Just before you reach your exit to Charlotte Motor Speedway on I-85, drivers will see a new billboard with a simple message: “Blanche BETRAYED Epstein Survivors. VOTE NO on Blanche for Attorney General.”
The ad, paid for by World Without Exploitation, an organization working to end child and human trafficking, was placed as the US Senate Judiciary Committee considers whether to recommend Todd Blanche as the next Attorney General of the United States. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is a member of the committee.
“We brought this message to North Carolina because Senator Tillis has an opportunity to stand with survivors and help restore public trust in our justice system. As the Senate Judiciary Committee considers Todd Blanche’s nomination, we urge Senator Tillis to vote no and support an Attorney General whose independence is beyond question,” World Without Exploitation Policy Director Becca Zipkin told Cardinal & Pine in a statement.
Blanche is serving as acting attorney general following President Donald Trump’s firing of Pam Bondi in April.
Blanche, who worked at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for nearly 15 years, was also President Trump’s personal defense attorney for three of his criminal cases before he was re-elected in 2024.
Around 1,200 former DOJ employees have also called on the Senate to reject the nomination in an open letter.
Blanche’s role in the release of the Epstein Files
On Nov. 19, 2025, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump signed into law. It ordered the DOJ to create a searchable database of files related to Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, within 30 days of passage.
In testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform earlier this year, former Attorney General Pam Bondi told Congress that Blanche, then serving as her deputy, oversaw the release of documents related to the investigation into Epstein.
“He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files,” Bondi said.
DOJ released a limited number of documents beginning Dec. 19 of last year, and the DOJ has said only half of the six million documents collected as part of the Epstein investigation would be released.
The DOJ under both Bondi and Blanche has been accused of withholding documents related to Trump and his relationship with Epstein. Epstein once described himself as the future president’s “closest friend.”
Trump has denied any accusations of wrongdoing related to the Epstein case and has never been charged with a crime in relation to the investigation.
COURIER Newsroom has compiled the released Epstein Files into a searchable database here.
Documents released by the DOJ show that there were at least 1,200 victims of Epstein’s trafficking network. Jeffrey Epstein died on Aug. 10, 2019 in a New York City jail where he was being held on charges of sex trafficking of minors. The New York City medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
To date, only Maxwell has been charged and convicted in the United States for her role in Epstein’s trafficking network.
Blanche personally met with Maxwell while she was incarcerated in a Florida prison. After meeting with Blanche, she was moved to a minimum-security prison in Texas.
Blanche defended the transfer, arguing there were threats to Maxwell’s life in the Florida facility
“At the time that I met Miss Maxwell, there was a tremendous amount of scrutiny and publicity toward her, and the institution she was in, she was suffering numerous and numerous threats against her life,” he said.
Shortly after assuming the role of acting attorney general, Blanche told Fox News that it was time to move beyond the case.
“I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward,” Blanche said.
Victims of Epstein and Maxwell released a joint letter following Blanche’s nomination in early June.
One victim, Liz Stein, expressed her concerns about what a Blanche confirmation would mean for both Epstein victims and victims in general.
“At the end of the day we’re victims of a crime–and what is the message that we are sending to Americans in this country about how victims of crimes should be treated?” she said.
