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Senators waver on Todd Blanche confirmation amid Epstein files questions

newsJul 22, 20262613,886

Senators are wavering on confirming Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, with Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski listed as undecided as the Judiciary Committee weighs his nomination. Lawmakers and survivors have pressed Blanche over his handling of Epstein-related materials, including a federal judge’s order requiring additional file releases and reporting that Blanche sought to avoid daily fines tied to compliance. Blanche has resisted ruling out a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund tied to the Trump family’s tax dispute, a move that helped prompt rare Republican pushback and is cited by critics as politicizing the Justice Department. Survivors who secured a delayed meeting with Blanche say he dismissed their questions, and TV legal commentator Katie Phang criticized Blanche’s responses to an Epstein-related lawsuit as legally weak. Ethical pressure on Blanche is intensifying: the New York City Bar Association and more than 100 former federal judges have filed complaints or called for disciplinary action, and some Republicans say they cannot safely give him a second confirmation vote. The uncertainty has slowed scheduling of a final Senate confirmation vote and prompted senators to demand more documents and clearer answers before deciding.

MeidasTouch
@meidastouch.com

Katie Phang on Todd Blanche's latest response in her Epstein lawsuit: "The fact it took them seven days to write two and a third pages of nothing ... They don't know what they're doing. They are swimming in the deep end and they don't have their baby floaties to help them."

875245d ago
Acyn
@acyn.bsky.social

Khanna: Katie Phang brought a lawsuit under the original Epstein transparency act, and the judge has ruled that Todd Blanche needs to release the remaining files. And he has been in defiance of already a federal judge's order

264745d ago
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