Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Todd Blanche Confirmation Fight and the Future of Epstein Justice (7/29/26)

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The Todd Blanche Confirmation Fight and the Future of Epstein Justice (7/29/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. One of the biggest impediments to Todd Blanche
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: getting the nomination to become the Attorney General is the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: way that he's handled the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. And if
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: that's the benchmark as it should be, then we all
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: know that Todd Blanche shouldn't be confirmed. But it looks
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: like he's going to be. And once again, the people
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: that are going to suffer the most are the people
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: who have already been harmed because Todd Blanche and his
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: do nothing dj have shown us they have no desire
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: to actually chase justice and all they want to do
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: is move on. So today we have an article from
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: The Guardian and the headline Blanche led DOJ likely to
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: derail Epstein's survivor pursuit of justice. Experts say this article
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: was authored by Victoria be kempests as Donald Trump's former
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: defense lawyer, Todd Blanche appears poised for a confirmation as
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Attorney General. Numerous Jeffrey Epstein's survivors have sounded the alarm
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: that a US Justice department helmed by him would derail
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: their pursuit of justice. Look there's no doubt. But the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: truth is the problem starts at the top. He's getting
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: his marching orders from Donald Trump, and Donald Trump's administration
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: is steering the ship. And of course they don't want
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Todd Blanche to dig any deeper. If they did, he
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: would be And at this point, I'm convinced that Todd
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Blanche is being put in this position to kill the
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Epstein story. That's the whole entire goal of installing him
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: as Attorney General. Now, of course that's just my guess.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: I don't have any hard proof to back that up.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: But that's what it looks like to me. In a
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  Speaker 1: letter urging Republican Senators Tom Tillis and John Cornyn to
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  Speaker 1: reject his nomination, these survivors said that Blanche's handling of
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the Epstein case as acting Attorney General was characterized by
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: misstep after misstep. Blanch, who reportedly led the disclosure of
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: documents as required by the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: allowed the disclosure of survivor names, photos, and identifying information,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: but omitted the names of accused abusers and enablers, they said,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: and the people who signed off on all the deals.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: And I think that's a key point that people are missing.
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  Speaker 1: This is about accountability, not just for the people that
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: were enabling Jeffrey Epstein as far as the circle, but
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  Speaker 1: the people that were supposed to be investigating him. That's
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: what this investigation is supposed to be. Somehow, those people
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: keep getting left out. While more than a thousand teenage
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: girls and women were abused, not a single person other
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: than Epstein and Glenn max wellface charges, they noted, and
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  Speaker 1: in a recent sit down with survivors at Tillis's urging,
• 2:50
  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 going to get when you're dealing with someone like
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Todd Baby Billy Blanche. This is not a real law man.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Well you think we're talking about fucking Wyatt earp down
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: in Tombstone? Yeah, right, more like the corrub sheriff from
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Young Guns. These survivor concerns about Blanche by no means
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: exist in a vacuum, and I've only fanned the flames
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  Speaker 1: of a controversy that is dog Trump since he again
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: took office. While campaigning, Trump promised to release all Epstein files,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: playing into his supporter's belief that there was a global
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: sex trafficking cabal involving high profile business and political figures.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: Well is there not? I mean, come on, what exactly
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  Speaker 1: would make it global? The fact that he's getting women
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  Speaker 1: from all over the world, the fact that he's abusing
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  Speaker 1: women all over the world. Where's the conspiracy theory in that?
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  Speaker 1: Sure seems to me to be the truth. Now, maybe
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  Speaker 1: not to the scale that some people like to pitch it,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: but to act like it wasn't happening, to act like
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: there was no trafficking, and to act like it wasn't
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  Speaker 1: worldwide makes you an absolute douchebag. But Trump's Justice Department
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: only released dribs and drabs of information until Congress force
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  Speaker 1: its hand following a series of embarrassing disclosures that renewed
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: attention on Trump's former friendship with Epstein. Trump has denied
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: all wrongdoing, including in relation to Epstein. Well, he's been exonerated,
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  Speaker 1: don't you know. Donald Trump has done more for Epstein's
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: survivors than anybody on the planet. Imagine being so delusional
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  Speaker 1: that you have one of your press people come out
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  Speaker 1: and spit that garbage and think anybody is going to
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  Speaker 1: buy it. Blanche's meeting with Maxwell in prison last summer,
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  Speaker 1: which was followed by her transfer to a lower security facility,
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  Speaker 1: further heightened outrage over the DOJ's underwhelming disclosures. The constellation
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: of circumstances has raised questions what would a Blanche directed
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Justice Department mean for Epstein's survivors and their search for justice. Well,
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  Speaker 1: it's going to put it back. It's going to make
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: it more difficult. And that's the whole plan. And do
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: you see it piece by piece coming together. This is
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: what they always wanted. This has always been the plan.
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  Speaker 1: Have somebody like Todd Blanche come in and clean up
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  Speaker 1: the operation. The problem is there's too much to clean up,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: and the guy they chose is not equipped to do so.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: And I think at some point Todd Blanche is going
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: to be outed by the court. I think one of
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  Speaker 1: these judges is going to have enough of his bullshit
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  Speaker 1: and is going to drop the hammer on Todd Blanche
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  Speaker 1: and the way they've been handling the Epstein situation. Legal
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: veterans told The Guardian that a Blanche led DOJ would
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  Speaker 1: likely derell survivor's efforts for accountability. Several survivor advocates said
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: that all hope was not lost, noting that roadblocks likely
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  Speaker 1: under Blanche did not pretend a permanent impediment to justice. Well,
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  Speaker 1: that's true too. He's just one man and he's not
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: going to be there forever. And like I've said before,
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  Speaker 1: there needs to be a special counsel. And if that
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  Speaker 1: special counsel comes after Blanche is out of office and
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  Speaker 1: looks into what Blanche was doing with that too. Look,
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: we've been waiting for how long for justice now. Obviously
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  Speaker 1: I want it to come tomorrow, but if it doesn't,
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  Speaker 1: we're gonna 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 abouts trivial, honestly,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: because these people have so much control over so many
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: aspects of our life. And all you have to do
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: is take a look at the emails and the way
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: they talk about the rest of us and the shit
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: they're into to know that that's not a great idea.
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  Speaker 1: Brian Sullivan, a partner with Early Sullivan, Wright, Geyser and McRae,
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  Speaker 1: said that based on what he has read and seen
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: in Blanche's testimony before Judiciary Committee. He thinks the confirmation
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  Speaker 1: would mean more suppression and no active investigation into Epstein's
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: sex trafficking. And that's the goal again, not to restate
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: it for the fourteenth million time, but that's the goal.
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  Speaker 1: But they have to have the right guy to do
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  Speaker 1: the heavy lifting, and they've decided that Todd Blanche is
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  Speaker 1: that guy. I think it's because that's what Trump wants.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: He wants this to go away, Sullivan said, And that's
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  Speaker 1: one of the reasons he fired former Attorney General Bondi
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  Speaker 1: because she didn't make it go away. In my opinion,
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  Speaker 1: I think he's right about that spot on one hundred percent.
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  Speaker 1: That's exactly what happened. If anyone thinks Bondie was fired
• 7:19
  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 Koby, a renowned defense lawyer
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: with a focus on civil rights, voiced similar sentiments about
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: a Blanche confirmation. It means that no other perpetrators will
• 7:39
  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, Koubee 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
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  Speaker 1: in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law,
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  Speaker 1: said that even if Blanche were not confirmed, he could
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  Speaker 1: serve as acting Attorney General for the rest of Trump's term,
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  Speaker 1: meaning he would have continued control over the Epstein case.
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  Speaker 1: He'll have more power, of course, if he's formally confirmed
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  Speaker 1: by the Senate, but he'll have plenty of power even
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  Speaker 1: if he's not, Tobias said, So I can't be very
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  Speaker 1: optimistic about what he might do, if anything, about the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein files, or to give much comfort to the survivors.
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  Speaker 1: I've 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
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: justice outside an allegedly recalcitrant DJ attorney's 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
• 9:22
  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
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: to the foyer requests. But that alone is a long process,
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  Speaker 1: Sullivan said bluntly. The problem with all of this is
• 9:45
  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, and 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,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: and make no mistake the next disaster is only a
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: second way. There has been litigation against federal authorities over
• 10:11
  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 exceptionally difficult to win, Koube said. It's always
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: true that the government done something differently, a different outcome
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  Speaker 1: would have ensued. Kuobe explained of the legal intricacies, there's
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: no generalized duty to protect specific individuals outside of a
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: special relationship with the victims. Certainly sympathetic to those claims,
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  Speaker 1: but the government historically as not well. The cvr A
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  Speaker 1: was broke and that was already noted in court. So
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  Speaker 1: how about we deal with the things that we already
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  Speaker 1: know happened, the things that were wrong, the things that
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  Speaker 1: 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 describe the
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  Speaker 1: possibility of winning litigation against the DOJ as difficult. Neither
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: reps for Tillis or Cornyn responded to request for comment.
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  Speaker 1: Asked for comment on Survivor's concerns, White House spokesperson Abigail
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Jackson said Todd Blanche has done an excellent job as
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: acting Attorney General and will continue doing so as Attorney General.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: This Abigail Jackson lady engages in levels of propaganda that
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: would make Goebels jealous. I have a hard time believing
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: that she even takes herself serious. A Justice Department spokesperson
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: said in a statement that Blanche, senior DOJ officials, FBI agents,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: and victim services representatives met with Epstein victims last week
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: and had a productive initial discussion. The spokesperson said Blanche
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: answered questions and walked through what's needed for investigations to proceed.
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  Speaker 1: While some victims said that they had not reached out
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: to the FBI under this administration, he encouraged victims to
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: meet with FBI investigators as the next step. The attendee
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: spoke with agents after the meeting about scheduling interviews. The
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Justice Departments determined to bring justice for all victims of
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: human trafficking and sex crimes. Well, unless it's the president's
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: friends that might get caught up, then we might have
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: a problem. Gretchen Carlson and Julie Riginsky, who files sexual
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: harassment lawsuits against Roger Els, the former Fox New CEO,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: and co launched the nonprofit survivors advocacy organization Lift Our
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Voices express hope that survivors could still find justice one day,
• 12:30
  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
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: no idea who they're dealing with. And if the goal
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: is to just have people shut up and stop talking,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: they're never going to reach that goal because there's always
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: going to be somebody with questions about what happened. When
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, Carlson said she was disappointed
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: and Republican's poised to let blanche nomination go through, noting
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: that Trump went on the attack against Cornyn and Tillis.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: They have the ability not to allow this, Carlson said,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: explaining not everything should be on their shoulders, as everybody
• 13:08
  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
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: coming up, and I've learned and all the work that
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: I've done on the hill and trying to get builds
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: past that you never know who you might get, first
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: of all, to be on your side, Carlson said, So
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: you never judge it before you actually try. I feel
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: the same way about this. We don't know who's going
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: to potentially step up to the plate and say, you
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: know what, I'm going to take over the work that
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Republican Congressman Thomas Massey was doing on this. We can't
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: do this work with any kind of negative lens. And
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: although it feels like we're in a little bit of
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: a setback of Todd Blanche is confirmed, I think there's
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: always a way to find victory. Roginsky expressed similar views.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: While a possible Blanche confirmation represented a slap in the
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: face to anybody who's ever fought a system that is
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: already rigged very much against survivors, she advised survivors and
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: advocates to keep pushing for justice. Well, that's always the goal. Okay,
• 14:07
  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
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: disclosure agreements and forced arbitration related to workplace sexual misconduct.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: We've seen some setbacks but ultimately the advances will always
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: outweigh the setbacks. Well, I wish I had her kind
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: of confidence here, but I don't, And I think that
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: when all is said and done, Todd Blanche is going
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: to get confirmed. Now. Look, i'd love to be wrong.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: I'd 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
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: I have my doubts that they're going to show that
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: kind of courage. So, like everything everything else, we'll keep
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: an eye on it and we'll see where it goes,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: and when we have some more information one way or
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: the other, we'll get it added to the catalog. All
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: in the description box.