00:00Would you please stand at this point and respond to this oath?
00:05Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give before this committee
00:15will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
00:21It's up to you to take what time you want to...
00:25Seventeen months ago, I sat at this table as the nominee to be the Deputy Attorney General,
00:30and I told you that serving in the Department of Justice was my American dream.
00:38Since then, I have helped lead it, first as Deputy and now as Acting Attorney General,
00:43and I'm here today to earn your trust once more.
00:47Mr. Blanche, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you.
00:51Above all, we are restoring American trust.
00:56In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president,
01:03and it damaged the public's faith in justice.
01:06We are fixing that.
01:09In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice, you've shown you're still President Trump's personal attorney.
01:15Your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said, quote,
01:19I love you, sir, to President Trump.
01:22This was your response when you asked what you would say to him.
01:25This nation deserves an attorney general who loves the Constitution more than any single president,
01:30an attorney general focused on keeping America safe and combating corruption,
01:35not satisfying the president's personal grievances or channeling crypto cash to the administration's mega faithful.
01:43Mr. President, I'd like to enter in the record.
01:49There are 10 individuals who were exploited and abused by Mr. Epstein.
01:54They are here today.
01:56None of them have had a chance to speak to anyone in the department or FBI, though they've asked repeatedly.
02:02So can I get your word under oath that within the next 30 days,
02:06you will personally sit down with these 10 victims and hear their case in terms of what needs to be
02:12done by the department?
02:13Justice.
02:14Chairman, I appreciate them being here today.
02:17I also have somebody from my office who's spent her entire career working on cases like Mr. Epstein's.
02:25She's in charge of our task force investigating human trafficking.
02:28She's available to talk to them.
02:29She can sit right next to you.
02:31She can sit right next to you when you meet with these survivors.
02:34I have never said I will not meet with survivors.
02:37Will you meet with these 10 survivors?
02:39I'm asking you on the record.
02:41If they have lawyers, as you know, I'm prohibited from meeting directly with them.
02:45I have met with counsel for survivors, as has many people in the Department of Justice, over 30.
02:51But if they are represented by counsel, we will work with their counsel.
02:54If they don't have a lawyer, I will certainly make arrangements to make sure the right people at the Department
02:58of Justice meet with them.
02:59Will you get it done?
03:00Absolutely.
03:00Will you get it done within the next 30 days that each of these survivors...
03:03I will get it done today if that's necessary.
03:05I mean, my point is there's somebody here who can meet with them today, get their information and arrange to
03:11meet with them.
03:11Absolutely.
03:12I think you ought to be in the room.
03:13Pardon me?
03:13I think you ought to be in the room because you ought to hear this.
03:16You have singular responsibility for these files.
03:20There is a delay in meeting the statutory requirement of disclosure.
03:24You were involved in that.
03:25I think you ought to be part of this.
03:27I am definitely part of it, and I have been from day one.
03:30And it will be done within the next 30 days?
03:32I have... I can keep on repeating myself, but I said it could get done as soon as today.
03:37It could have gotten done last week.
03:39We remain available to meet with any victim or their representative at any time.
03:44Will you notify the committee when you've done this?
03:48That would be prohibited by law if they're talking about an ongoing investigation.
03:52I'm asking you if you'll notify the committee that you met with the survivors.
03:55It depends on what they said.
03:56I'm not sure I'm allowed to notify you if there's an ongoing investigation.
04:01Well, you're dancing on the head of a pin here.
04:04I'm not dancing on any pin at all.
04:06You have these survivors who have the courage to come before this committee,
04:10have the courage to tell their terrible stories, how they were exploited.
04:13Don't you think it's important that we have a prompt response by our government to these survivors?
04:20Absolutely.
04:20And there will be a prompt response.
04:22My heart breaks for every survivor, every victim of Mr. Epstein.
04:27Absolutely.
04:28And I would love to prosecute anybody that did any harm to these victims.
04:33Will you meet with them within the next 30 days, the last time I asked a question?
04:36You can say yes or no.
04:37I can keep on answering it the same way.
04:39This department is keeping Americans safe, and the numbers back that up.
04:46Mr. Blanche, you should take pride in delivering the law enforcement promise the American people voted for in 2024.
04:58Are you and President Trump friends?
05:02I'm his lawyer, was his lawyer, and now I'm the deputy attorney general.
05:08Good morning, Mr. Blanche.
05:09Congratulations on your nomination.
05:12First of all, I believe you have said that the weaponization fund is a moot issue.
05:17Is that your position?
05:19Yes, it is a moot issue, meaning there is no weaponization fund.
05:24The weaponization fund is dead.
05:26It's not moving forward.
05:27Well, I would refer you to the settlement agreement.
05:32Do you have a copy of that in front of you?
05:34I do not.
05:35Okay, well, you probably know what's in it.
05:37I'm familiar with it, yes.
05:38I'm sure you are.
05:39On page four, this settlement agreement may be modified only upon the written agreement of the parties.
05:46Has there been a written agreement of the parties to modify the settlement fund?
05:50No, the settlement fund is just not moving forward.
05:53There's no modification.
05:54It's just, it never started.
05:56No money went from the treasury to any other account.
05:59There's no commissioners.
06:00It's not moving forward.
06:07I have talked extensively with you and other colleagues about potentially codifying so there's no weaponization fund, which is certainly
06:19something that could be done.
06:19And I wasn't meaning to insult this body, but just in response to questions from senators about whether that could
06:25be done, we very much are okay with that.
06:28But just to be clear, the president of the United States, who was a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not
06:34agreed in writing to delete the weaponization fund.
06:38And there's no guarantee that he or one of the other plaintiffs might raise that issue by way of a
06:45lawsuit, a breach of contract lawsuit in the future.
06:48Well, Senator, the plaintiffs have no power over the fund.
06:52The fund was administered solely by the five commissioners and through the Department of Justice.
06:58So, no, they don't have any power with respect to the fund at all.
07:01I suppose they could bring a lawsuit and then we would litigate it.
07:05But even if we were litigating it, there's no fund.
07:08So the results of such litigation, whatever it would be, wouldn't be a revival of the fund.
07:13And I'll ask you for this in writing since I'm over my time.
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