New video from inside ABC studios show host Amy Robach claiming she had the story about Jeffrey Epstein and his predatory behavior three years ago, but the network did not want to air it.
The video, released Tuesday by Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe, shows Robach on set explaining to someone off-camera what she knew about the Epstein story.
“I’ve had the story for three years. I’ve had this interview with Virginia Roberts [Giuffre]. We would not put it on the air,” the anchor said in the video. “First of all, I was told, ‘Who is Jeffrey Epstein? No one knows who that is. This is a stupid story.’ Then, the Palace found out that we had her whole allegations about Prince Andrew and threatened us a million different ways. We were so afraid we wouldn’t be able to interview Kate and Will that we, that also quashed the story.”
Robach also mentioned that lawyer Alan Dershowitz was implicated in the story because of plane logs and that Giuffre had pictures and “everything” for the story.
“It was unbelievable what we had. Clinton, we had everything,” she said while shaking her head in disbelief. “I tried for three years to get it on to no avail. And now it’s all coming out, and it’s like these new revelations, and I freaking had all of it.”
Robach claimed said she was “pissed” that she was not the one who broke the story, adding, “I had it all.”
Epstein, the jet-setting financier, was found dead in his cell in August, where he was facing charges of sexual exploitation of minors. He was arrested in July. Dozens of women had come forward accusing him of raping or sexually abusing them while they were children.
Giuffre, one of Epstein’s accusers, also claimed that Prince Andrew was involved in Epstein’s sex abuse. Andrew has denied he was involved in any way.
O’Keefe is known for releasing sting operation videos on the media and Democratic-aligned organizations. He recently released video from a former CNN employee claiming bias within the organization. The latest video is part of another promised cache of videos by O’Keefe.
Robach released a statement Tuesday in which she said, “I was caught in a private moment of frustration. … In the years since no one ever told me or the team to stop reporting on Jeffrey Epstein.”
Here’s ABC’s response to a Project Veritas video of Amy Robach expressing frustration that her Jeffrey Epstein piece didn’t run.
Robach: “I was caught in a private moment of frustration. … In the years since no one ever told me or the team to stop reporting on Jeffrey Epstein” pic.twitter.com/airx3Tjy4o
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) November 5, 2019
NPR reported in August that Robach and Jim Hill interviewed Giuffre for over an hour in 2015 about Epstein.
“At the time, in 2015, Epstein was walking around a free man, comparing his criminal behavior to stealing a bagel,” Giuffre told NPR. “I really wanted a spotlight shone on him and the others who acted with him and enabled his vile and shameless conduct against young girls and young women.”
“I viewed the ABC interview as a potential game-changer,” she added, but said that the network never told her why they did not air it.
An ABC staffer said that Dershowitz, a lawyer for Epstein at the time, had called the network around that time. Dershowitz admitted he intervened because he did not want Giuffre’s “credibility enhanced by ABC.”
“I was defeated, once again, by the very people I spoke out against and once again, my voice was silenced,” Giuffre said. “I could not believe that a formidable network like ABC had backed down and given in.”
UPDATE: ABC News Made the following statement: “At the time, not all of our reporting met our standards to air, but we have never stopped investigating the story. Ever since we’ve had a team on this investigation and substantial resources dedicated to it. That work has led to a two-hour documentary and 6-part podcast that will air in the new year.”
