A top Department of Justice official melted down when confronted about the president’s appearance in the newest batch of Epstein files.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused CNN anchor Dana Bash of being “unfair” after she pressed him on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday about the newly surfaced allegations involving Donald Trump in the files.
“I don’t appreciate it being directed towards Donald J. Trump because that pushes a narrative that is completely false,” Blanche complained to Bash about her line of questioning.
“Why did the FBI create this list last year, and have all of these claims been investigated by the DOJ?” the CNN host asked, referring to an FBI file dated from August of last year, which includes an allegation of rape involving a 13-year-old girl against the president. The White House called the claim “unfounded and false.”
“So, look, it’s not about President Trump, it’s about a ton of people,” Blanche, 51, immediately defended. “Multiple, multiple, multiple people that were, quote, ‘in the Epstein files.’”
He added: “And what I think folks will see when they review the materials we released is that there have been hundreds of calls made to the FBI where allegations are made by either anonymous individuals or people who are very quickly determined to not be credible, whether it’s the nature of what they’re saying or the fact they won’t provide any information or corroboration. And that’s part of the Epstein files.”
Bash, however, pressed on about the president: “I understand that, but the fact that you created a list—the FBI created a list—about the allegations against President Trump is certainly noteworthy. I mean, he’s a sitting president.”
As Blanche, who this week announced that the DOJ’s review of the Epstein files is “completed,” attempted to interrupt, Bash asked: “And the question is whether or not the DOJ—and I’m not saying that they are verified at all. That’s what my question is to you. Did you look into what you have on those lists?”
“Yes, of course,” Blanche said, before stumbling: “But no, but what—you’re not being fair in that question because that index, that list you’re talking about was not just President Trump.”
Trump’s former personal attorney went back into defense mode, repeating, “It was all kinds of individuals. Other politicians, other, quote, ‘famous’ people, where we wanted to understand, ‘Okay, there were members of Congress that were accusing us of hiding things, which we’re not doing and which we haven’t done.’ And so we wanted to understand why and where that was coming from.”
Blanche echoed his earlier insistence that multiple claims were too anonymous to be verified, describing anecdotal accounts as “not something that can be really investigated.”
He completed his rant by taking issue with Bash mentioning the president at all. “I don’t appreciate it being directed towards Donald J. Trump because that pushes a narrative that is completely false,” he said.
The DOJ mouthpiece concluded: “It’s—there are all kinds of people that are mentioned in the, quote, ‘Epstein files’ that we had to look at and run down.”
Bash moved the segment on, but not before clapping back: “No. I understand he’s the only sitting president we’re talking about.”
