Administration

Blanche backs public hearings with Epstein survivors

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by Sophie Brams - 04/15/26 7:41 PM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 04/15/26 7:41 PM ET

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Wednesday that he would support public congressional hearings with victims of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, less than a week after the chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee committed to holding them.

“Of course,” Blanche responded when asked at the Semafor World Economy summit whether he would back the possibility, according to the outlet, which first reported Blanche’s remarks.

“We have said repeatedly from day one that if there’s any victim that wants to come forward and talk about what they know, whether it’s something that happened by Mr. Epstein, who’s dead, or another individual or individuals, that’s what the FBI does,” he said.

The Epstein files controversy has plagued President Trump and the Justice Department throughout his second term, with large swaths of Democrats and Republicans criticizing the administration for its handling of the investigation into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Lawmakers and Epstein survivors have accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of not adequately complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act by flouting deadlines, withholding and overredacting documents and exposing the identities of victims.

Blanche has strongly defended the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files but has also attempted to distance himself from the issue since taking over the department from former Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom Trump fired at the start of the month.

He previously told Fox News that he thought the matter “should not be part of anything going forward” at the department, a suggestion he reportedly denied having made Wednesday.

“I have never said we’re moving on,” Blanche said, according to Semafor. “There’s a lot of people in this country that correctly feel that we did not get closure with Jeffrey Epstein. I couldn’t agree with that more.”

First lady Melania Trump urged Congress last week to provide the victims with a public hearing “specifically centered around the survivors” and the option to have their testimony entered into the congressional record.

The call came during rare remarks at the White House in which the first lady denied any relationship with Epstein or Maxwell, slamming reports suggesting she knew them and that Epstein introduced her to her husband as “lies.”

A day later, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said the committee “always planned” on having public hearings with Epstein’s victims once it concluded depositions.

A group of Epstein survivors has pushed back against the possibility of congressional testimony, accusing the first lady in a joint statement last week of “shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions that protect those with power.”

“Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving public testimony,” they said. “Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice.”

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