Sen. Ben Sasse backed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s request for information from ABC News related to the outlet’s decision not to run a story about a Jeffrey Epstein accuser years ago.
McCarthy became the first lawmaker to question ABC News’ decision-making regarding reporter Amy Robach’s 2015 interview with Virginia Roberts Giuffre when he sent a letter to network president James Goldston on Sunday. In a subsequent interview, he also suggested that he’d push for congressional hearings if the network didn’t comply with his requests.
The questions stem from a “hot mic” video in which Robach, while off-air but with her microphone still on, expressed frustration with her employer and claimed that she “had it all,” referring to the Epstein story. The video was released earlier this month by Project Veritas.
“If anyone has information that can help put Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators behind bars, they ought to do everything they can to bring that information into the full light of day,” Sasse told the Washington Examiner Wednesday. “Powerful, well-connected men have suppressed stories and evaded prison, but the victims deserve justice, and the public deserves the truth. That’s going to take hard-nosed reporting without fear or favor.”
Robach had interviewed Giuffre about her experiences with Epstein and Prince Andrew, who recently denied her allegations against him in an interview. She has accused Epstein of sexual assault, trafficking, and several other felony offenses that took place in the early 2000s and has accused the prince of raping her on three different occasions.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was arrested this summer for allegedly sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of minor girls. He was found dead from an apparent suicide in his prison cell in New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center early on the morning of Aug. 10.
Sasse has repeatedly pressed for answers surrounding Epstein’s death. On the day of the financier’s death, the Nebraska Republican sent a furious letter to Attorney General William Barr demanding that “heads” roll over the incident. In a letter sent to the head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons last week, Sasse expressed his frustration because “we’re still in the dark about what happened to Epstein.”
On Tuesday, two prison guards, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, were arrested for failing to check on Epstein in his cell. They were both charged with five counts of falsifying records and one count of conspiracy.
