Tr*mp lawyer and acting AG Todd Blanche has had a pretty foul week. His confirmation hearing already wasn’t going over too well, and then Epstein survivors starting speaking up about Blanche’s role in the files illegal redactions. It got to the point where Blanche himself had to admit that “mistakes were made” in the DOJ’s rollout of the files. But it’s going to take much more than a shoddy apology to right this wrong, and thanks to Blanche’s screw ups, the Republicans may have just lost their Senate majority for the rest of the year.
This week has seen Republicans hemorrhaging senate votes, first through Lindsey Graham’s unexpected death over the weekend, then with Mitch McConnell’s admission that he’s going to miss several more votes before he can return to the floor in “full health.” The loss of those senators left Republicans in a tricky position.
Previously, they had an effortless majority in the Senate and the House. Now, only one vote stands between Tr*mp’s agenda getting speedtracked through that branch, and a meaningful fight from the Democrats.
Thanks to Blanche, they just lost that final vote!
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The latest defector is Republican Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina, whose vote stands between Blanche and instant confirmation. Tillis was moved to change his stance after Epstein survivor Dani Bensky took the floor yesterday and spoke about her fellow victims’ humiliating treatment by the DOJ.
As Bensky testified, the attorneys representing herself and other survivors submitted 350 names to be redacted before the first Epstein file release in December. When Bensky saw the released files, her name was visible, along with her phone number and several former addresses. In the second file drop, Bensky’s name remained exposed, along with other survivors. Meanwhile, the names of powerful Epstein associates remained hidden from view.
“It became difficult to believe that this was not intentional,” Bensky told the Senate. Her testimony was so powerful that Tillman now refuses to confirm Tr*mp’s pick until he meets with Epstein survivors. Earlier this week, Blanche stated that he was prevented from meeting with the survivors legally, unless their counsel was present.
Blanche finally quietly met with survivors last night, while Tr*mp was making his lie-riddled address to the nation. But according to reports, Blanche was “rude and condescending” to the women he met with, which might not sit well with Tillman.
Tillman’s revolt is an important, unexpected spanner in the works. With the loss of two GOP senators and increasingly erratic behavior from Tr*mp, Republicans in both the House and Senate are starting to stand their ground and flex their power in limiting the damage the president can do for the remainder of this term. After last night’s ridiculous speech, even Republicans previously in support of Tr*mp are not thrilled by his obsession with 2020 election conspiracy theories. The 25th amendment is looming over Tr*mp’s head like a sword of Damocles, and after this week, it’s looking like it could fall at moment.
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