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Epstein survivor says acting AG Blanche was 'abrasive, condescending' during meeting

Epstein survivor says acting AG Blanche was 'abrasive, condescending' during meeting

Farmer said Blanche "would not commit" to investigating her case.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met Thursday with several survivors of deceased convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein's crimes at the Justice Department.

After the meeting, Epstein survivor Annie Farmer said in a statement to ABC News that she is "even more confident in urging senators to vote against his confirmation as the United States' Attorney General."

"I found him abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors -- a marked contrast to his public testimony during his confirmation hearing,"said Farmer, who testified for the government atGhislaine Maxwell's criminal trial.

She alleged that both Epstein and Maxwell touched herinappropriatelyat Epstein's New Mexico ranch when she was 16.

Farmer said Blanche "would not commit" to investigating why her sister Maria Farmer's 1996 report into Epstein was ignored. That complaint to the FBI appears to be the first known report to federal law enforcement that Epstein was involved in child sexual exploitation.

Farmer said that Blanche "refused to take accountability for mistakes made under his own leadership" and refused to release documents that would shed light on the charging decisions related to Epstein. She added that Blanche's explanation for his meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell was "wholly dissatisfactory and contrived."

"His evasiveness felt like a deliberate attempt to claim the Attorney General's office is powerless in this matter. By passing the buck once again, he is leaving survivors trapped in the same endless loop of searching for answers and receiving none," she said.

A spokesperson for Blanche said in a statement that the acting attorney general "answered questions and walked through what is needed for investigations to proceed."

"The Justice Department is determined to bring justice for all victims of human trafficking and sex crimes," the spokesperson added.

Earlier in the day, Blanche commented on the meeting, saying he told them to take any information they have to federal investigators.

"I said to them the same thing that I've said publicly -- publicly, repeatedly, which is that I want, and everybody at the Department of Justice wants to prosecute anybody that we can for committing crimes against any of the Epstein victims," Blanche said. "So I encouraged them, like I've been saying publicly, that if they have information, they should they should go to the FBI."

Blanche added there was "necessarily frustration" from the victims, but "there wasn't any shouting."

"It wasn't all cordial, because there's something that they want that I don't think I can give them, which is some form of justice," Blanche said. "And I want to be able to give justice in the form of prosecutions and maybe we could do a prosecution at some point. I don't know."

Blanche said he had FBI agents join in the meeting as well as a prosecutor who specializes in sex trafficking and human trafficking, and that some attorneys for the victims joined remotely.

Source: ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos