Todd Blanche, the Epstein Files and the Survivors Left Behind

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1:26Learn more. Visit lafilm.edu. What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is preparing for his confirmation vote. And as we get closer to the date, there's still a lot of people out there that don't believe that he's fit for the office. And I'm certainly one of them. But when you have people that have actually been abused by Jeffrey Epstein coming out against your confirmation, I would say that that's pretty much a scarlet letter. And in a world where there was still some morality left, we wouldn't even be having this conversation because Todd Blanche would have never been nominated. But unfortunately, this is the world we live in. So today, we have an article from USA Today and it's an editorial that was written by Danny Bensky. Headline, I'm an Epstein survivor, Todd Blanche is in fit to be Trump's AG. This article was

2:31authored by Danny Bensky. More than 20 years ago, when I was a 17-year-old aspiring ballerina in New York City, I met Jeffrey Epstein. My mother was seriously ill and I was young and scared. Epstein recognized that vulnerability and exploited it. He presented himself as someone who could help, then used my age, dreams and my family circumstances to manipulate and sexually abuse me. And this was how we acted, right? This was a Zemo. He would find these girls that had vulnerabilities. He would weasel his way in. And then he'd take over almost like a parasite. And these women, these girls, they ended up getting stuck. A lot of them became reliable on his help and it just became this vicious cycle of him abusing them over and over again until for some of these women it became normalized. And that's where you get to people like Sarah Kellen, that's where you get to people like Nadia, you know, where this was normalized behavior for them.

3:33And then you have the 17-year-old girls come in and they see all these posh people. And that's what's going on at Jeffrey Epstein's properties. Well, these girls think that that's what they're supposed to do. And we've seen that and heard that time and time again. From these women and girls, that got caught up. For years, I carried what happened largely on my own. Then other survivors of Epstein's trafficking network began coming forward. And I found hope in knowing that I was not alone. Over time, our individual stories grew into a movement demanding accountability. That movement helped lead to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which we believed would finally expose the full scope of Epstein's crimes and the people who enabled them. Wouldn't that have been nice? An actual accounting of what what happened? Not a whitewashing, not protection of Jeffrey Epstein's buddies, not a reveal of the women, but an actual accounting of what happened, but instead we get this shit show. What happened instead was alarming. The Department of Justice

4:37released survivor names and other personally identifying information. This included new images that showed young women, possibly teenagers, with their faces visible. My name, phone number, former addresses, where I worked and studied at the time and accounts of abuse were all made public. None of that was supposed to occur. Okay? That wasn't up to the DOJ to share these women stories. They have no problem sharing their stories, but they're real protective of the people that were involved with Epstein. Ask yourself why. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the people that were involved are paying all the bills. All the scumbag bankers, the financial sector idiots, and all the other people who are behind the scenes really pulling the strings. He who controls the purse controls the kingdom. And if you think anybody is controlling the purse besides Epstein's friends, you're not paying attention. At the same time, the names of alleged abusers,

5:38enablers, and other powerful people connected to Epstein remained hidden throughout the files. Their addictions were so extensive that a federal judge ordered the DOJ to explain them or remove them. How that work out. They don't care what judges say. They don't care what the court says. They're going to do whatever they want. And that's because there's no ramifications. Nobody's going to prison. Nobody's getting hemmed up. Nobody's having their door kicked in, like the local drug dealer. Just as alarming, more than a thousand women and girls were abused. Yet no one beyond Epstein and his former girlfriend, Glaine Maxwell, has been prosecuted. Rather than pursuing leads, beyond his interview with Maxwell or prosecuting anyone else, then deputy attorney general Todd Blanche appears to have been huddled in the White House situation room, helping manage the political and public relations fall out from the release of the Epstein files. Instead of clandestine meetings, how about you pursue Jeffrey Epstein's associates? How about we go after the NPA?

6:42How about we go after the people that helped him violate that NPA? Any interest in that? Todd Babybelieb Blanche or not? Taken together, the failures paint the deeply troubling picture. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi testified to a congressional committee that Blanche was in charge of the Epstein files release. These failures fall on his shoulders. Now Blanche is up for a promotion to Attorney General, the country's top law enforcement officer. You'll imagine being handed a project at work, and the shit turns out disastrous, and then you're up for a promotion, zero chance in the private sector that that ever happens. But Blanche serves the purpose, and that purpose is to protect Trump. I know people don't want to hear that shit, and I know people will be like, oh, it's Trump, the arrangement syndrome, save it. I don't give a fuck, okay? I'm gonna call them how I see them. And no amount of emotional terrorism is ever gonna get me to change my opinion or to fall into line. During my testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee

7:43on July 16th, I called senators that Blanche had refused my repeated request for a meeting for nearly nine months. Although he has said he met with representatives of 30 accusers, he didn't meet with me, or any survivors I know. Well, Blanche is a liar. He didn't want to meet with the survivors, so he tried to act like he couldn't, like he was barred from doing it. Oh, well, if they have representation, I can't meet with them. Yes, you can. All they have to do is wave their right to representation, or maybe bring their lawyer with them. I mean, he really thinks that you're stupid. That's what it comes down to. And I know I say that all the time, but it's worth repeating. These people have zero respect for your intelligence or your discernment. And they think they could just say whatever, and you're gonna get along to go along. Now, that's gonna work on the base, right? There's a certain portion of the country that's gonna get along to go along because Todd Blanche told them so. And he's Donald Trump's guy. But the rest of us, well, we have some concerns. And I think that when you're dealing with somebody like Todd Blanche,

8:48who has been dishonest with the American people, has been involved directly in a cover-up, I don't know why people are shocked that this dude's getting a bunch of pushback, especially from the survivors. During that same period, he met with Maxwell for nine hours before she was moved to a low security prison in his own testimony. Blanche claimed there was no evidence to support a additional prosecutions beyond Epstein and Maxwell. Despite the investigative leads, survivor testimony, and other records already contained in the files. And that's true. The files are littered with hints of crimes, circumstantial evidence, and straight up financial malfeasance. Has anybody pursued that? Has anybody even went after the low-hanging fruit? Of course not. So what makes anyone think that they're gonna go after powerful people like Leon Black or Les Wexner? After my testimony, Senator Tom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, seemed moved. He said he cannot support Blanche confirmation until Blanche met with survivors

9:52directly. And look, Mr. Tillis, you're on your way out the door. I think you should do something heroic here, and tell Todd Blanche to get fucked. That would be fantastic. Will he do it? I highly doubt it, but I would, especially if I got forced out by Trump and his band of merry men. Only then did Blanche team scramble to arrange a meeting as my fellow survivors and I exhausted from days of travel and advocacy were preparing to leave Washington. We rearranged our schedules and hurried to make sure our lawyers could attend. The meeting that followed was by any honest account a box-checking exercise to secure Tillis' vote. Blanche offered no meaningful explanation for how their redaction failures happened, who approved the release, or what steps he would take to prevent survivors from being exposed again. He made no commitment to investigate or prosecute anyone beyond Epstein and Maxwell. That's because he's a coward. Straight up. And anyone supporting Todd Blanche? I have questions about you, too. Because this man has shown us exactly what he is,

10:58and it's certainly not a hard-charging law man. Instead, we were told to take our information to the FBI. We've already done that. Survivors have reported what happened, provided evidence, and retulled the most painful experiences of our lives to law enforcement for decades. Telling us to start over was not a plan for accountability. There was no attempt to work with us. It was another way to dismiss us. Today, I'm a teacher and a mother. I would not find Blanche's refusal to take accountability acceptable in my students or my child. The American people should not find it acceptable in the man, seeking the highest law enforcement position in the country. Amen. I can't even believe this is a debate, honestly. And it shows us just how far we have fallen. The country deserves an attorney general who listens to survivors, holds predators accountable, and keeps their children safe. Blanche has shown us that he is not that person. Tillis asked Blanche to meet with us because the senator understood that survivors deserve dancers. We met with him in good

12:04faith, but he didn't do the same. A meeting alone cannot become a substitute for accountability, and checking a box should not be enough to secure the senator's vote. I hope Mr. Tillis reads this. Do I think it would move him? I don't know, but I hope he reads it. My message to Tillis is simple. If you hold Blanche, what offers survivors real accountability by meeting with us, he did not. If you had hoped this meeting would resolve our concerns, it did not. And if your support for his confirmation depends on his ability, the treats survivors of human trafficking, and sexual assault with honesty and respect than you, and every senator should vote no on Blanche for attorney general. So look, again, I don't know how this is even a conversation at this point, but here we are. So we'll have to see what the Senate does, but I'm not very confident that they're going to not vote to confirm Todd Blanche. So we'll keep an eye on it, and like everything else in this sorted story, when we have some more information, we'll get it added to the catalog.

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