, the problem starts
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  Speaker 1: at the top. He's getting his marching orders from Donald Trump.
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  Speaker 1: And Donald Trump's administration is steering the ship. And of course,
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  Speaker 1: they don't want Todd Blanche to dig any deeper. If
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  Speaker 1: they did, he would be. And at this point, I'm
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  Speaker 1: convinced that Todd Blanche is being put in this position
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  Speaker 1: to kill the Epstein story. That's the whole entire goal
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  Speaker 1: of installing him as Attorney General. Now, of course, that's
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  Speaker 1: just my guess. I don't have any hard proof to
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  Speaker 1: back that up. But that's what it looks like to me.
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  Speaker 1: In a letter urging Republican Senators Tom Tillis and John
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  Speaker 1: Cornyn to reject his nomination, the survivors said that Blanche's
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  Speaker 1: handling of the Epstein case as acting Attorney General was
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  Speaker 1: characterized by misstep after misstep. Blanche, who reportedly led the
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  Speaker 1: disclosure of documents as required by the bipartisan Epstein Files
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  Speaker 1: Transparency Act, allowed the disclosure of survivor names, photos, and
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  Speaker 1: identifying information, but omitted the names of accused abusers and enablers,
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  Speaker 1: they said. and the people who signed off on all
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  Speaker 1: the deals. And I think that's a key point that
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  Speaker 1: people are missing. This is about accountability, not just for
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  Speaker 1: the people that were enabling Jeffrey Epstein, as far as
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  Speaker 1: the circle, but the people that were supposed to be
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  Speaker 1: investigating him. That's what this investigation is supposed to be. Somehow,
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  Speaker 1: those people keep getting left out. While more than a
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  Speaker 1: thousand teenage girls and women were abused, not a single person,
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  Speaker 1: other than Epstein and Glenn Mack's well-faced charges, they noted.
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  Speaker 1: And in a recent sit-down with survivors at Tillis' urging,
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  Speaker 1: the survivors received an hour of deflection, interruption, and gaslighting,
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  Speaker 1: they said. And unfortunately, that's the Trump way. That's all
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  Speaker 1: you're gonna get when you're dealing with someone like Todd
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: baby Billy Blanche. This is not a real lawman. What,
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  Speaker 1: you think we're talking about fucking Wyatt Earp down in Tombstone? Yeah, right.
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  Speaker 1: More like the corrupt sheriff from Young Guns. These survivor
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  Speaker 1: concerns about Blanche by no means exist in a vacuum,
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  Speaker 1: and have only fanned the flames of a controversy that
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  Speaker 1: has dogged Trump since he again took office. While campaigning,
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  Speaker 1: Trump promised to release all Epstein files, playing into his
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  Speaker 1: supporters' belief that there was a global sex-trafficking cabal involving
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  Speaker 1: high-profile business and political figures. Well, is there not? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: come on. What exactly would make it global? The fact
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  Speaker 1: that he's getting women from all over the world? The
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  Speaker 1: fact that he's abusing women all over the world? Where's
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  Speaker 1: the conspiracy theory in that? Sure seems to me to
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  Speaker 1: be the truth. Now, maybe not to the scale that
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  Speaker 1: some people like to pitch it, but to act like
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't happening, to act like there was no trafficking,
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  Speaker 1: and to act like it wasn't worldwide, makes you an
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  Speaker 1: absolute douchebag. But Trump's Justice Department only released dribs and
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  Speaker 1: drabs of information until Congress forced its hand. following a
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  Speaker 1: series of embarrassing disclosures that renewed attention on Trump's former
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  Speaker 1: friendship with Epstein. Trump has denied all wrongdoing, including in
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  Speaker 1: relation to Epstein. Well, he's been exonerated, don't you know?
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  Speaker 1: Donald Trump has done more for Epstein survivors than anybody
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  Speaker 1: on the planet. Imagine being so delusional that you have
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  Speaker 1: one of your press people come out and spit that
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  Speaker 1: garbage and think anybody's going to buy it. Blanche's meeting
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  Speaker 1: with Maxwell in prison last summer, which was followed by
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  Speaker 1: her transfer to a lower security facility, further heightened outrage
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  Speaker 1: over the DOJ's underwhelming disclosures. The constellation of circumstances has
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  Speaker 1: raised questions. What would a Blanche-directed Justice Department mean for
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  Speaker 1: Epstein survivors and their search for justice? Well, it's going
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  Speaker 1: to put it back. It's going to make it more difficult.
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  Speaker 1: And that's the whole plan. And do you see it
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  Speaker 1: piece by piece coming together? This is what they always wanted.
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  Speaker 1: This has always been the plan. Have somebody like Todd
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  Speaker 1: Blanche come in and clean up the operation. The problem is,
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  Speaker 1: there's too much to clean up. And the guy they
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  Speaker 1: chose is not equipped to do so. And I think
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  Speaker 1: at some point, Todd Blanche is going to be outed
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  Speaker 1: by the court. I think one of these judges is
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  Speaker 1: going to have enough of his bullshit and is going
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  Speaker 1: to drop the hammer on Todd Blanche and the way
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  Speaker 1: they've been handling the Epstein situation. Legal veterans told the
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  Speaker 1: Guardian that a Blanche-led DOJ would likely derail survivors' efforts
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  Speaker 1: for accountability. Several survivor advocates said that all hope was
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  Speaker 1: not lost, noting that roadblocks likely under Blanche did not
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  Speaker 1: pretend a permanent impediment to justice. Well, that's true too.
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  Speaker 1: He's just one man. And he's not going to be
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  Speaker 1: there forever. And like I've said before, there needs to
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  Speaker 1: be a special counsel. And if that special counsel comes
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  Speaker 1: after Blanche is out of office and looks into what
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  Speaker 1: Blanche was doing... I'm okay with that too. Look, we've
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  Speaker 1: been waiting for how long for justice? Now, obviously, I
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  Speaker 1: want it to come tomorrow. But if it doesn't, we're
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  Speaker 1: going to be here for the long haul. Enough is enough.
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  Speaker 1: And until we deal with this issue right here in
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  Speaker 1: front of us, all the other shit we're talking about
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  Speaker 1: is trivial, honestly. Because these people have so much control
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  Speaker 1: over so many aspects of our life. And all you
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  Speaker 1: have to do is take a look at the emails
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  Speaker 1: and the way they talk about the rest of us
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  Speaker 1: and the shit they're into. to know that that's not
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  Speaker 1: a great idea. Brian Sullivan, a partner with Early Sullivan, Wright, Geiser,
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  Speaker 1: and McRae, said that based on what he has read
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  Speaker 1: and seen in Blanche's testimony before a judiciary committee, he
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  Speaker 1: thinks a confirmation would mean more suppression and no active
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  Speaker 1: investigation into Epstein sex trafficking. And that's the goal. Again,
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  Speaker 1: not to restate it for the 14th millionth time, but
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  Speaker 1: that's the goal. But they have to have the right
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  Speaker 1: guy to do the heavy lifting. And they've decided that
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  Speaker 1: Todd Blanche is that guy. I think it's because that's
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  Speaker 1: what Trump wants. He wants this to go away, Sullivan said.
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  Speaker 1: And that's one of the reasons he fired former Attorney
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  Speaker 1: General Bondi because she didn't make it go away. In
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  Speaker 1: my opinion, I think he's right about that. Spot on. 100%.
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  Speaker 1: That's exactly what happened. If anyone thinks Bondi was fired
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  Speaker 1: for any reason besides the way she flubbed this, you're crazy.
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  Speaker 1: They needed a fall guy. and Pam Bondi was first
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  Speaker 1: up on the list. Ron Kuby, a renowned defense lawyer
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  Speaker 1: with a focus on civil rights, voiced similar sentiments about
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  Speaker 1: a Blanche confirmation. It means that no other perpetrators will
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  Speaker 1: be held criminally liable for their misconduct, he said. That's
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  Speaker 1: no different from the way it's been throughout the Trump
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  Speaker 1: administration and the Biden administration. Well, and the Bush administration,
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  Speaker 1: and the Obama administration, and the Clinton administration. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's been an ongoing thing. All the millionaires and billionaires
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  Speaker 1: and hangers-on and others in Epstein's orbit, who, you know,
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  Speaker 1: enabled them, have not been brought to justice, Kubi said,
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  Speaker 1: and they're not going to be. And I know people
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  Speaker 1: don't want to hear it, but that's probably the truth.
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  Speaker 1: That the vast majority of people that were involved here
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  Speaker 1: are going to find a way to escape, are going
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  Speaker 1: to find a way to never answer for what they
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  Speaker 1: were up to. And the only way that's possible is
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  Speaker 1: if the DOJ lets them. And that sure seems to
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  Speaker 1: be the path we're on. Carl Tobias, the Williams chair-in-law
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  Speaker 1: at the University of Richmond School of Law, said that
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  Speaker 1: even if Blanche were not confirmed, he could serve as
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  Speaker 1: acting attorney general for the rest of Trump's term, meaning
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  Speaker 1: he would have continued control over the Epstein case. He'll
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  Speaker 1: have more power, of course, if he's formally confirmed by
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  Speaker 1: the Senate. But he'll have plenty of power even if
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  Speaker 1: he's not, Tobias said. So I can't be very optimistic
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  Speaker 1: about what he might do, if anything, about the Epstein
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  Speaker 1: files or to give much comfort to the survivors. I've
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  Speaker 1: heard that from numerous people that are close to this.
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  Speaker 1: Numerous people that are affected. None of them trust Todd Blanche.
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  Speaker 1: While there are some legal avenues for survivors to seek
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  Speaker 1: justice outside an allegedly recalcitrant DOJ, attorneys caution that success
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  Speaker 1: would be an uphill battle. Well, that's what it's been
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  Speaker 1: from the very start. So if anybody thought it was
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  Speaker 1: going to get easier, it's not. They're digging in now.
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  Speaker 1: And what happens when you have an animal trapped in
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  Speaker 1: the corner? You could bombard them with public records requests
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  Speaker 1: and then file a lawsuit for them not providing responses
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  Speaker 1: to the FOIA requests, but that alone is a long process,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan said. Bluntly, the problem with all of this is
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  Speaker 1: that it takes time. Courts are grossly underfunded and understaffed,
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  Speaker 1: he said. It'll take quite a while to go through
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  Speaker 1: that sort of legal process. That's what they're counting on.
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  Speaker 1: They want the next disaster to come rolling in so
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  Speaker 1: that you stop focusing on this. and focus on that.
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  Speaker 1: And make no mistake, the next disaster is only a
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  Speaker 1: second away. There has been litigation against federal authorities over
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  Speaker 1: their handling of the Epstein investigation, alleging that their failure
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  Speaker 1: to act years ago enabled more abuse. Those kinds of
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: cases are are exceptionally difficult to win, Kubi said. It's
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  Speaker 1: always true that the government, done something differently, a different
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  Speaker 1: outcome would have ensued, Kubi explained, of the legal intricacies.
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  Speaker 1: There's no generalized duty to protect specific individuals outside of
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  Speaker 1: a special relationship with the victims. I'm certainly sympathetic to
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  Speaker 1: those claims, but the government historically is not. Well, the
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  Speaker 1: CVRA was broke. And that was already noted in court.
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  Speaker 1: So how about we deal with the things that we
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  Speaker 1: already know happened, the things that were wrong, the things
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  Speaker 1: that should have never happened, the things that should be fixed?
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  Speaker 1: That's where I want to start. Tobias similarly described the
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  Speaker 1: possibility of winning litigation against the DOJ as difficult. Neither
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Reps Fertilis or Cornyn responded to requests for comment. As
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  Speaker 1: for comment on survivors' concerns, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said,
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  Speaker 1: Todd Blanch has done an excellent job as Acting Attorney General,
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  Speaker 1: and will continue doing so as Attorney General. This Abigail
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  Speaker 1: Jackson lady engages in levels of propaganda that would make
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  Speaker 1: Goebbels jealous. I have a hard time believing that she
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  Speaker 1: even takes herself serious. A Justice Department spokesperson said in
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  Speaker 1: a statement that Blanche, senior DOJ officials, FBI agents, and
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  Speaker 1: victim services representatives met with Epstein victims last week and
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  Speaker 1: had a productive initial discussion. The spokesperson said Blanche answered
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  Speaker 1: questions and walk through what's needed for investigations to proceed.
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  Speaker 1: While some victims said that they had not reached out
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  Speaker 1: to the FBI under this administration, he encouraged victims to
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  Speaker 1: meet with FBI investigators as the next step. The attendees
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  Speaker 1: spoke with agents after the meeting about scheduling interviews. The
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  Speaker 1: Justice Department's determined to bring justice for all victims of
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  Speaker 1: human trafficking and sex crimes. Well, unless it's the president's
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  Speaker 1: friends that might get caught up, then we might have
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  Speaker 1: a problem. Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginski, who filed sexual
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: harassment lawsuits against Roger Ailes, the former Fox News CEO,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: and co-launched the non-profit Survivors Advocacy Organization Lift Our Voices,
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  Speaker 1: express hope that survivors could still find justice one day,
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  Speaker 1: even if faced with more setbacks. Well, look, nobody's just
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: going to give up and pack it in. They have
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  Speaker 1: no idea who they're dealing with. And if the goal
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  Speaker 1: is to just have people shut up and stop talking,
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  Speaker 1: they're never going to reach that goal. because there's always
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  Speaker 1: going to be somebody with questions about what happened when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to Jeffrey Epstein. Carlson said she was disappointed
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  Speaker 1: in Republicans poised to let Blanche nomination go through, noting
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  Speaker 1: that Trump went on the attack against Cornyn and Tillis.
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  Speaker 1: They have the ability not to allow this, Carlson said,
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  Speaker 1: explaining not everything should be on their shoulders, as everybody
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  Speaker 1: should have questions about Todd Blanche being Attorney General, just
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: about the Epstein issues. That said, there are midterm elections
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  Speaker 1: coming up, and I've learned in all the work that
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: I've done on the Hill and trying to get bills passed,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: that you never know who you might get, first of all,
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  Speaker 1: to be on your side, Carlson said. So you never
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: judge it before you actually try. I feel the same
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  Speaker 1: way about this. We don't know who's going to potentially
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: step up to the plate and say, you know what,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to take over the work that Republican Congressman
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Thomas Massey was doing on this. We can't do this
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: work with any kind of negative lens, and although it
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: feels like we're in a little bit of a setback
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  Speaker 1: if Todd Blanche is confirmed, I think there's always a
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  Speaker 1: way to find victory. Roginski expressed similar views. While a
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: possible Blanche confirmation represented a slap in the face to
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  Speaker 1: anybody who's ever fought a system that is already rigged,
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  Speaker 1: very much against survivors, she advised survivors and advocates to
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: keep pushing for justice. Well, that's always the goal, okay?
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  Speaker 1: Hold these people accountable. real investigations, special counsel. You want
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: me to shut up? Do those two things. If you
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: think about how far our movement has come just in
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: the last decade, we've seen tremendous advances, Roginsky said, of
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Lift Our Voices, successful advocacy for federal legislation against non-disclosure
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: agreements and forced arbitration related to workplace sexual misconduct. We've
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: seen some setbacks, but ultimately the advances will always outweigh
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: the setbacks. Well, I wish I had her kind of
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: confidence here. But I don't. And I think that when
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: all is said and done, Todd Blanche is going to
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: get confirmed. Now, look, I'd love to be wrong. I'd
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: love to see Tillis or Cornyn step up and say,
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: you know what? Not on my watch. That's not going
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: to happen. I'm not putting my name to that. But
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  Speaker 1: I have my doubts that they're going to show that
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  Speaker 1: kind of courage. So like everything else, we'll keep an
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: eye on it and we'll see where it goes. And
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: when we have some more information one way or the other,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: we'll get it added to the catalog. All the information
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: that goes with this episode can be found in the
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  Speaker 1: description box.