Blumenthal said he wants to broaden his fight against online prostitution ads but that "right now our focus is really on Craigslist."
"We're taking it one step at a time," he said. "We want to verify and confirm that Craigslist is in fact shutting down (its adult services section)."
The embattled website has been under fire for allegations that it promotes prostitution.
"These prostitution ads enable human trafficking and assaults on women," Blumenthal said Saturday. "They are flagrant and rampant. Craigslist has lacked the wherewithal or will to effectively screen them out."
The section that usually reads "adult services" on Craigslist was replaced Saturday by the word "censored."
It was not clear whether Craigslist removed the adult services and replaced them with the "censored" section, which had a link that was not active. But for users who accessed the account outside the United States, the adult services link was still active.
Craigslist representatives said on Saturday that they will release a statement at a later time.
"If it remains shut down it will be a model for other sites, we hope, because Craigslist is by far the biggest," said Blumenthal, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut as a Democrat.
He said that he would try to change federal laws to make it easier to prosecute sites like Craigslist.
"Craigslist says it cannot be held legally responsible for anything on its site," he said. "My belief is strongly ... that we need to change that."
In the August 24 letter to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark, the attorneys general wrote: "The increasingly sharp public criticism of Craigslist's Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution -- including ads trafficking children -- are rampant on it."
