{"id":49707,"date":"2026-08-14T12:29:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T19:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49707"},"modified":"2026-08-14T12:29:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T19:29:35","slug":"were-the-pawns-epstein-survivors-say-doj-has-failed-them-as-todd-blanche-takes-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/14\/were-the-pawns-epstein-survivors-say-doj-has-failed-them-as-todd-blanche-takes-over\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re the Pawns\u2019: Epstein Survivors Say DOJ Has Failed Them as Todd Blanche Takes Over"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Candice By\u00a0Candice Norwood, The 19th<\/a> August 12, 2026 (DCReport.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Epstein<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jeffrey Epstein survivors including Sharlene Rochard (right) and Liz Stein (second from right) attempt to hand a copy of the Epstein files to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on July 29, 2026. (Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call\/AP Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"19th<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Liz Stein, a public face for survivors, says the Senate confirmation is a setback \u2014 but she isn\u2019t backing down.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every minute of every day, Liz Stein has to relive the worst thing that\u2019s ever happened to her. She does it during news interviews and when meeting lawmakers on Capitol Hill to demand justice for herself and other survivors of the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she\u2019s had to do it throughout the attorney general confirmation process for Todd Blanche<\/a>, a man who rose from being President Donald Trump\u2019s criminal defense lawyer to the top official overseeing the U.S. Department of Justice. Blanche has served as deputy attorney general, the No. 2 at DOJ, since March 2025. He then became acting attorney general in April after Trump fired his predecessor<\/a>, Pam Bondi, and officially nominated him to oversee the department in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since that time, Stein and her fellow survivors have consistently urged senators to vote against Blanche\u2019s confirmation, arguing that he has shown no urgency or concern with expanding the Epstein investigation. Despite some initial pushback from two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche cleared that first hurdle to advance to a full Senate vote, in part by meeting with survivors \u2014 something he\u2019d previously declined to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican Sens. Susan Collins, who is in a tough re-election race in Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska then announced<\/a> that they would join Democrats in voting against Blanche, raising the tension heading into the final vote. With last-minute support from GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the Senate confirmed Blanche, 50-49, early Saturday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stein told The 19th that just last year she felt momentum toward accountability growing, driven by public outrage from across the political spectrum and the Epstein survivors\u2019 decision to step into the national spotlight<\/a> as a unified group calling for transparency. However, Blanche\u2019s confirmation crystalizes another feeling for Stein: \u201cIt feels like the DOJ is weaponizing this case for political reasons, and it feels like we\u2019re the pawns being used in that game,\u201d she told The 19th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That momentum feels stagnant for now, Stein said, but she wants people to know that it won\u2019t be a deterrent. \u201cI think that every attempt the Department of Justice has made to make us go away has not worked,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Epstein cloud has hung over the Trump administration since the president began his second term, and included a series of perceived missteps by Bondi that drew criticism from both Democrats and Trump\u2019s base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2025, Bondi claimed in interviews that her office would be releasing new documents tied to Epstein that would make people feel \u201csick,\u201d and stated that she had a list of Epstein\u2019s clients sitting on her desk. At a White House meeting the same month, she handed out binders to a group of right-wing social media influencers that contained no new information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By July 2025, DOJ had released a memo stating it \u201cdid not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.\u201d Trump supporters began to weigh in. Podcaster Joe Rogan, who boasts an average of about 11 million listeners and viewers per episode, accused the administration of \u201ctrying to gaslight\u201d the public about how much information it had on the Epstein case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Stein, DOJ\u2019s \u201cnothing to see here\u201d attitude has been a constant. In September 2025, the human trafficking specialist and a group of about a dozen other survivors gathered publicly for the first time, standing in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. They called for investigations into Epstein\u2019s associates, no presidential pardons or concessions for Maxwell and a full release of the Epstein files \u2014 documents and images capturing his personal relationships, business dealings and crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survivors advocated for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which became law in November 2025, and required the department to publish unclassified records and communications related to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein. Between December 2025 and March 2026, the department released hundreds of thousands of documents, photos and videos tied to Epstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the process, DOJ publicly released the names of survivors who wanted their identities concealed, while redacting the names of people associated with Epstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, the releases stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the scenes, Stein said survivors were \u201cpractically begging\u201d for meetings with DOJ officials, \u201cmaking ourselves available, putting ourselves out there, and saying, like, \u2018We want to help you in doing this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have tried countless times to engage the DOJ, and they\u2019ve had absolutely no interest,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That continued after Trump fired Bondi and Blanche took over as acting attorney general, survivors have said in interviews and testimony. On the first day of Blanche\u2019s confirmation hearings on July 15, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he could not meet \u201cdirectly\u201d with survivors. The next day, survivor Dani Bensky questioned that reasoning as part of her testimony before the panel, citing news reports that Blanche met with Maxwell for four hours last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meeting between Blanche and survivors happened later that week, after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is retiring at the end of his current term, said Blanche must first meet with them before he would vote to advance the nominee to the full chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stein described Blanche\u2019s energy in the meeting as \u201cvery dark.\u201d She believes that he was simply checking a box to get a promotion. Survivors wanted to know about the redaction process for the Epstein files and why DOJ had not identified new investigative leads, she said, adding that they did not receive satisfying answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no humanity,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was no ability to connect on a human level whatsoever. He was impenetrable as far as having any amount of real compassion or understanding of our experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading up to the Senate Judiciary vote, Stein said survivors dropped off stacks of Epstein files that they had marked with potential investigative leads for members of the judiciary committee to look over. They also walked the halls of Congress \u201cdesperately\u201d trying to meet with lawmakers. Stein said that they met with representatives for Sen. John Cornyn of Texas \u2014 one of the Republican holdouts heading into the Judiciary Committee vote. They did not, however, get a meeting with Tillis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Republicans, including Tillis and Cornyn, voted along party lines to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination to a full Senate vote. Collins and Murkowski were the only Republicans to vote against Blanche\u2019s confirmation. In a statement, Collins cited his efforts to shield the Trump family from IRS audits, and comments that he would approve national abortion restrictions<\/a>. Murkowski noted an<\/a> \u201cacceleration\u201d of the politicization of the DOJ, which she said includes \u201csweeping immunity protections granted to the president.\u201d She also took issue with the DOJ handling of the Epstein files and Blanche\u2019s comments<\/a> to anti-abortion groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on survivors\u2019 advocacy over the last year, Stein said that \u201cmore often than not\u201d they have had productive conversations with members from both parties. As a group, Epstein survivors have accomplished things that felt impossible years ago. Still, Democrats are generally more willing to engage and work with them, she said. While survivors may receive validation and positive feedback from Republican members privately, the lawmakers hesitate to voice those feelings publicly, Stein said, even when many of them have been champions for anti-sex-trafficking legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stein said she believes this issue \u2014 one in which young women and girls were abused by some of the country\u2019s most powerful people \u2014 should not be political, but it is. The reality of having to spend her days convincing leaders to take action has an emotional cost, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving forward, Stein said the survivors\u2019 strategy is to remain resolute in their mission and goals. They will not back down, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re human beings,\u201d she added. \u201cImagine the worst thing that\u2019s ever happened to you, having to confront it every minute or every day, and talk to people about it all the time, and just constantly rehash it. That\u2019s a challenge for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was originally published by The 19th on August 8, 2026.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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