At confirmation hearing for Trump nominee, talk of Jeffrey Epstein sparks tears
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/16/jeffrey-epstein-testimony-todd-blanche-attorney-general/90940344007/
At confirmation hearing for Trump nominee, talk of Jeffrey Epstein sparks tears
Dani Bensky broke down in tears before a panel of U.S. senators as she described how her name and personal information appeared in multiple batches of the publicly available Epstein files that the Department of Justice released.
Bensky, who is a teacher, asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote against confirming Todd Blanche, a high-ranking official in the Department of Justice at the time, to a permanent post as Trump’s attorney general.
She said her name was not redacted from Epstein files documents included in a December release, a January release, and a third time, despite advocacy by her lawyer to address the breaches. She said the documents also disclosed her phone number, her previous addresses and details about where she worked.
“These documents contain disturbing yet incomplete accounts of my abuse,” Bensky said. “They were available not only for the entire world to see but my child, my students, my friends, my employers, my colleagues and my family. It was humiliating.”
In his July 15 testimony, Blanche said he took responsibility for redaction errors in the Epstein files releases and, when pressed by a Democratic senator, also offered a rare apology to the women who say they were abused and then publicly outed.
"I am sorry that in about 1% of the documents, mistakes were made," Blanche said. "But what I will say on top of that is we put tons of resources to rectifying those mistakes immediately."
Shortly before her testimony, several women in the crowd behind Bensky stood up with pictures of themselves as children to show the senators how old they were at the time they say Epstein abused them. The family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the most outspoken Epstein accuser before her 2025 death, also attended.
'There were hundreds of victims that were outed'
Bensky testified that she was far from the only Epstein accuser whose privacy was violated when the DOJ released files on Epstein.
"There were hundreds of victims that were outed," she said.
Bensky added that the harms resulting from those disclosures were vast.
"We've been receiving threats. We've had loss of jobs, we've had loss of confidentiality and privacy," she said.
‘Entirely not true’
Bensky said the Department of Justice did not remove her information from the public database of Epstein files until April, and that some women’s information is still publicly available online.
She contradicted Blanche’s July 15 testimony when he said that his staff immediately worked to fix issues where women’s information was improperly released.
“That is entirely not true,” she said. “There are still things that need to be redacted and there is still survivor information in there today from my awareness.”
Epstein files included naked images of accusers
Ahead of the DOJ's largest release of files, numerous Epstein accusers pushed for the release, but some also feared irreversible mistakes in redactions that could jeopardize their privacy.
That fear was made real for many when the release revealed the names of some accusers and even included naked images of them. In the aftermath, the DOJ provided an email address to report such errors, so it could fix them in the documents already posted on its website.
Pressed to apologize during his July 15 testimony, Blanche said, "I am sorry that in about 1% of the documents, mistakes were made. "But what I will say on top of that is we put tons of resources to rectifying those mistakes immediately."
'13 years old': Blanche accused of flip-flopping on meeting with Epstein accusers
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Blanche was flip-flopping from one day to the next about meeting with women who say they survived abuse by Jeffrey Epstein.
At the July 15 hearing, Blanche said he was "prohibited" from meeting with accusers who have lawyers.
Later at the same hearing, Sen. Cory Booker, D–New Jersey, said that was "not truthful," adding that Blanche, as a lawyer, knows the women's lawyers could come, or accusers could waive their right to have their lawyers present.
Durbin said July 16 that he "can't easily forget" Blanche's July 15 testimony.
"I asked him the same question the night before in my office, and he said, 'I'll meet with anybody to talk about this.' So I thought it was an easy question," Durbin said.
"Try to imagine, if you will, one of these young women saying to me, 'Jeffrey Epstein abused me when I was 13 years old,'" Durbin said.
"I don't believe a single member of the United States Senate would vote for this nominee after meeting with the survivors," Durbin added.
Blanche nomination in jeopardy
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said he would not vote in favor of Blanche’s nomination until he meets with Epstein accusers. The move effectively holds up Blanche’s confirmation until he holds the meeting.
Following the July 11 death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R–South Carolina, Republicans have only an 11-10 margin over Democrats on the committee, making Blanche's current path to a full Senate vote narrower.
The pledge effectively holds up Blanche’s confirmation unless he holds the meeting.
"I'm trying to get to yes, but this is a very important part of getting to yes," Tillis said.
‘They are obstructing’
Bensky criticized the Department of Justice for an ongoing dispute with the state of New Mexico, which has been attempting to investigate Epstein’s activity at Zorro Ranch, one of Epstein’s properties, where multiple women have publicly alleged they were abused.
On July 9, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sent a letter to Blanche saying that the state had been waiting more than 130 days for the Department of Justice to turn over unredacted records for its state-level Epstein investigation.
Bensky told the panel, “It’s obstruction. They are obstructing.”
Family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre opposes Trump’s AG pick
The family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the most outspoken accuser of Epstein, said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee that they are “strongly” opposed to confirming Blanche as attorney general.
“Mr. Blanche has failed survivors, failed the American people, and failed the basic standards of transparency, accountability, and justice required of anyone seeking to serve as attorney general of the United States,” the statement says.
The statement came from Sky and Amanda Roberts, Roberts Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law, who have become some of the lead spokespeople of Epstein accusers since Roberts Giuffre died by suicide in 2025.
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