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Todd Blanche, the Epstein Files and the Survivors Left Behind (7/24/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is preparing for
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: his confirmation vote, and as we get closer to the date,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: there's still a lot of people out there that don't
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: believe that he's fit for the office, and I'm certainly
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: one of them. But when you have people that have
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: actually been abused by Jeffrey Epstein coming out against your confirmation,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I would say that that's pretty much a scarlet letter.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: And in a world where there was still some morality left,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: we wouldn't even be having this conversation because Todd Blanche
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: would have never been nominated. But unfortunately, this is the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: world we live in. So today we have an article
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: from USA Today and it's an editorial that was written
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: by Danny Bensky. Headline, I'm an Epstein survivor. Todd Blanche
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: isn't fit to be Trump's ag This article was authored
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: by Danny Bensky more than twenty years ago. When I
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: was a seventeen year old aspiring ballerina in New York City,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: I met Jeffrey Epstein. My mother was seriously ill, and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I was young and scared. Epstein recognized that vulnerability and
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: exploited it. He presented himself as someone who could help
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: then use my age dreams and my family circumstances to
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: manipulate and sexually abuse me. And this was how he acted, right,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: this was his ZMO. He would find these girls that
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: had vulnerabilities, he would weaselle his way in, and then
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: he'd take over, almost like a parasite. And these women,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: these girls, they ended up getting stuck a lot of
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: them became reliable on his help, and it just became
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: this vicious cycle of him abusing them over and over again,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: until for some of these women it became normalized. And
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: that's where you get to people like Sarah Kellen. That's
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: where you get to be like Nadia, you know, where
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: this was normalized behavior for them. And then you have
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: these seventeen year old girls come in and they see
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: all these posh people and that's what's going on at
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein's properties. Well, these girls think that that's what
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: they're supposed to do. And we've seen that and heard
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: that time and time again from these women and girls
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: that got caught up. For years, I carried what happened
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: largely on my own then other survivors of Epstein's trafficking
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: network began coming forward, and I found hope in knowing
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: that I was not alone. Over time, our individual stories
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: grew into a movement demanding accountability. That movement helped lead
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: we believed would finally expose the full scope of Epstein's
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: crimes and the people who enabled them. Wouldn't that have
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: been nice? An actual accounting of what happened, not a whitewashing,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: not protection of Jeffrey Epstein's buddies, not a reveal of
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: the women, but an actual accounting of what happened. But
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: instead we get this shit show. What happened instead was alarming.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: The Department of Justice released survivor names and other personally
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: identifying information. This included nude images that showed young women,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: possibly teenagers, with their faces visible. My name, phone number,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: former addresses where I worked and studied at the time,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: and accounts of abuse were all made public. None of
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: that was supposed to occur. Okay, that wasn't up to
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: the DOJ to share these women's stories. They have no
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: problem sharing their stories, but they're real protective of the
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: people that were involved with Epstein, ask yourself why. I'm
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: sure it has nothing to do with the fact that
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the people that were involved are paying all the bills,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: all the scumbag bankers, the financial sector idiots, and all
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: the other people who were behind the scenes really pulling
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: the strings. He who controls the purse controls the kingdom.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: And if you think anybody's controlling the purse besides Epstein's friends,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: you're not paying attention. At the same time, the names
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: of alleged abusers, enablers, and other powerful people connected to
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Ebstein remained hidden throughout the files. Their redactions were so
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: extensive that a federal judge ordered the DOJ to explain
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: them or remove them. How that work out. They don't
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: care what judges say, they don't care what the court says.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: They're going to do whatever they want. And that's because
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: there's no ramifications. Nobody's going to prison, nobody's getting hemmed up,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: nobody's having their door kicked in like the local drug dealer.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Just as alarming, more than a thousand women and girls
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: were abused, yet no one beyond Epstein and his former
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: girlfriend Glenn Maxwell has been prosecuted. Rather than pursuing leads
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: beyond his interview with Maxwell or prosecuting anyone else. Then,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche appears to have been huddled
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: in the White House situation room helping manage the political
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: and public relations fall out from the release of the
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein files. Instead of clandestine meetings, how about you pursue
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein's associates. How about we go after the NPA.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: How about we go after the people that helped him
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: violate that NPA? Any interest in that Todd, Baby, Billy,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Blanche or not. Taken together, the failures paint a deeply
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: troubling picture. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi testified to a
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: congressional committee that Blanche was in charge of the Epstein
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: files release. These failures fall on his shoulders. Now Blanche
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: is up for a promotion to Attorney General, the country's
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: top law enforcement officer. YO. Imagine being handed a project
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: at work and the shit turns out disastrous, and then
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: you're up for a promotion. Zero chance in the private
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: sector that that ever happens. But Blanche serves a purpose,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: and that purpose is to protect Trump. I know people
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: don't want to hear that shit. And I know people
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: will be like, oh, it's Trump the arrangement syndrome. Save it.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: I don't give a fuck. Okay, I'm gonna call them
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: how I see them, and no amount of emotional terrorism
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: is ever going to get me to change my opinion
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: or to fall into line. During my testimony before the
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Senate Judiciary Committee on July sixteenth, I told senators that
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Blanche had refused my repeated request for a meeting for
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: nearly nine months. Although he has said he met with
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: representatives of thirty accusers, he didn't meet with me or
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: any survivors. I know, well, Blanche is a liar. He
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: didn't want to meet with the survivors, so he tried
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: to act like he couldn't, like he was barred from
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: doing it. Oh well, if they have representation, I can't
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: meet with them. Yes you can. All they have to
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: do is wave their right to representation or maybe bring
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: their lawyer with them. I mean, he really thinks that
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: you're stupid. That's what it comes down to. And I
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: know I say that all the time, but it's worth repeating.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: These people have zero respect for your intelligence or your discernment,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: and they think they could just say whatever, and you're
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: gonna get long to go along. Now, that's going to
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: work on the base, right, There's a certain portion of
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: the country that's going to get along to go along
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: because Todd Blanche told them so, and he's Donald Trump's guy.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: But the rest of us, well, we have some concerns.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: And I think that when you're dealing with somebody like
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Todd Blanche, who has been dishonest with the American people,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: has been involved directly in a cover up, I don't
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: know why people are shocked that this dude's getting a
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: bunch of pushback, especially from the survivors. During that same period,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: he met with Maxwell for nine hours before she was
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: moved to a low security prison. In his own testimony,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Blanche claimed there was no evidence to support additional prosecutions
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: beyond Epstein and Maxwell, despite the investigative leads, survivor testimony,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: and other records already contained in the files. And that's true.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: The files are littered with hints of crimes, circumstantial evidence,
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: and straight up financial malfeasance. Has anybody pursued that, Has
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: anybody even went after the low hanging fruit? Of course not?
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: So what makes anyone think that they're going to go
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: after powerful people like Leon Black or Les Wexner. After
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: my testimony, Senator Tom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina see moved.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: He said he cannot support a Blanche confirmation until Blanche
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: met with survivors directly. And look, mister Tillis, you're on
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: your way out the door. I think you should do
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: something heroic here and tell Todd Blanche to get fucked.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: That would be fantastic. Will he do it? I highly
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: doubt it, but I would, especially if I got forced
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: out by Trump and his band of merry men. Only
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: then did Blanche team scramble to arrange a meeting. As
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: my fellow survivors and I, exhausted from days of travel
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and advocacy, were preparing to leave Washington. We rearranged our
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: schedules and hurried to make sure our lawyers could attend.
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  Speaker 1: The meeting that followed was, by any honest account, a
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: box check exercise to secure Tillis's vote. Blanche offered no
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: meaningful explanation for how the redaction failures happened, who approved
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: the release, or what steps he would take to prevent
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: survivors from being exposed again. He made no commitment to
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: investigate or prosecute anyone beyond Epstein and Maxwell. That's because
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: he's a coward, straight up, and anyone supporting Todd Blanche,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: I have questions about you too, because this man has
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: shown us exactly what he is, and it's certainly not
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: a hard charging lawman. Instead, we were told to take
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: our information to the FBI. We've already done that. Survivors
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: have reported what happened, provided evidence, and retold the most
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: painful experiences of our lives the law enforcement for decades.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Telling us to start over was not a plan for accountability.
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  Speaker 1: There was no attempt to work with us. It was
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: another way to dismiss us. Today, I'm a teacher and
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: the mother. I would not find Blanche's refusal to take
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: accountability acceptable in my students or my child. The American
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: people should not find it acceptable in the man seeking
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the highest law enforcement position in the country. Amen. I
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: can't even believe this is a debate, honestly, and it
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: shows us just how far we have fallen. The country
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: deserves an attorney general who listens to survivors, holds predators accountable,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: and keeps their children safe. Blanche has shown us that
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: he is not that person. Tillis asked Blanche to meet
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: with us because the Senator understood that survivors deserved answers.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: We met with them in good faith, but he didn't
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: do the same. A meeting alone cannot become a substitute
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: for accountability, and checking a box should not be enough
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: to secure the senator's vote. I hope mister Tillis reads this.
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  Speaker 1: Do I think it would move him? I don't know,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: but I hope he reads it. My message to Tillis
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: is simple. If you hope Blanche would offer survivors real
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: accountability by meeting with us, he did not. If you
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: had hoped this meeting would resolve our concerns, it did not.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: And if your support for his confirmation depends on his
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: ability to treat survivors of human trafficking and sexual assault
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: with honesty and respect, then you and every Senator should
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: vote no on Blanche for Attorney General. So look again,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: I don't know how this is even a conversation at
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: this point, but here we are. So we'll have to
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: see what the Senate does. But I'm not very confident
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: that they're going to not vote to confirm Todd Blanche.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: So we'll keep an eye on it, unlike everything else
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: in this sordid story. When we have some more information,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: we'll get it added to the catalog. All the information
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: that goes with this episode can be found in the
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  Speaker 1: description box.