Epstein survivor on Blanche meeting: ‘We were gaslit’

Administration Epstein survivor on Blanche meeting: ‘We were gaslit’ Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 07/19/26 5:15 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 07/19/26 5:15 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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A survivor of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday said she was “gaslit” during her meeting last week with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Jess Michaels told MS NOW’s Alex Witt about this recent meeting, along with other survivors, with Blanche. She said that Blanche repeatedly denied that anything in the Department of Justice’s files related to Epstein could lead to further investigations.

“It felt like we were hitting a brick wall when we were trying to talk with him about — but what about this?” Michaels said. “But why can’t you look at that? You know, we were giving him information that he could have talked with us about, but we were gaslit. We were skipped over. It was frustrating, to say the least.”

Michaels said Blanche took the meeting “because he wants this promotion,” having initially told lawmakers that he could not legally meet with Epstein survivors. She said the meeting was initially “passed off … with his assistant” before Blanche agreed to meet with them last Thursday.

“And I mean, I think his attempt at empathy and compassion really came off as patronizing and condescending,” Michaels told Witt. “So I did not feel that he was a public servant there addressing crime victims that had that experienced horrific abuse.”

Michaels on Friday told MS NOW’s Nicole Wallace that she left the meeting with Blanche “disappointed, disturbed and undaunted.”

“I mean, I can’t even tell you how many times and how many different ways it was explained to Todd Blanche in that meeting the harm that was caused, and it was not acknowledged,” she said, calling Blanche’s behavior “patronizing.”

Survivors urge the Senate not to confirm Blanche to be attorney general. Critics have slammed Blanche for the DOJ’s handling of the release of its files related to the department’s probe into Epstein. The Epstein Files Transparency Act compelled the DOJ to publish its documents on Epstein, with appropriate redactions made to protect survivors.

The DOJ released its final tranche of Epstein files in January, adding 3 million documents to a public database. But the rollout received criticism for delays and its redaction methods.

Blanche had agreed to meet with Epstein survivors under pressure from Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), a key vote in Blanche’s confirmation process to be the top U.S. law enforcement official. Tillis said the meeting with survivors was “a very important part of getting to yes” to confirm Blanche for attorney general.

Several Epstein survivors said the DOJ did not properly redact its digital “Epstein library” on its website, alleging that the department failed to adequately protect victim privacy. Blanche told lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the DOJ worked to quickly fix any redaction errors and acknowledged “there were mistakes that were made” in this process.

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