Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Todd Blanche and the Epstein Files Accountability Crisis That Isn't Going Away (8/4/26)

Transcript

Todd Blanche and the Epstein Files Accountability Crisis That Isn't Going Away (8/4/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. The way that the Epstein survivors have been
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: treated by the DOJ is not only embarrassing, but it's shameful.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: And the fact that Todd Blanche is even up for
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: this nomination is unbelievable. But under the circus tent known
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: as the Trump administration, I guess all things are possible. Huh, well,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: all things besides Epstein, justice and transparency. Today's article is
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: from USA Today and the headline exclusive Epstein accusers say
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Trump's DOJ nominee was dismissive to them. This article was
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  Speaker 1: authored by Aaron Mansfield. When a group of women who
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  Speaker 1: identify as survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse found out
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: that they could finally meet with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: they hatched a plan. They prepared for a tent but
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: businesslike meeting where they tell the Justice Department to pursue
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  Speaker 1: new leads on Epstein's associates and confront the government on
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: disclosing their identities when it published batches of investigative files.
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  Speaker 1: What we were met with when I recall it in
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  Speaker 1: my brain, jaw dropping to me. Said Liz Stein, a
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  Speaker 1: fifty three year old human trafficking specialist from Philadelphia who
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  Speaker 1: says Epstein abused her. We walked out of there feeling
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  Speaker 1: emotionally exhausted and really dehumanized. And this is the man
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  Speaker 1: that's going to be the attorney general. Huh. And when
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: I say man, I use that word loosely because no
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  Speaker 1: real man who had the power to hold people accountable
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  Speaker 1: for this bullshit wouldn't use that power. So if you
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  Speaker 1: have the power to do something about it and you
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  Speaker 1: do nothing, you're not a man. You're a coward. And
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  Speaker 1: that's certainly, in my opinion, what Todd Blanche is. In
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  Speaker 1: exclusive interviews with USA Today, three of the women in
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  Speaker 1: the meeting said that Blanche, President Donald Trump's nominee for
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  Speaker 1: attorney General, was combative and dismissive, and after they pressed
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  Speaker 1: him about whether he was familiar with documents the Justice
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  Speaker 1: Department released, they all came to the same conclusion. Todd
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  Speaker 1: Blanche hadn't read the Epstein files. Well, no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 1: You know which ones he read, The ones that might
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  Speaker 1: be damaging to Donald Trump. Those are the ones he read.
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  Speaker 1: That's it. This man has no desire of pushing the
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  Speaker 1: ball across the goal line. Instead, he wants to take
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  Speaker 1: a knee and run the clock out. The women's comments
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: come as blanche nomination hangs in the balance due to
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: unrelated concerns about him Senator Tom Tillis and John Cornyn
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  Speaker 1: to Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans have stalled his nomination as
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: they fight with Trump over the terms of a controversial
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  Speaker 1: settlement deal with the IRS. A vought to confirm Blanche
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  Speaker 1: to the top job has been postponed. Imagine being Tom
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  Speaker 1: Tillis and John Cornyn and carrying on over this, but
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: not what happened with Epstein. Now, look, don't get me wrong.
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  Speaker 1: The IRS stuff that's important. We all know that these
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  Speaker 1: dudes are stealing hand over fist, and we all know
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  Speaker 1: that the administrations that came before them were doing the
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: same thing. But when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to what's going on at the DOJ, how
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  Speaker 1: dare Tom Tillis and John Cornyn two dudes that are
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  Speaker 1: on their way out already turn bitch? When it comes
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  Speaker 1: to Epstein, Oh, well, we don't want him to get
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  Speaker 1: nominated because the IRS. But the Epstein stuff, Nah, that's
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  Speaker 1: on the up and up right, everything's good there. Todd,
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  Speaker 1: Blanche wasn't involved. Todd Blanche isn't managing a cover up
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: as we speak. Tillis told Blanche on July sixteenth that
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  Speaker 1: he would only vote to confirm him if Blanche met
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  Speaker 1: with Epstein's accusers, a request that came minutes after Danny
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  Speaker 1: Bensky testified that she and other Epstein's survivors had been
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  Speaker 1: trying fruitlessly for a face to face with them. The
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  Speaker 1: DJ announced the same day that Blanche would meet with them.
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  Speaker 1: USA Today reached out to the Justice Department multiple times
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  Speaker 1: regarding details of the July sixteenth meeting. The Justice Department
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  Speaker 1: referred USA Today to a statement by Alessandra Serrano, the
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  Speaker 1: Trafficking and Child Exploitation Coordinator. Oh well, let's just pump
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  Speaker 1: the ball. Let's talk to somebody else. Let's see what
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: miss Serrano had to say. Serrano said that Blanche attempted
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  Speaker 1: to address all the women's questions and that the Justice
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  Speaker 1: Department is determined to bring justice for all victims of
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  Speaker 1: human trafficking in sex crimes. Here's what we know about
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: how the meeting went. Does anyone believe that that's what
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  Speaker 1: the Justice Department's plan is and if that's the plan,
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  Speaker 1: they're not doing a very good job. Benski, a teacher
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  Speaker 1: from Hawaii, said that the day that she met with
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  Speaker 1: Blanche July sixteenth was already intense because she also testified
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  Speaker 1: against him at his confirmation hearing. She said someone from
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  Speaker 1: the Justice Department first offered her a staff meeting. Later,
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  Speaker 1: she said that they offered her a meeting with Blanche.
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  Speaker 1: God forbid, he has, you know, his day messed up,
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  Speaker 1: and he has to meet with these women. Way too
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  Speaker 1: busy shining Donald Trump's shoes and glaze in his hog.
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  Speaker 1: Bensky said that she in a handful of other Epstein's
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  Speaker 1: survivors who live all over the country attended, so did
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  Speaker 1: family members of the late Virginia Roberts, the most outspoken
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  Speaker 1: and well known Epstein's survivor. She said. Blanche brought Serrano,
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  Speaker 1: other staffers, and another man from the FBI. She said
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  Speaker 1: the women's lawyers joined via video call. Bensky said Blanche
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  Speaker 1: responded to the women's questions with defensive, semantic arguments and
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  Speaker 1: did not commit to investigating any of the leads they
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  Speaker 1: provided about Epstein's associates. She said the tone of the
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  Speaker 1: meeting came across as Blanche asking the women to get
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  Speaker 1: to their point. Sounds about right, good old Todd Blanche
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  Speaker 1: most powerful lawman in the country, but doesn't have time
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  Speaker 1: to talk to Epstein's survivors feel like he was acting
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  Speaker 1: like a defense attorney. Benskey set of Blanche, who previously
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: served as Trump's personal lawyer in multiple criminal cases. That
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  Speaker 1: is at the core of what survivors have been feeling
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  Speaker 1: is that he will always protect his own and the
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  Speaker 1: administration's reputational harm. Bingo, that's his goal. That's the job,
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  Speaker 1: and that's what Blanche signed up for. You want to
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  Speaker 1: talk about a yes man, you want to talk about
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  Speaker 1: moving the agenda forward. That's what Blanche's gig is. Whatever
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  Speaker 1: Trump wants, Blanche is going to try and get it done.
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  Speaker 1: So Rano from the DOJ said in a statement that
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  Speaker 1: Blanche was direct with survivors about how the criminal investigation
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  Speaker 1: process works and what was required to build and pursue
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  Speaker 1: a criminal case, including meeting with an FBI agent. Man,
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  Speaker 1: shut the fuck up. What about all of the immigration fraud?
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  Speaker 1: What about the financial fraud? Let's just start there, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: Can we get a true accounting of any of that.
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  Speaker 1: And furthermore, mister Blanche, how can you say there was
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  Speaker 1: an investigation when nobody that was involved was ever talked to,
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  Speaker 1: no meetings, nobody being brought in to be interrogated, none
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  Speaker 1: of it, which is wild considering when I was a
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  Speaker 1: young man and the FBI was pursuing someone in my family,
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  Speaker 1: they had no problem trying to talk to me, even
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  Speaker 1: though I was under age. I wasn't even eighteen at
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  Speaker 1: the time, and they sure tried to talk to me
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  Speaker 1: as I was walking down the street coming home from school.
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  Speaker 1: But Jeffrey Epstein's buddies, God forbid. Maybe if Jeffrey Epstein
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  Speaker 1: had a valet at the end of his name, it
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  Speaker 1: would have been different, because I promise you, if you
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  Speaker 1: have a valet at the end of your name, you
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  Speaker 1: ain't getting any kind of favorable treatment by the fucking FBI.
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  Speaker 1: Serrano said that there were FBI agents in the room
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  Speaker 1: ready to follow up with them on their cases, and
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  Speaker 1: every survivor in attendance was given direct contact information for
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  Speaker 1: a senior DOJ leader. Laura Bloom McGee forty seven of Arkansas,
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  Speaker 1: another survivor who was in the room, said the women
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  Speaker 1: had already gone to the FAI to report Epstein's conduct.
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  Speaker 1: She referenced Marie Farmer's nineteen ninety six complaint to the
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  Speaker 1: FBI alleging that Epstein moved child sexual abuse material from
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  Speaker 1: Ohio to New York, which he certainly did. And anybody
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  Speaker 1: who disputes what Maria has to say at this point
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  Speaker 1: is crazy. The three zero two backs up everything she said.
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  Speaker 1: She said that Blanche effectively disregarded what they already did.
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  Speaker 1: He told us to go back to the FBI and
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  Speaker 1: start all over again, McGee said. And that's because he
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  Speaker 1: wants to kick the ball down the road. He knows
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  Speaker 1: that a new investigation takes time, and he knows that
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  Speaker 1: going after the information we already have that would be
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  Speaker 1: the shortest path. And God forbid. Remember, it's never been
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  Speaker 1: about justice, it's never been about transparency. It's always been
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  Speaker 1: about controlling the blast radius. Both Benski and McGhee described
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  Speaker 1: an exchange in which members of the group asked Blanche
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  Speaker 1: whether he had read the Epstein files. They both interpreted
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  Speaker 1: his answers to indicate that he had never read any
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  Speaker 1: of the documents of the department he runs published in
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  Speaker 1: an online database. Well that shouldn't shock anybody. He's an administrator, right,
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  Speaker 1: He's just signing off on things and giving directions. If
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  Speaker 1: you think that Todd Blanche, of all people his hands on,
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  Speaker 1: I feel sorry for you, because you're probably pretty dumb.
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  Speaker 1: In his former post as Deputy Attorney General, Blanche oversaw
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  Speaker 1: the release of more than three million files under the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein File Transparency Act. Some of the women who say
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  Speaker 1: naked pictures of them were released in the documents have
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  Speaker 1: gone to court to get those records taken down. Bensky
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  Speaker 1: said that when the group first asked Blanche whether he
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  Speaker 1: had read the Epstein files, he basically put it back
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  Speaker 1: on us, referencing the massive volume of files and implying
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  Speaker 1: it was too extensive to read in full. We then asked,
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  Speaker 1: have you read any of them? Bensky said Blanche didn't
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  Speaker 1: give a clear response, but instead she said that their
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  Speaker 1: questions gave him the opportunity to say that he had
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  Speaker 1: read some of the files or searched through them. USA
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  Speaker 1: Today asked a press representative whether Blanche had read the
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  Speaker 1: Epstein files, and did not receive an immediate response to
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  Speaker 1: that inquiry or to a follow up inquiry. Some of
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  Speaker 1: the women characterized Blanche as insensitive about the situation. And look,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: he definitely is right. Let's not make pretend that he cares.
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  Speaker 1: I'm so tired of that. Oh yeah, they all care
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  Speaker 1: so much. Oh, the Trump administration cares about Epstein, justice
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  Speaker 1: and transparency. They've done more for Epstein's survivors than anybody else,
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  Speaker 1: unless you ask the survivors. Pretty sure they have a
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  Speaker 1: different opinion. There is crimes in those files that need
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  Speaker 1: to be investigated, and they just haven't done their job.
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  Speaker 1: McGee said he's not taking it seriously. No, he is not.
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  Speaker 1: And that's just on brand for the DOJ when it
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  Speaker 1: comes to Epstein. People who were laying eyes on them
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  Speaker 1: were only laying eyes on them to make redactions and
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  Speaker 1: not to look at any investigative leads. And that feels
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  Speaker 1: like an enormous waste of time and manpower. Stein said, yes,
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  Speaker 1: for sure, in all those documents, even the ones we've seen,
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  Speaker 1: there are plenty of crimes to chase. It's not that
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  Speaker 1: there's no evidence there. Most certainly is the problem is
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  Speaker 1: there's no willpower. If it was their only job to
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  Speaker 1: do redactions, they failed to do them properly. She said.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: The women in the group are universally opposed to Blanche
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: being confirmed as attorney general. If all Democrats on the
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Senate Judiciary vote no and two Republicans join them, his
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: nomination could be doomed. Zero chance. I've told you from
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  Speaker 1: the jump, do not get excited about it, don't get
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: gas lit, and don't let the media dog walk you.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Cornin and Tillis they're not heroes, cowards, the both of them.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: If his nomination makes it to the Senate floor and
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: all Democrats vote against the nomination, a handful of Republican
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: senators could also block the nomination. That's what Epstein accusers
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: or hoping happens, but it's not clear whether the vote
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: would happen before twenty twenty seven. Trump is going to
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: be Trump and do what he feels like he has
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: to be done. But I do believe that the Republican
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Party will have some courage. McGee said. We've been meeting
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: with both parties on both sides, and they're going to
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: stand on the right side of history. Man. I wish
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: I had that kind of faith, because I just don't.
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  Speaker 1: All these years I've been doing this, all the people
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  Speaker 1: that have gaslit us, all the people that have pumped
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  Speaker 1: our tires, just let them go flat. Sorry, I don't
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  Speaker 1: believe it. Stein said they may request another meeting with
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: the Justice Department because she wants to remain open to
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: working with them in good faith. But she said she
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: wouldn't participate in a performative meeting ever again. And why
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: would you, Why would you want to do that? That
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: only helps one person, and that's Todd Blanche. Just because
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Todd Blanche doesn't want to work with us, that's I'm sorry,
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  Speaker 1: But that's not going to stop us. She said, Well,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: it's not going to stop us either. So Todd Blanche
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: better buckle up, because there's going to be a record
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: of all the nonsense he gets involved in, at least
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: when it comes to Epstein. And I promise you, at
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: some point he's going to have to answer for that
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: record in front of the American people. And that might
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it's
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: coming eventually. And when that train comes rolling into the station,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: let's see how dismissive Todd Blanche is. Then all the
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode can be found in
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: the description box.