'Coverup': Bill Kristol maps out path to take down Trump’s AG pick

Conservative columnist Bill Kristol wants the Senate confirmation of Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s stated nominee for U.S. attorney general, to become a referendum on the administration’s handling of the Epstein files — tying Blanche directly to the “coverup” he says Trump rewarded him for managing.Writing at The Bulwark, Kristol calls Blanche “the prime orchestrator and key executor of the Trump administration’s Jeffrey Epstein coverup.” He argues that the senators’ vote on Blanche “should become” a vote on Epstein, and sees the confirmation process as “a chance to force a real public debate, with real Senate votes, on the Epstein coverup.” Kristol points to Bondi’s testimony that Blanche “was leading the Epstein matter and the release of everything from the beginning” and supervised the “entire process” of how the files were handled. He also calls Blanche “the most visible public defender of the coverup, and of the decision not to investigate or prosecute anyone else for crimes.”Blanche has worked to bury the Epstein files, Kristol argues. While still deputy attorney general, he told Fox News, “And so 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.” Kristol says the “Epstein coverup should be part, a key part, of one thing going forward: It should be a key part of the upcoming debate on Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general. The Blanche confirmation fight can bring the Epstein coverup back into the spotlight this summer.”In February, when Blanche was asked by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham whether there was “any chance that any of these individuals who partied with Epstein and engaged in relations with minors” would be prosecuted, Blanche responded, “I’ll never say no, and we will always investigate any evidence of misconduct, but as you know, it is not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”“And some of these men may have done horrible things, and if we have evidence that allows us to prosecute them, you better believe we will,” Blanche continued. “But it’s also the kind of thing that the American people need to understand that it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.” Kristol latches on to that remark and repeats it, before writing that the DOJ “could now be following up on the testimony of scores of survivors to finally, properly investigate those crimes and their perpetrators. But Blanche’s Justice Department hasn’t even pretended to be seeking further evidence.”He accuses Blanche’s DOJ of having “no interest at all in investigating or prosecuting the men who have done truly horrible things. After all, ‘it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.'”