Durbin Delivers Opening Statement Ahead Of Outside Witness Panel For President Trump’s Nominee To Be Attorney General, Todd Blanche

July 16, 2026 Durbin Delivers Opening Statement Ahead Of Outside Witness Panel For President Trump’s Nominee To Be Attorney General, Todd Blanche Durbin also introduced the Democratic witnesses: Liz Oyer and Dani Bensky WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s outside witness panel for the nomination of Todd Blanche, President Trump’s pick to be Attorney General of the United States. Durbin also introduced the Democratic witnesses: Liz Oyer and Dani Bensky. Ms. Oyer served as the Justice Department Pardon Attorney, a nonpolitical position, until she was fired in March 2025 by then-Deputy AG Blanche for refusing to rubberstamp restoring gun ownership rights to Mel Gibson, a convicted domestic abuser. Ms. Bensky is a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse whose name and intimate details of her abuse were included in the released files, despite multiple attempts to have the Justice Department redact her information. Key quotes from Durbin’s opening statement: “Yesterday’s hearing I can’t easily forget in this room. Because I asked a question of Mr. Todd Blanche about the opportunity he had to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein. I asked him the same question the night before in my office. And he said, ‘Oh I’ll meet with anybody to talk about this.’ So I thought it was an easy question. Will you meet with those who are here today, the 10 or 12 survivors of Jeffrey Epstein? And he said no. He would not meet with them… That is incredible.” “After the hearing, I met them. I will never forget that meeting… Try to imagine, if you will, one of these young women saying to me, ‘Jeffrey Epstein abused me when I was 13 years old’… 13 years old. Visualize in your own family a daughter or granddaughter 13 years of age who was a victim of this sexual predator. Should she at least have a moment with the Attorney General to tell her story? Is that too much to ask? Apparently it was.” “I don’t believe a single member of the United States Senate would vote for this nominee after meeting with these survivors.” “Secondly, let me tell you what. I guess I was born in a different era from this President and the people around him. But I kind of understood going into public life that if you wanted to get rich, this was the wrong job. You’re supposed to take this job to serve the public, make enough money to get by, but not get rich. How did the President do in the first year of his second term? $1.4 billion added to his income from… cryptocurrency.” “Why is that even relevant to this conversation? Because the President opposed the cryptocurrency idea for years, switched his position, and then Mr. Blanche changed the federal [approach to prosecution] for cryptocurrency [enforcement]… To lessen the regulation of an industry which generates [a] $1.4 billion windfall for the President of the United States and money for the person who was Acting Attorney General is just plain wrong—just plain wrong. All the excuses in the world don’t make a difference.” “And I’ll tell you, that one document that he signed [IRS immunity]… Imagine if you will if you’ve ever heard of this, the President, his family, and his businesses, because of the document signed by Todd Blanche, because of that have no liability for any tax crimes they ever committed before the date of that document. No criminal liability.” “Every single one of us in this room has to obey the law, that is the basics in a democracy like ours. And when it comes to tax crimes, the same applies. Now there is an exception in the eyes of Todd Blanche and that exception is the President of the United States, his family, and his businesses. That is just plain wrong. This man should not be Attorney General.” Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here . Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here . Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations. Key quotes from Durbin’s introduction of the Democratic witnesses: “The first minority witness is Dani Bensky. I met her yesterday. Ms. Bensky is a choreographer and dance educator. She is also a survivor of abuse by convicted sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein to whom she was trafficked when she was 17 years old.” “Ms. Bensky will tell us how due to the carelessness of the Justice Department, graphic details of her abuse as well as her identity were released many times despite her efforts to redact her information. She says that, ‘she won’t stop fighting till the world is safer.’ I thank her for her courage.” “My second witness is Elizabeth Oyer… She was the Justice Department Pardon Attorney until March 2025. She oversaw the pardon office now run by the failed nominee and MAGA extremist Ed Martin. Prior to her service in the Justice Department, Ms. Oyer was an assistant federal public defender in Maryland and a litigation partner at Mayer Brown. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the illustrious Georgetown University.” “She will tell us how her former office has devolved into a pay-to-play operation with mega donors jumping ahead of legitimate pardon candidates often without proper vetting—the height of corruption.” “How do we know this? Ms. Oyer was fired by Mr. Blanche just days after he took office for refusing to restore gun ownership rights to one of the President’s personal friends, convicted domestic abuser and actor Mel Gibson.” Video of Durbin’s introduction of Ms. Oyer and Ms. Bensky is available here . Audio of Durbin’s introduction of Ms. Oyer and Ms. Bensky is available here . Footage of Durbin’s introduction of Ms. Oyer and Ms. Bensky is available here for TV Stations. -30- Print Email Share Tweet