Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ran into "trouble" Wednesday when a Republican senator, key to his confirmation, suddenly scrapped a meeting just before a federal judge's deadline for unredacted Epstein files, according to new reports.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee hold only an 11-to-10 majority, a margin thinned by the death of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — holdouts are Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who just abruptly canceled the meeting.
"Blanche nomination in trouble with committee vote slated for tomorrow," Politico's Sarah Ferris reported.
The confirmation crisis lands one day before Blanche has been ordered to turn over unredacted Epstein files to a federal judge.
Reporter Jim Acosta tied Cornyn's cancellation directly to efforts from Epstein survivors to prevent Blanche's confirmation.
"After a disastrous confirmation hearing, Blanche met with Epstein survivors at the behest of Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), hoping to secure their votes, "wrote Acosta. "That meeting was also a disaster, and the survivors began lobbying even harder against Blanche’s confirmation."
According to survivor Dani Bensky, at one point Blanche snapped, "Get to the point!"
Now Blanche faces mounting pressure on the matter as a deadline looms.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has ordered Blanche to hand the files — documents the Justice Department redacted and claimed covered victims' names and the names of law enforcement personnel — by 3 p.m. Thursday, the same day Republicans want to hold the confirmation vote, according to a court order.
"The judge isn't accepting what the government has represented to it as truthful, and is requiring documentation to support its claims," former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote.
On Wednesday, Cornyn explained why he was threatening to hold up the vote.
"They know what they need to do, but they simply refuse to do it," Cornyn said, as Punchbowl News' Laura Weiss reported.
Both Cornyn and Tillis want confirmation that the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund — created as part of Trump's settlement with the IRS — is permanently dead, and that the Trump family's immunity from future tax audits is narrowly limited.
New York Times correspondent Glenn Thrush reported that the DOJ refused to provide a written declaration confirming that Trump's tax-immunity deal was dead, prompting Cornyn to cancel his morning meeting with Blanche. Tillis had previously made Blanche's meeting with Epstein survivors a condition of his support.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told Cornyn he needs an answer by 4 p.m. Wednesday on whether the vote can proceed, Weiss reported.
"I'm not prepared to vote yes," CNN's Manu Raju reported Cornyn saying.
Tillis is firmly in Cornyn's corner. There is "no daylight" between them, he said.
"I just want the agreement so we don't have to [delay the vote]," Politico's Burgess Everett reported Tillis saying.
Grassley pointed to the two Republican holdouts when he was asked Wednesday whether he would need to reschedule the hearing.
"You'll have to ask Tillis and Cornyn about that," Grassley said, Ferris reported.
A delay could push Blanche's confirmation past the August recess and into the fall, Raju reported.