Durbin Urges His Colleagues To Oppose Trump’s Nominee To Be Attorney General, Todd Blanche

July 21, 2026 Durbin Urges His Colleagues To Oppose Trump’s Nominee To Be Attorney General, Todd Blanche Durbin: “Mr. Blanche’s behavior surrounding the Epstein investigation is just one of the many reasons he should not lead the Department of Justice. I urge my colleagues to oppose his nomination.” WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on his colleagues to vote against the nomination of Todd Blanche to be U.S. Attorney General. During his remarks, Durbin recalled the second day of Mr. Blanche’s nomination hearing, when the Committee convened an outside panel of witnesses to discuss his fitness to serve in this position. One of the witnesses Durbin invited was Dani Bensky—a dance teacher and mother—who was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein and others when she was just 17 years old. “A group of about a dozen Epstein survivors and their loved ones sat behind Dani when she testified. They were urging that the predators responsible for these horrific crimes be held accountable. Their stories are heartbreaking. But instead of helping them, the Trump Justice Department has retraumatized these survivors with its careless and cavalier attitude,” Durbin said. “When this Administration finally released information pertaining to Epstein’s trafficking ring after missing the Epstein Files Transparency Act deadline, many of these survivors’ personal identifying information became publicly available. These survivors, who have already suffered unspeakable abuses, were forced to relive their trauma as one of the most painful moments of their lives became public for anyone, including their friends, family, and coworkers, to see.” Durbin continued, “When I asked Mr. Blanche on Wednesday if he would meet with these brave individuals, he responded with babble about lawyers and regulations. He wouldn’t just say ‘I’ll meet with the victims.’ It is unfortunate that to do the right thing it took the threat of one Republican Senator who said he would not support Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General unless he met with the survivors. Then, reluctantly, he did. You would think Mr. Blanche would go out of his way to meet with them, to apologize for the harm he caused these victims for the information that was disclosed, and to present them with a plan for changes going forward to protect victims while pursuing perpetrators. Instead, he arrived at the meeting ready to deny any blame from himself with little to no concern for the survivors according to the reports.” Press reports following Mr. Blanche’s meeting with the survivors described Mr. Blanche as dismissive. Those in the room said that speaking with him was like “beating your head against the wall.” The impression that the victims had upon leaving that meeting was that Mr. Blanche was only there to check a box for his promotion, and that nothing was going to change at the Justice Department to hold abusers accountable. “Is this the man we want to confirm to be the head of the premier law enforcement agency in America? With Mr. Blanche, it is clear that justice is secondary to loyalty to the President,” Durbin said. Durbin noted that, under Blanche, hundreds of FBI personnel were directed to troll through the Epstein files to find any mention of the President but could not exercise the same level of care to ensure victims’ information remained protected. When pressed in an interview why more Epstein accomplices had not been charged, Blanche insisted that, “it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.” “Survivors deserve more than that type of flip comment. They deserve a DOJ committed to ensuring that it’ll never happen again. They deserve an Attorney General who treats them with respect and compassion,” Durbin said. “Mr. Blanche’s behavior surrounding the Epstein investigation is just one of the many reasons he should not lead the Department of Justice. I urge my colleagues to oppose his nomination.” Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here . Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here . Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations. -30- Print Email Share Tweet