Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday following pressure from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who said he would not vote for Blanche's confirmation as attorney general until he had met with the women.
One survivor who was in the room told Scripps News the meeting lasted about one hour, but that Blanche did not ask them any questions, was very short with his answers, and at one point got upset with one of the lawyers attending by Zoom call. The survivor said the women also pressed Blanche on redactions in the Epstein files and the need for more investigation into Epstein's former ranch in New Mexico.
At the end of the meeting, she said it felt like "he was forced to be with us" and that there was no sympathy in the room.
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Earlier Thursday, survivor Dani Bensky told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that her road to justice has been made more difficult by Blanche. Bensky said her attorneys submitted 350 names to the Department of Justice in December ahead of its release of the Epstein files to ensure proper redactions. Despite that, her identity was revealed twice in the first document dump, and later her name, phone number, former addresses and jobs appeared in the second dump.
"It's been absolutely devastating," Bensky said.
Bensky, a schoolteacher, said hundreds of victims' names were exposed, as well as incomplete accounts of abuse.
"They were available not only for the entire world to see but my child, my students, my friends, my employers," Bensky said.
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Blanche said the DOJ fixed issues when they were alerted, but Bensky said she had to fight for months to get her name taken down. Bensky also pushed back on Blanche's claim that there are no remaining investigative leads.
"We deserve to be heard directly, not dismissed and ignored," Bensky said. "There are numerous investigative leads that must be followed despite Mr. Blanche's claim that there are none. The survivors in the room know there are investigative leads because they are our stories."
Bensky pointed out that Blanche met with longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell for 9 hours, but survivors have never been approached by prosecutors despite providing information to the FBI.
