Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / 19 Epstein Survivors Oppose The Todd Blanche Nomination For Attorney General (6/12/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
- 0:03Epstein Chronicles. Recently, we went through an article by The
- 0:07New York Times talking about the crisis management that was
- 0:11going on at the White House as the Epstein story
- 0:14was dominating the headlines and they were coming up with
- 0:17all kinds of strategies to try to deal with the fallout,
- 0:22And according to the article, jd. Vance floated the idea
- 0:25of having somebody like Tucker Carlson interview Gallainne Maxwell, but
- 0:31instead of that, they ended up having Todd Baby Billy
- 0:34Blanche do it. And not only that, but Pam Bondi
- 0:38put all the blame on Todd Blanche basically for everything
- 0:42that went on with the release of the files. So
- 0:45has anybody shocked out there that Epstein's survivors want nothing
- 0:48to do with Todd Blanche as the Attorney General? I mean,
- 0:53I don't know why that would shock anybody. Bro's not
- 0:55exactly what i'd call reliable, right, not exactly what I
- 0:59would call somebody who gives a shit about these women
- 1:03or about the case. Overall. He cares about protecting Donald Trump.
- 1:07That's what he cares about, and that's always been his function.
- 1:12So the fact that anyone's even talking about this dude
- 1:15being the attorney general is bananas, and under normal circumstances
- 1:19and the normal administration, a guy like this wouldn't even
- 1:23be nominated to this kind of post. But we're so
- 1:26far removed from what's normal and what's not that having
- 1:30a guy like Todd Blanche as the Attorney general doesn't
- 1:33even move the needle anymore. And when you have somebody
- 1:35as corrupt as Donald Trump is the president, well why
- 1:38should it. Today's article is from CNN and the headline
- 1:43group of Epstein survivors announce opposition to Todd Blanche attorney
- 1:47general nomination. This article was authored by Jake Tapper and
- 1:51Annie Grayer. A group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors came out
- 1:55in opposition to Todd blanche nomination as President Donald Trump's
- 2:00permanent Attorney General, citing his participation in secret White House
- 2:04meetings on how to contain the political fallout from the
- 2:07Epstein files. And that was the whole goal, contain that shit.
- 2:13The less people that know, the better, the more confusion,
- 2:16the better, the least we say, the better. And while
- 2:22in public they put on a brave face, telling everybody
- 2:26that there was no there there and that everybody should
- 2:28move on. Behind the scenes, they were scrambling all kinds
- 2:32of crisis meetings, people fighting Dan Bongino, saying qutt time
- 2:37is over, and walking out of a meeting allegedly. And
- 2:40do you think all of that would be occurring if
- 2:42there was nothing here, if there was nothing that they
- 2:45feared as an administration. And whether that is their friends
- 2:49being embarrassed or the institutions being embarrassed, the result was
- 2:55the same. They're not willing to do it. And that's
- 2:58because they know that if the American people truly understood
- 3:02what these folks were up to, I think that the
- 3:04American people would take to the streets. And I'm not
- 3:08just talking about the sexual crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. I'm
- 3:11talking about the whole kitten, koboodle, the whole thing. In
- 3:17a new statement obtained by CNN, nineteen women responded to
- 3:21New York Times reporting that Blanche and other senior officials
- 3:24participated in situation room meetings to discuss how to respond
- 3:28to growing pressure for more transparency as the issue became
- 3:32a public relations crisis for the administration and to say
- 3:38that they did a shitty job is an understatement. This
- 3:42is one of the biggest fumbles in the history of
- 3:45an administration. They had this all teed up. They could
- 3:48have been the heroes, the goats, the most transparent administration
- 3:52in history. But instead history will not remember them kindly
- 3:57and they'll go down as the administration that thought it
- 3:59would be a good idea to continue to protect Jeffrey Epstein.
- 4:03That's going to be a gigantic part of this administration's legacy.
- 4:09We are deeply disturbed to learn that so many senior
- 4:11members of the administration gathered in the situation room to
- 4:15discuss the release of the Epstein files as a reputational problem,
- 4:19rather than an opportunity to pursue investigative leads and try
- 4:23to figure out what actually happened. The survivors of Epstein's
- 4:27abuse said in the joint statement. These revelations confirm our
- 4:31worst fears about the administration prioritizing political expediency over justice
- 4:36for survivors and truth for the American people. Look, the
- 4:40second that Todd blanche was involved, you knew the fix
- 4:43was in his function. His sole function is to protect
- 4:47Donald Trump, and whether that's to protect Donald Trump from
- 4:51being embarrassed or something more sinister. We just don't know yet.
- 4:56But if anyone thinks that this isn't about protecting them,
- 4:59they're crazy. The survivors raised specific concerns about Blanche, who
- 5:04played a key role in overseeing the release of the
- 5:07Epstein files after Congress passed the law mandating it, who
- 5:11has now been nominated by President Donald Trump to permanently
- 5:14serve as the nation's top law enforcement officer. And remember,
- 5:18according to Todd Blanche, it's not illegal to party with
- 5:21Jeffrey Epstein. You know Todd Blanche, Glenn Maxwell's good buddy,
- 5:27Todd Blanche, the man who won't answer any questions. Yeah,
- 5:30that Todd Blanche. If anyone deserves to have their confirmation torpedoed,
- 5:35it's him. We are especially concerned that Todd Blanche, the
- 5:39person nominated for the highest law enforcement position in the country,
- 5:42was at the table. Blanche has consistently minimized legitimate concerns
- 5:47about how the files have been handled, including problematic reactions
- 5:51and the exposure of survivor's personal information. Blanche failed to
- 5:56deliver transparency, and he has gravely feiled survivors. Is failing upward,
- 6:00plain and simple, they wrote, and it's true. Why should
- 6:05Todd Blanche be involved in any of this? And what
- 6:08I truly hope is that all these people right now
- 6:11that are being smug all these people that are taking
- 6:14part in this cover up, I hope that all of
- 6:16them get their day in front of Congress, and not
- 6:20this Congress, not one led by James Calmer, led by
- 6:23somebody who's serious about getting to the truth. We deserve better.
- 6:28We deserve truth, transparency, and accountability. We deserve to be
- 6:33taken seriously when we come forward, and we deserve an
- 6:36attorney general who will use the full power of that
- 6:38office to pursue justice, protect others, and ensure that what
- 6:43happened to us never happens again, the women continued. Liz Steine,
- 6:48one of Epstein's survivors who signed the letter, told CNN,
- 6:51if his nomination is confirmed, Todd Blanche would be the
- 6:54head law enforcement agent of our country. And we've seen
- 6:57consistently over the past year his behavior in regards to
- 7:01the Epstein case is just really concerning. And I'd say
- 7:05that is an understatement. I would say that if there's
- 7:08a face to this cover up, it's Todd Blanche. It
- 7:11wasn't Pambondi. Now she was the boss, right, so buck
- 7:16stops with her. But Todd Blanche has always been the
- 7:19one that was dick deep in this and his first
- 7:22loyalty is to Donald Trump, not to the country. That's
- 7:26why he's in this position, and that's why Todd Blanche
- 7:30should not be confirmed. At the end of the day,
- 7:34we're victims of a crime, and what's the message that
- 7:37we're sending to Americans in the country about how victims
- 7:40of crime should be treated. This is an issue that
- 7:43has been laden with a ton of political emotion. But
- 7:46if we can't count on our government to prosecute crimes,
- 7:49then we're in big trouble. Stein said Thursday on the Lead.
- 7:53And unfortunately this has become one of those issues that
- 7:57instead of uniting people, it's divided people. And it shouldn't
- 8:01have done that. I mean, what we're talking about here
- 8:04is something that should be a red line in the sand.
- 8:07But because people have their favorite politicians dragged in, all
- 8:10of a sudden, it's a hoax. All of a sudden,
- 8:12it's not that big of a deal. All of a sudden,
- 8:15you have people on Fox News trying to throw cold
- 8:18water over what Epstein was. Meanwhile, just a few years ago,
- 8:23they wouldn't stop reaching out to me to try to
- 8:25get me to come on Fox to talk about Epstein.
- 8:27But all of a sudden, they get their marching orders
- 8:29from the White House and it's a whole different story. Huh.
- 8:32And on the flip side of that, the left leaning
- 8:36media had no desire to talk about this story previously,
- 8:41no desire whatsoever. In fact, they we're calling everybody who
- 8:44was following it covering it conspiracy theorists. But now because
- 8:49they feel like it's an inroad to go after their
- 8:51political opponents, Oh, they care a whole lot about the story.
- 8:55I see them too, and I know exactly what they're doing.
- 9:00Like I've told you before, I'm willing to ride these
- 9:03motherfuckers all the way to the finish line. If they're
- 9:06gonna bring some more eyes to the story, cool good.
- 9:09But I'm under no illusions about their motivations being pure,
- 9:13about them caring about the survivors or about us. But
- 9:17the way they try to use us, the way they
- 9:19try to use the survivors, I think we should just
- 9:22flip the script and use them. And that was my
- 9:24same strategy with Thomas Massey. I'm not some you know,
- 9:27died in the wool massy guy. I don't trust any
- 9:30of these politicians, none of them. But every now and
- 9:34then our goals aligne right. So if that's the case,
- 9:39I'm willing to work with whoever. Like I've told you
- 9:41from the beginning, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein and
- 9:44bringing transparency to this case, that's all I care about,
- 9:48nothing else. CNN has reached out to the DOJ for comment.
- 9:53In response to a request for comment, White House spokeswoman
- 9:56Abigail Jackson pointed to how Trump has said that he
- 9:59has been and exonerated on any matters relating to Epstein,
- 10:03and said by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating
- 10:06with the House Oversight Committee subpoena, signing the Epstein File
- 10:10Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein's Democrat friends,
- 10:16President Trump has done more for Epstein victims than anyone
- 10:19before him. Well, first of all, the President calling for
- 10:22investigations into Democrat friends of Epstein is a non starter.
- 10:27If there was a case brought, it would get thrown
- 10:29out for political malice. So he's sabotaging it. And then
- 10:34this Abigail Jackson lady shows up and runs the same nonsense,
- 10:39runs the same canned statement, time and time again. What
- 10:42do you think your Buckingham Palace enough already? Imagine having
- 10:46the audacity to say you've done more for Epstein's survivors
- 10:49than anybody else, and then those various survivors telling you
- 10:53that you're lying. That's your president, that's the man sitting
- 10:58in the Oval office. Aren't you guys tired of so
- 11:01much winning? The administration provided a similar statement to The
- 11:05New York Times earlier this week, House Oversight Chair James
- 11:09Comer told reporters that he planned to ask Blanche to
- 11:12testify in front of his committee in July as part
- 11:16of the panels ongoing Epstein probe, an indication that even
- 11:20Republicans still have questions about how the Justice Department has
- 11:24handled the Epstein matter, or he feels like he has
- 11:26to do it. Let's not forget that. Let's not rule
- 11:30that out, because as you know, I don't trust Comer either.
- 11:35As the Trump administration continues to deal with political fallout
- 11:38over how the files were released, the millions of documents
- 11:42that were withheld, and redaction issues, former Attorney General Pam
- 11:46Bondy has sought to distance herself from the process, and
- 11:49testified behind closed doors to the panel last month that
- 11:53Blanche was responsible for overseeing the release of the files. Oh,
- 11:57she threw him right under the bus one and look,
- 12:02she's probably right. Trump didn't trust Bondi at that point,
- 12:06and he wanted Blanche to do it. Trump needed that
- 12:08personal touch on this one. He was in charge of
- 12:12the process and the entire release of the Epstein files,
- 12:15Bondi said at the time when asked about her role
- 12:17in the department's compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
- 12:21The DOJ released approximately three million files compelled by Congress,
- 12:26but Bondi was pushed to explain why another roughly three
- 12:29million have not yet been released. Earlier this week, Comer
- 12:33met with roughly a dozen Epstein's survivors in private meetings,
- 12:37sources said. A member of the group meeting with Comer
- 12:41told CNN that survivors felt heard by the chairman. Well,
- 12:44that's good. Look, I'll give credit where it's due. I
- 12:48don't have an ax to grind against James Comer, and frankly,
- 12:51I never thought about the dude until he was involved
- 12:54in this, but have some backbone, have some courage, and
- 13:00be willing to stand up to the president when the
- 13:02president is wrong? Is that too much to ask? Does
- 13:05that make people a traitor? Not my opinion. The survivors
- 13:13also told the Kentucky Republican that some of what's been
- 13:16said by witnesses that his panel has interviewed has been inaccurate,
- 13:20and why witnesses should be under oath and recorded that
- 13:24is one thousand percent true. Every single person that appears
- 13:27should be compelled to do so. Hit him with a subpoena,
- 13:31compel them, don't give them the choice to come in
- 13:35voluntarily and have a closed door meeting. It's ridiculous. We
- 13:40have consistently looked to meet with lawmakers just to kind
- 13:43of explain our story and explain what our concerns are,
- 13:46Stein told CNN on Thursday. Stein continued on to say,
- 13:51we were really glad that mister Comer was receptive to
- 13:53meeting with us, and it was an extraordinarily positive interaction
- 13:57that we had with him. Again, that is good and
- 14:00I hope he comes around, But I have my doubts.
- 14:04When your a boss is Donald Trump and he's telling
- 14:06you to do something, well, we've learned that people do it.
- 14:13I think that to hear from us directly what the
- 14:15particular concerns were, I think that it opened his eyes
- 14:18in a way that they haven't been open before. Many
- 14:21of the people testifying as part of the panels Epstein
- 14:24investigation have appeared voluntarily, which is meant that they have
- 14:28not had to take a formal oath before speaking to
- 14:30the panel. Like I told you from the jump, the
- 14:33panel's garbage. Oh sure we get some depositions out of it,
- 14:37but nobody's under oath. You got these people coming in
- 14:41there voluntarily, And if they lie, what's the big deal.
- 14:45Everybody has lied to the panel, every single person, basically,
- 14:50and what's come of it. Nothing. Just like everything else
- 14:53in this case, witnesses are a minded at the start
- 14:55of their interviews. However, that making false statements to Congress
- 14:59is subject to criminal prosecution. We're continuously meeting with survivors
- 15:03of Epstein, Comer, who has said he wants to eventually
- 15:07hold a hearing with survivors Toll reporters. On Tuesday, he
- 15:11pointed to recent testimony from Epstein's longtime assistant as an
- 15:15example of what his committee will need to fact check
- 15:17with survivors. Chairman Comber's goal from the start of the
- 15:21Oversight Committee's investigation has been to provide transparency for the
- 15:26American people and accountability for survivors. We will continue to
- 15:30work with survivors as we conduct our review of the
- 15:33federal government's handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases. A
- 15:38House Overside Committee spokeswoman told CNN, Well, that's funny. They
- 15:43haven't brought in anybody that was part of the NPA.
- 15:45I wonder why no Matt Menchell, no Lily Sanchez, no
- 15:49Marie Villa Fauna. Oh, we had Alex Acosta, and of
- 15:52course because he's always been the fall guy, but certainly
- 15:55nobody from DOJ, from Brass, no Mukeeses, no Mark Philippe,
- 16:01none of those people. How are you going to tell
- 16:03us that this is about the government's handling of this
- 16:06if you're not even looking into the NPA, or how
- 16:09about the fact that Jeffrey Epstein died in custody and
- 16:13if we go with the official narrative nothing changed in
- 16:16the aftermath. What happened to all those sweeping changes we
- 16:19heard about. Oh, that's right, they never came. And that's because,
- 16:24of course, the whole entire OIG investigation is part of
- 16:28the cover up. So look, I hope that James Comer
- 16:31does the right thing, and I hope that he takes
- 16:33the survivor seriously. And this is certainly a step in
- 16:37the right direction if the survivors themselves say that they
- 16:40feel heard. So I wasn't in the meeting, so what
- 16:43we have to go on is what the survivors are saying.
- 16:46But look, it's one thing to say something, it's another
- 16:49thing to follow through. And now that James Comer has
- 16:51talked to talk, let's see a few walks the walk.
- 16:56All the information that goes with this episode can be
- 16:59found in the description box.