Thom Tillis tells Todd Blanche to meet with Epstein victims — or don't expect his support

Summary

Sen. Thom Tillis said Thursday his vote to confirm attorney general nominee Todd Blanche is contingent on Blanche meeting with victims of the late convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein. The North Carolina Republican's new demand creates yet another hurdle for Blanche’s confirmation, which will fail to advance to the Senate floor if one Republican on the Judiciary Committee defects — assuming all Democrats on the panel oppose him. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is also undecided. “I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote out of this committee and I’m trying to get to ‘yes,’ but this is a very important part of getting to ‘yes,’” Tillis, who is retiring at the end of the Congress, said at the second day of Blanche’s nomination hearings. Blanche will need to have this meeting before July 30, the likely date that the Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene to vote on whether to report Blanche’s nomination favorably to the full Senate. The current acting attorney general was not present at the hearing Thursday, having answered questions from lawmakers for hours the day before. Blanche said during his testimony Wednesday that he was barred from meeting with Epstein’s victims due to his job with the Justice Department but that they were welcome to meet with DOJ staff. It could, as well, complicate Blanche’s upcoming transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Tillis emerged from Blanche’s confirmation hearing Wednesday appearing almost sold, repeating Thursday he had “a positive predisposition” to vote “yes” — despite having reservations about the fate of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.” While Blanche said several times the fund was “dead,” Tillis has continued to clamor for passage of legislation codifying its demise.