Tillis says he won't support Blanche unless he meets with Epstein survivors

Washington — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Thursday that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche must meet with survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's abuse before he votes to advance Blanche's nomination for attorney general out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Tillis made his request during the second day of Blanche's confirmation hearing, which featured testimony from five witnesses discussing his nomination to lead the Justice Department. Among those who appeared before the Judiciary Committee was Dani Bensky, whose name and personal information were mistakenly made public in documents related to the federal investigation into Epstein that were released by the Justice Department last year.

Tillis, whose term in the Senate ends in early January, said he has a "positive predisposition" toward Blanche, but hasn't yet made a final decision on whether he will support his confirmation.

"Mr. Blanche said very quickly yesterday that he would meet with the victims, the Epstein victims, today if it could be arranged," Tillis said during Thursday's Judiciary Committee hearing. He added that the earliest the panel will vote on Blanche's nomination is in two weeks, and he expects Blanche to meet with the survivors before then.

"Because it seemed to me that Mr. Blanche was willing to say that he would meet with them and counsel — I understand the restriction that counsel has to be present — I expect that meeting to occur before I'm willing to vote out of this committee," he said. "I'm trying to get to yes, but this is a very important part of getting to yes. There should not be any reason why, based on what Mr. Blanche said yesterday, if he said that he would do it today, then he can certainly do it over the next two weeks."

Blanche told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday that he was meeting with senators and tried to rearrange his schedule to meet with the survivors.

"I've been here waiting. It didn't work out," Blanche said. "So, we're going to see if there's a way we can meet either later today or sometime soon."

The acting attorney general must secure the votes of both Tillis and GOP Texas Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. The Judiciary Committee is divided between 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats following the unexpected death of GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Saturday.

Tillis is not running for reelection, and Cornyn lost his Senate primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was endorsed by President Trump.

During Thursday's hearing, Bensky told the committee that her name was among the names of more t