Epstein Survivors Say Republicans Ghosted Them Before Blanche Vote
https://newrepublic.com/post/213959/epstein-survivors-say-republicans-ghosted-blanche-vote
Epstein Survivors Say Republicans Ghosted Them Before Blanche Vote
Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse say they were stood up after having scheduled a meeting to speak about Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general.
Republican Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn each reneged on their promises to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein, with Tillis even leaving them waiting in his office for 45 minutes before they gave up.
A group of Epstein survivors on Tuesday accused Blanche and Cornyn of going back on their word, as the senators prepared to vote in favor of Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general after he provided a weak promise in writing to kill President Trump’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
“The treatment we received from senators throughout this process was just as revealing. Senator Tillis publicly invited us, on camera, to come to his office and promised to meet with us. We did. We waited for 45 minutes in his lobby, only to be told by a staffer he would not meet with us after all,” the survivors wrote in a joint statement.
“Senator Cornyn also refused to hear directly from survivors before casting his vote. Senators Tillis and Cornyn were not willing to sit across from us and answer for the vote they were preparing to cast. If they believed they were doing the right thing, they should have had the courage to look survivors in the eye and tell us why. The message was unmistakable: They wanted us to go away. We are not going away.”
Tillis’s snubbing is particularly nasty given that he made a big fuss about not voting for Blanche’s confirmation unless he met with Epstein survivors. Blanche did eventually meet with survivors, but it did not go well, as survivors reported he told them to “get to the point” and to talk to the FBI instead. Survivor Danielle Bensky called the meeting “a box-checking exercise to secure Tillis’ vote,” and noted he “offered no meaningful explanation for how the redaction failures happened, who approved the release, or what steps he would take to prevent survivors from being exposed again.”
Before Tillis ghosted the survivors, he promised on camera to invite them to his office.
“I wanna meet—not with the attorneys, but with the survivors. And have a discussion about that stuff,” Tillis said. “I wanna see specific action items. And some of that could even have to do with investigations. My office is right around the corner.... I gotta rush … but I wanna have that meeting. I don’t want suits in the room. I want victims, and me.”
Tillis and Cornyn are both outgoing senators who would have lost nothing for being genuine and transparent. Instead of actually acting upon any of their own stated principles, they opted to play political theatre with the emotions of these survivors, unable to even offer them the basic decency of coming to a meeting they said they’d be at. We’re talking about women who survived abuse from perhaps the most infamous predator of the century.
Cornyn Claims Republicans Can’t Rein In Trump—as He Bends the Knee
Senator John Cornyn threw up his hands when it came to Todd Blanche’s nomination, like all Republicans do when President Trump does something outrageous.
Republican Senator John Cornyn tried to claim Tuesday that Republicans didn’t have any power over President Trump.
After Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Cornyn, voted to send acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation to the full Senate Tuesday, a reporter asked the Texas senator whether he was concerned about Trump continuing to say he wants to find a way to pay January 6 insurrectionists.
“Well, there’s nothing we could do to, uh, rein in the president when he said he likes the [anti-weaponization] fund and wishes it still exists, but the fact of the matter is it’s dead, and that’s all we could do under the circumstances,” Cornyn replied.
Cornyn and his fellow Republicans have had countless opportunities to rein in the president. After making a big deal about Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund, Cornyn and his colleague, Senator Thom Tillis, settled for a weak agreement full of loopholes. And last week, Republicans shot down an amendment that would have killed Trump’s tax audit immunity, the other big issue with the president’s IRS settlement. In June, all but three Republicans voted against a Democratic attempt to kill the “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
Senate Democrats also introduced the “Drain the Slush Fund Act” in June, but no Republicans have signed off on it. It all fits a pattern in Trump’s second term: Republicans have a problem with something Trump has proposed or is doing, then the administration reaches out to them, and then they fall in line.
Trump Abruptly Changes Course on Renovation, Undoing Weeks of Work
Donald Trump is suddenly unhappy with the state of his new White House helipad.
President Donald Trump has ordered contractors to redo weeks of work on a new helipad for the White House, after already demanding workers speed up construction.
For more than a month, contractors have worked around the clock to complete Trump’s helipad, which he directed to be built without any official notice. Now the contractors have been forced to take apart their work, according to photographs obtained by The Washington Post. It’s unclear how much money the additional alterations will cost, or if the helipad will be completed on schedule.
In early July, Clark Construction received a last-minute demand to complete the helipad by September 17, adding an estimated $875,000 to the price tag in the process. The government’s request, which indicated that Trump hoped to have the helipad ready for an “upcoming state visit,” was made just days after the president invited his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to come on September 24.
That’s not the only reason it’s an awkward time to be ordering redos. The Department of Justice recently admitted in court that the lining peeling off the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was the result of “flawed” application by Trump’s handpicked contractors.
Clark Construction similarly received a no-bid contract to construct the new helipad. Now, it seems the former slumlord may be finding it increasingly difficult to manifest his visions of grandeur.
The helipad is part of a $13 million renovation project that also included work on the South Portico and driveway. Previously, Trump announced that Sikorsky, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin that builds Marine One helicopters, would cover the cost of a $5 million or $6 million helipad, complete with a White House seal carved out of granite. It seems likely that American taxpayers will pay for the rest.
This is the latest renovation project Trump has demanded at the White House, which the president treats like one of his gaudy resorts and not federal land. Last month, the front of the White House was covered in a massive tarp as the front doors underwent security improvements and repairs were made to the iconic columns on the North Portico. And lest we forget: There’s also the demolition of the East Wing, the paving of the Rose Garden, and the president’s outrageous $600 million ballroom.
Ethics Committee to Investigate Miller as Abuse Allegations Blow Up
Representative Max Miller allegedly held his daughter’s favorite stuffed bunny hostage, according to his ex-father-in-law Senator Bernie Moreno.
The allegations against Representative Max Miller have become so loud that the Ohio Republican has decided to launch a House ethics investigation into himself in a flagrant attempt to salvage his spiraling midterm campaign.
“In light of all the renewed interest in my family affairs I am going to file my own paperwork for an ethics investigation into myself to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family,” Miller wrote on X Tuesday. “I have absolutely nothing to hide.
“We will be providing the committee all necessary documents needed for a detail examination,” he continued. “The accusations continue to change, but my facts stay the same. I am looking forward to my colleagues reading everything for themselves.”
Shortly after his post, the House Ethics Committee announced it was opening an investigation into Miller. The investigation will effectively give Miller exactly what he wants: a chance to stay in a midterm race that he is almost certainly going to lose. Miller has repeatedly rejected calls for his exit, despite mounting public pressure to do so. Wednesday, August 5, marks the last day for Miller to withdraw.
Emily Moreno, Miller’s ex-wife, has accused the congressman of physically hurting her and their two-year-old daughter. In court filings and police reports, Moreno has charged Miller with throwing her against a wall, leaving an “obvious grab mark on her upper arm”; throwing scalding water on her (an incident that Miller refuted as “horseplay”); and having “held a gun to her head.” Moreno also recounted an instance in which their daughter told her, “Daddy kill you.”
Medical records submitted during the couple’s custody dispute cited several injuries to their young daughter, as well, including a broken collarbone that Moreno claimed occurred during Miller’s care.
Moreno’s father, Senator Bernie Moreno, accused Miller Tuesday of holding his toddler’s favorite stuffed animal “hostage,” even as she struggled to sleep without it.
“This is truly the seventh level of hell,” Senator Moreno told CBS News Tuesday. “My daughter lives in constant fear of this man, not like something that’s existential, but deeply in her heart, she fears what this guy is capable of.”
Miller has categorically denied the allegations and sued his ex-wife for defamation in May. He was never charged with a crime, and the Department of Children and Family Services did not find evidence to substantiate allegations of child abuse, according to court filings.
Miller published audio recordings of some of their private disagreements in an attempt to prove his innocence, but in doing so incidentally publicized more accusations against him by his wife related to suspected drug abuse. In one clip, Moreno can be heard accusing her ex-husband of keeping needles by his bedside and abusing THC and weed products.
While publishing the audio recordings, Miller also accidentally shared a folder that contained images of his daughter, including one that appears to show her genitals. His ex-wife’s lawyers warned the image “could be considered Child Sexual Abuse Material.”
It took the Ohio senator weeks to get publicly involved in the dangerous affair affecting his daughter and granddaughter, but Moreno finally denounced Miller on Sunday, writing in a post on X that the Donald Trump–backed Republican should “not serve in the House of Representatives.”
“I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake,” the senator said.
Trump has repeatedly backed Miller, despite the loaded allegations. On Monday, Trump insisted to reporters that Miller is a “good person.”
“I mean I always thought he was a very good person. And I’m going to let the families figure that out,” Trump said. “It’s accusations. And I’m going to let them figure that out.”
But by that evening, even the president could see the writing on the wall for Miller’s November prospects. The president reportedly phoned Miller to explain that “things aren’t looking good” and that the road ahead to reelection would be tough, multiple sources familiar with the call told Axios.
The scandals have only continued to mount for Miller: By Tuesday afternoon, the Daily Mail had obtained and circulated images of Miller holding weed gummies, as well as of the needles that were purportedly kept by Miller’s bedside.
This story has been updated.
Pirro Rushes to Prove to Trump She Didn’t Mess Up Reflecting Pool Case
Pirro even lugged a giant box of evidence with her.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro hauled a crate of evidence to the White House Monday evening in a bid to convince President Donald Trump that vandals weren’t responsible for damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Trump is reportedly considering firing Pirro over the Department of Justice’s admission in court that the pool’s peeling lining was the result of “flawed” renovation work, not vandals.
Pirro brought a large carton of evidence collected by the Department of the Interior to a private meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, sources familiar told CBS News Tuesday. The evidence was reportedly used to exonerate former U.S. Olympian David Hearn. Later, Pirro was spotted leaving the White House dragging her enormous box of proof behind her.
The occasionally heated meeting took place shortly after the president lashed out
at her during a press conference. Since then, Trump has made no
indication that he was the least bit convinced, but federal prosecutors
have moved to drop the charges against the remaining two alleged vandals.
In a filing last week, federal prosecutors admitted that the DOJ hadn’t fully investigated the matter because the pool hadn’t actually been drained, and the lining was “mostly obscured” by water. Federal prosecutors blamed the Department of the Interior for initially claiming that the damage was “entirely caused by vandals.”
Pirro has been criticized for mounting prosecutions against a group of alleged vandals before fully investigating.
ICE Now Forcing Haitian Immigrants to Wear Ankle Monitors
As the Trump administration strips legal status from hundreds of thousands of Haitians, ICE is targeting them like never before.
The Trump administration is making Haitians in the U.S. report to immigration offices to either get ankle monitors or immediately be deported after stripping their Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, last month.
In Springfield, Ohio, dozens of Haitians with TPS were called to ICE offices, fitted with the ankle monitors, and given instructions not to travel more than 75 miles from their homes. The Haitian community in the city is about 15,000 strong, and a Supreme Court decision in June allowed the Trump administration to take away their TPS protections despite the ongoing poor security situation in Haiti.
Many Haitians have asylum applications that have been pending for years. One Haitian resident was told to either wear an ankle monitor or be deported with $2,600, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. ICE has sent letters to Haitians with TPS to come to immigration offices with “any and all immigration documents.”
“It is important that you keep this appointment and bring this letter with you,” the letter states. “If you are unable to do so, state your reason, sign below, and return this letter to this office at once.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Independent that “Temporary Protected Status is exactly that—temporary.”
“What we would say now is it’s closing time which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” the spokesperson said. “The good news is it’s not too late to get a $2,600 check and a free flight home.”
President Trump infamously accused Haitians in Springfield of eating cats and dogs on the campaign trail in 2024, and the Haitian community has been bracing for heavy-handed ICE raids ever since the Supreme Court’s decision in June. Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine has spoken up in support of Haitians in his state but has not promised any support beyond that.
“These are people who have helped Springfield really come back,” DeWine said in a CBS interview last month, explaining that Haitians have filled jobs and opened businesses where the economy once struggled. “The Haitians who are living there and employed there, they came there to work, and they came there because there were jobs that were not being filled by other people.
“Haiti is hell today. So you’d be sending people … back to hell.”
World Cup Host Cities Chase FIFA as It Refuses to Pay Up
President Donald Trump remains silent as American cities are left to foot the bill.
Eleven different U.S. cities are still trying to get paid what they’re owed by FIFA after hosting 2026 World Cup club matches.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino reportedly verbally promised Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, Miami, and Boston each $1 million for their hosting troubles, calling it a “legacy contribution.” While FIFA made no public statement about the payments, four executives at U.S. host city committees told The Athletic that FIFA management repeatedly reassured them about the payment.
Now, nearly a month after the World Cup ended—and after Infantino’s U-turn on his disastrous plan to sell stakes in the international competition—all of those cities are still waiting for their payouts.
“The absolute, utter stupidity of these host city executives for not getting this in writing,” said Pablo Iglesias Maurer, a soccer reporter for The Guardian. “I can’t even wrap my head around this—It’s FIFA, FFS. You’re taking Gianni Infantino’s word for it?”
It doesn’t make much sense that FIFA can’t make an $11 million total payment after the profit from ticketing, media rights, and private donations. The tournament made over $15 billion in revenue from 2023 through the end of the 2026 World Cup, and FIFA only had a tournament operation budget of $2.7 billion. Meanwhile, hosts like Kansas City have had to dip into state funding to cover the costs.
FIFA is one of the most historically corrupt organizations in all of sports, if not the entire world. And if Infantino’s been taking any cues from Trump, those cities won’t be seeing that money anytime soon.
MAGA Senator Complains About Dems Calling Out Tax Fraud and Sex Abuse
Senator Eric Schmitt apparently got bored during acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation vote.
Senate Judiciary Democrats used their final moments ahead of Todd Blanche’s nomination vote Tuesday to remind the committee of numerous reasons why the acting attorney general should not be permanently promoted—but apparently all Republicans heard was a bunch of “whining.”
Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt was quick to mock his Democratic committee colleagues, sharing a derogatory note on X that he penned during the proceedings.
“So much whining!” the note read.
Schmitt’s language is an interesting choice, considering that the “whining” was an explicit exploration of why Donald Trump’s personal attorney should not have the keys to the Justice Department.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse referred to Blanche’s botched rollout of the Epstein files as just one reason why he should be disqualified from consideration. Whitehouse reminded the committee that even other Trump officials—notably, former Attorney General Pam Bondi—said Blanche was responsible for the bungled release.
Senator Dick Durbin effectively accused Blanche of violating his oath of office by having “aided and abetted the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States” rather than “serving the American people and upholding the rule of law and the Constitution.”
Durbin further accused Blanche—who is, again, in the running to be America’s preeminent lawyer—of lying under oath about statements relating to Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund “to avoid offending President Trump.”
Other damning details cited by Democrats involved Blanche’s personal role in crafting the collusive settlement between the DOJ, Trump’s personal attorneys, and the IRS that laid the groundwork for the taxpayer-funded honeypot. Liberal lawmakers also chided Blanche’s utilization of the Justice Department within his current limited capacity to target Trump’s perceived political enemies with bogus criminal cases.
Democrats noted that Blanche still had not walked back a deal to protect Trump, a convicted tax fraudster, against future IRS investigations.
But perhaps most scathing were the repeat references to Blanche’s bad lawyering. Democrats pointed to a petition signed by hundreds of Blanche’s former colleagues that claimed Blanche was simply unfit to be America’s top law enforcement official. The New York City Bar Association also protested Blanche’s nomination, accusing Blanche of having dubious ethical standards that failed to meet the standard required by the office.
Schmitt’s dismissive tone could only suggest that he either didn’t listen to the complaints or he simply doesn’t care.
All Trump’s Reflecting Pool Lawsuits End in Total Failure
The Department of Justice has dropped charges against the two remaining defendants.
It’s been only a few days since federal prosecutors moved to dismiss criminal charges against former Olympian David Hearn, and the Department of Justice’s remaining vandalism cases have already fallen apart like cheap pool lining.
The DOJ indicated Monday night that it would not prosecute the remaining two defendants accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Cameron Thiers and Sophie Dennison-Gibby.
In a filing Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia acknowledged that damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by the contractor’s flawed installation of the pool lining, and blamed the Department of the Interior for initially claiming that the damage was “entirely caused by vandals.”
The government also quietly dismissed charges against defendant Justin Carreno on Friday.
G. Allen Dale, an attorney representing Thiers, told NPR News that, after the filing about Hearn, there was no way to keep the rest of the government’s cases afloat.
“Anyone who’s read the pleading that was filed in Mr. Hearn’s case would understand exactly why they would have to dismiss against the remainder of those charged,” Dale said.
The move to dismiss charges against Hearn sparked major backlash from President Donald Trump, who’d hand-picked Atlantic Industrial Coating for the project and spent weeks blaming vandals for the contractor’s apparently shoddy workmanship.
He railed against U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dropping the Hearn case, saying Monday she “choked.”
GOP Senator Admits Blanche Is Pretty Bad as He Votes to Confirm Him
Senator Thom Tillis never had a spine to begin with. It’s no wonder he voted for Todd Blanche.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis doesn’t think highly of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, but he voted to confirm him anyway.
Tillis, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, gave a long-winded defense of his support for Blanche on the Senate floor Tuesday, even as he admitted that this Justice Department seems particularly bad.
“Everybody has this view that they are as pure as the driven snow and it’s the other side that has a problem. I think we both have a problem, folks. If you want to talk about weaponization, take a look at the Biden administration, take a look at the Obama administration,” Tillis said.
“The bottom line is, nobody is clean here, and until we start recognizing this behavior as bad, we’re just going to one-up it. Maybe it’s a little bit more intense in this administration than the last one, and that a little bit more intense the prior administration, and so on and so forth, but folks, we’ve got to end this stuff. We do,” Tillis continued. “I’m gonna support Mr. Blanche’s nomination, but what I hope I see out of him is a bending of the curve of this absurdity.”
Tillis’s excuse doesn’t hold up very well. Tillis was one of two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee withholding his vote to support Blanche over President Trump’s settlement with the IRS, which created a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and gave Trump and his family immunity from IRS audits.
But over the weekend, Tillis, along with Republican Senator John Cornyn, changed his mind following a written statement from the Department of Justice in which Blanche purportedly agreed to end the Anti-Weaponization Fund. However, that memo still left open the preservation of the fund, as well as Trump’s immunity from IRS audits, as Democrats quickly pointed out.
Tillis seems to know all of this, based on his statement Tuesday. But even though he’ll be out of the Senate next year, he’s putting politics over principle.
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