Richard Durbin

Acting Attorney General Blanche apologized for the "mistakes" that were made when the Department of Justice released the files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Following an exchange with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, he apologized for the department accidentally publishing victims' information when the files were released.

"I will absolutely say that any mistake that we made should not have been made," he said. " And I very much apologize."

He said that only a small amount of documents were made public.

"What I will say on top of that is we put tons of resources to rectifying those mistakes immediately, including pulling down documents within minutes of being informed that there were mistakes, potential mistakes made, and working 24/7 to rectify any mistakes," Blanche stated. "And that's what I would expect the victims would want us to do, and their counsel and this body as well."

Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin got into a back and forth with Blanche during his confirmation hearing about whether or not he would meet with the victims of Epstein.

Ten victims of Epstein attended Blanche’s hearing, according to Durbin.

“Can I get your word under oath that within the next 30 days that you will personally sit down with these 10 victims and hear their case in terms and hear their case in terms of what needs to be done by the Department of Justice?” Durbin asked Blanche.

Blanche said he was thankful that they were at the hearing and he has someone in his office who deals with cases like Epstein’s. Durbin interrupted him and pressed him if he would personally meet with them.

After a back and forth, Blanche answered, “If they have lawyers...as you know, I’m prohibited from meeting directly with them. I have met with counsel for survivors, as many people in the Department of Justice. But if they are represented by counsel, we will work with their counsel. If they don’t have a lawyer, I will certainly make arrangements to make sure the right people at the Department of Justice will meet with them.”

Some Epstein victims came out opposed to Blanche last week because their names were exposed in the files that the DOJ released.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi received backlash from both Democrats and Republicans over how she handled the files related to Epstein.

Epstein died in prison in 2019 after he was convicted of sex trafficking minors.