Inside the explosive face-to-face meeting with Trump's Pam Bondi replacement and Epstein victims as he scrambles to save nomination: 'It's demoralizing'

By BREANNE DEPPISCH, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 19:20, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 19:26, 17 July 2026 Trump's attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche, was forced into a face-to-face meeting with Epstein survivors Thursday evening after an explosive confirmation hearing.  Blanche, whom Trump tapped to lead the Justice Department after firing Pam Bondi in part over the botched Epstein files rollout, is fighting to keep his nomination on track amid narrow Senate margins and a rocky two-day confirmation hearing. He hastily agreed to meet with the group of Epstein survivors, hours after one of two Republican holdouts on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thom Tillis, conditioned his 'yes' vote on the sit-down meeting. During the hearing, Blanche faced tough questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee over DOJ's handling of the Epstein investigation and accidental disclosure of victim information.  The sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham further complicates things, leaving the panel with a razor-thin majority of eleven Republicans. Even just one GOP defection could tank Blanche's confirmation. The count of possible defectors, Tillis and and outgoing Texas Senator John Cornyn, stands at two.  Tillis's ultimatum that Blanche meet with the Epstein survivors quickly set things into motion, and within hours, the group found themselves sitting face-to-face with the man tapped to be the nation's top prosecutor. But how the meeting went depends entirely on who you ask.  Epstein survivor Dani Bensky speaks on Capitol Hill during Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing Blanche is seen before the start of his Senate Judiciary Committee testimony on Wednesday Epstein survivors and family members embrace Jeffrey Epstein survivor Dani Bensky after she finished testifying during Blanche's confirmation hearing  Blanche talks with reporters after attending a meeting related to survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein Sen. Dick Durbin gives remarks during a press conference with Epstein survivors in the US Capitol Survivors said the long-awaited sit-down was underwhelming. One attendee called it 'demoralizing' and said it was clearly only held to help Blanche win confirmation from the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee.  'It had absolutely nothing to do with us, and it had everything to do with Blanche checking a box so that he can get a promotion,' Liz Stein told MS Now after the sit-down.  'I don’t think that we had high expectations going into this meeting. I certainly did not. But I didn’t expect to walk out of the meeting feeling the way that we feel right now. It was demoralizing, to say the very least.' Stein added that he 'talked around questions' and claimed that he didn't 'give transparent answers.' Another victim, Annie Farmer, said in a statement that she found him 'abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors.' A spokesperson for the Justice Department told the Daily Mail on Friday that the meeting was a 'productive, initial' discussion. 'Acting AG Blanche answered questions and walked through what is needed for investigations to proceed,' the DOJ spokesperson added.  'While some victims said that they had not reached out to the FBI under this administration, he encouraged victims to meet with FBI investigators as the next step, and attendees spoke with agents after the meeting about scheduling interviews.' Republican Senator Thom Tillis boards an elevator after a Senate vote at the US Capitol  Blanche arrives to testify during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing President Donald Trump and then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speak to the media during a press conference at the White House Family members of Blanche are seen during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee  The delta between the two characterizations is in many ways indicative of the broader issues that have sharply divided members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the run-up to Blanche's confirmation vote.  The two-day hearing played out, at times, like a study in contrasts. Democrats grilled Blanche on the departures of more than 1,000 Justice Department officials since the start of Trump's second term, its handling of the Epstein probe, and details of a currently scuttled anti-weaponization fund.  Witnesses included Epstein survivor Dani Bensky, who told the panel that Blanche for months had ignored the group and declined repeated requests for a meeting. For Tillis, an outgoing Republican senator, Blanche's milquetoast overture to the survivors seemed to be good enough.  Tillis praised Blanche after the meeting for 'doing what all his predecessors over the last two decades never did: meet with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s horrific crimes.  'I appreciate his willingness to directly engage and listen to them,' Tillis said on social media after the meeting ended. Blanche has previously acknowledged DOJ’s botched handling of sensitive materials, including materials that revealed victim information.  ‘Any time we release a victim’s name that shouldn’t be released, we have failed as a Department of Justice,’ Blanche told Senate Appropriations Committee members  earlier this year - a point he echoed this week.  ‘I hear your anger,’ he said of the victims' frustrations.