Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) remains a thorn in President Donald Trump’s side.
Tillis threatened not to vote for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the job until he meets with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein.
Did Tillis forget he already threatened not to vote for Trump’s pick if they watered down January 6? Which is it, dude?
Tillis just wants to rile up Trump. What a petty man:
Yesterday, before the the hearing, and Mr. Blanche, I have a positive predisposition to, just so that everybody knows, I have not made a final decision. But Mr. Blanche said very quickly yesterday that he would meet with the victims, the the Epstein victims, today if it could be arranged.Well, right now the markup, if you all don’t know procedure here, after this hearing is done today, next week we’ll hold it over. The earliest possible markup would be two weeks from now, and because it seemed to me that Mr. Blanche was willing to to say that he would meet with them and council. I understand the restriction that council has to be present.I expect that meeting to occur before I’m willing to vote out of this committee, and I’m trying to get to yes. But this is a very important part of getting to yes. There should not be any reason why, based on what Mr. Blanch said yesterday, if he said that he would do it today, then he can certainly do it over the next two weeks.
Blanche told the committee he could not meet with the victims due to his position at the DOJ. The victims could meet with DOJ staff, though:
“Can I get your word under oath that within the next 30 days you will personally sit down with these 10 victims and hear their case?” the Illinois Democrat [Dick Durbin] asked.Blanche said the department had officials prepared to meet with the women immediately, but communications with represented clients must go through their attorneys.“They have lawyers, as you know. I’m prohibited from meeting directly with them,” Blanche said. “But if they are represented by counsel, we will work with their counsel.”A Republican no vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee means Blanche’s nomination won’t make it to the Senate floor.
Abhishek Kambli, a former deputy associate attorney general, confirmed Blanche’s comments.
Durbin demanded that Blanche tell the committee when he finishes any meetings.
Blanche said the law prohibits him from doing so if “they’re talking about an ongoing investigation.”
Durbin fired back that Blanche was “dancing on the head of a pen,” but if the law prevents him, there’s nothing he can do about it.
How many times have we heard law enforcement and lawyers telling the media and others that they cannot comment on an ongoing investigation?
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