Todd Blanche, the new acting Attorney General, may be more competent than Pam Bondi. Indeed, it would be difficult for any moderately seasoned Justice Department official to not outperform Bondi on some basic level; her epic bungling of the “Epstein Files” was a ceaseless cascade of bizarre stunts, arbitrary obfuscations, and ad hoc political theatrics. But even with the personnel switch, there is little Blanche could conceivably improve with a few marginal PR adjustments.

It was Blanche, not Bondi, who strode before the television cameras on 30 January to announce the release of millions of so-called “Epstein Files.” And despite demonstrating a firmer grasp of the relevant facts than the ever-bumbling Bondi, he couldn’t help but perpetuate some strange mysteries of his own. For instance, with negligible explanation, Blanche declared that certain files had been withheld from public view because their release “would jeopardize an active federal investigation”.

But what “active federal investigation” was he referring to? It was supremely unclear. Lawyers for Bank of America, in the throes of active civil litigation for having allegedly facilitated Epstein’s monumental “sex trafficking” venture, seized gamely on the comment, asserting in a 10 March letter that “it has now become clear” some unspecified federal criminal investigation pertaining to Epstein is “pending” — and therefore, the bank should be granted a reprieve from the costly lawsuit. (Charlotte Taylor, one of the Bank of America lawyers appearing at a court hearing Thursday in Manhattan, declined to comment when I requested further detail.)

Blanche, for his part, has yet to clear up the confusion. Mere hours after being appointed, however — in a remark that will satisfy precisely no one — he did opine on whether Epstein was a “spy” for any foreign countries, telling a befuddled Jesse Watters of Fox News: “Look, I don’t know that he was spying for anybody. Nobody’s ever said that.”

Well, there certainly are “somebodies” who have been saying such things, with much vehemence. And they also happen to be bizarrely influential in the modern MAGA media coalition, such as it exists. On the same day as Blanche’s elevation to acting AG, the number one podcast personality in the country, Joe Rogan, repeated his regular refrain that lots of Americans are extremely “scared” right now, because “no one’s getting in trouble for the Epstein Files.” Rogan’s podcasting partner Theo Von then chimed in, proclaiming that an amorphous and enigmatic “they” — which must presumably include Blanche — were shamefully allowing depraved politicians to “slurp on kids” with impunity. Such wild suppositions are entirely groundless, but will continue to be aired no matter who’s AG: the blundering Bondi, or a more professional and presentable Blanche.

What’s more, tossing aside Bondi won’t erase memories of what Blanche has perhaps become best known for: his now-notorious trek to a federal prison facility in Florida last summer to conduct a proffer interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, the reputed Epstein “madame” and wicked co-conspirator. Blanche’s interview was actually quite illuminating — it was the very first time, astonishingly, that Maxwell said she had ever been asked by any American law enforcement official to describe her purported involvement in Epstein’s world-historic “trafficking” enterprise.

The purpose of the jailhouse visit was framed by Blanche as a straightforward fact-finding endeavor, and did indeed yield a number of previously unreported facts; Maxwell recounted her impressions of Epstein’s day-to-day work as a financial manager for various high-net-worth clients, such as Leslie Wexner, Leon Black, and Elizabeth Johnson, thereby adding some newly responsive material to the interminably-asked question: “How did Epstein make his money?”

Following the interview, Maxwell was soon transferred to another prison facility — an action still routinely denounced by Democrats and pundits as some obviously nefarious quid pro quo — as though Blanche had cajoled Maxwell into making exculpatory statements about Trump, in exchange for sending her off to “Club Fed” (i.e., a slightly less onerous women’s prison in Texas).

It’s true, however, that Blanche presided over the Bureau of Prisons portfolio at the time of the transfer, so the episode will surely come up at any forthcoming confirmation hearings, should Trump decide to upgrade him as permanent Attorney General.

It’s also true that whatever his other merits or demerits, Blanche was in fact Trump’s private defense attorney during his New York “porn star hush money” trial several years ago — implying a certain interpersonal presidential allegiance that is not customary for recent Attorneys General, at least since John F. Kennedy installed his own brother in the job. That problem of public perception, whether on the Epstein drama or much else, won’t be resolved merely by swapping a hapless Pam for a savvier Todd.

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Michael Tracey is a journalist in Jersey City, NJ. He can be found on Substack at Michael Tracey. 

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