Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) delivered a blistering critique of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday, accusing him of hypocrisy after Blanche justified moving convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, by citing safety concerns. Booker called the explanation an “absurdity” and argued it should disqualify Blanche from leading the Justice Department.
During Blanche’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the acting attorney general testified that Maxwell’s transfer was warranted because she had received death threats—a claim he also made last year on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” But Booker, in a subsequent interview on the “Legal AF” podcast, fumed that the Bureau of Prisons and Blanche bent over backward to protect a five-time convicted sex offender while ignoring the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking ring.
“Here’s the absurdity. He’s telling me, ‘I am concerned about Ghislaine Maxwell’s safety. I’m concerned about her well-being,’” Booker said on the podcast. “I’m going this extra mile to protect a five-time convicted sex offender. But, oh, oh, I am not gonna do jack, I am not going to even meet with the victims to get them the justice they deserve.”
The New Jersey senator’s remarks came after a tense exchange during the hearing, where Booker pressed Blanche on his two-day meeting with Maxwell in 2025 and the circumstances of her transfer. Booker pointed out that Blanche had refused to commit to meeting with Epstein survivors, even as he went out of his way to accommodate Maxwell.
“I was stunned earlier by your conversation with one of my colleagues that you wouldn’t even commit to meeting with the survivors, but you did meet with Ghislaine Maxwell,” Booker told Blanche bluntly.
Blanche countered that he was prohibited from meeting directly with Epstein’s victims but had consulted with their lawyers. He also reiterated that Maxwell faced credible threats, which justified the move to a less restrictive facility. However, Booker challenged that logic, noting that standard Bureau of Prisons policy would typically place an inmate under threat into solitary confinement, not reward them with a transfer to a minimum-security camp.
“What is true is that someone who is accused of child sex trafficking under the Bureau of Prisons’ own policies is not put in a facility like this that seems clearly like a reward,” Booker argued, rejecting Blanche’s claim that such transfers were not unusual.
Booker’s criticism has added fuel to the political fire surrounding Blanche’s confirmation. Several Senate Democrats and Epstein survivors have rallied against his nomination, as Senate leaders Schumer and Durbin joined survivors in opposing Blanche. The New York City Bar Association has also declared Blanche “unfit” for the role, and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) has withheld his support over a separate dispute involving a $1.776 billion fund, as reported earlier.
On the podcast, Booker did not mince words about Blanche’s performance. “It is so profoundly offensive that you would bend over backwards and break DoJ and BOP policy for—you’re saying for the safety of a sex offender, but you care nothing about the women whose pictures and phone numbers and addresses and privacy you violated. It is so offensive and disqualifying for this man to have sat there today and said that to me,” he said.
Blanche’s confirmation hearing also touched on other contentious issues, including his pledge to halt mail-order abortion pills and his stumbles over past ties to President Trump, as noted in coverage of the hearing. The Senate is expected to vote on his nomination in the coming weeks, but Booker’s sharp condemnation suggests a contentious path ahead.
