ABC’s Robach caught on hot mic claiming network killed Epstein story 3 years ago

A video released Tuesday by the conservative group Project Veritas shows ABC “Good Morning America” anchor Amy Robach caught on a hot mic criticizing her network for not running her reporting on Jeffrey Epstein three years ago. 

{mosads}“I’ve had the story for three years. I’ve had this interview with Virginia Roberts. We would not put it on the air,” Robach states on camera in the video posted by Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe.

The video, leaked to O’Keefe by someone described as “an ABC insider,” has not been independently verified by The Hill. 

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— Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) November 5, 2019

It’s not clear when the video was taken but it appears to be in the aftermath of new reporting about Epstein in July that led to his arrest on sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors in sex. The conspiracy is believed to have involved dozens of underage girls brought to Epstein for sexual encounters.

Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell in August while awaiting trial. A New York medical examiner declared his death a suicide. 

Virginia Roberts has said she was one of Epstein’s victims. She also says that she was sexually trafficked by Epstein to Prince Andrew, the brother of Prince Charles — who is next in line to the British throne.

“First I was told ‘Who is Jeffrey Epstein no one knows who that is, this is a stupid story,’ ” Robach says in the video. “Then the palace found out that we had her whole allegations about Prince Andrew and threatened us in 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 said she was able to convince Roberts to tell her story, and that Roberts was in hiding at the time.

“We convinced her to talk to us,” she said. “It was unbelievable what we had. Clinton, we had everything.”

Will is Prince William and Kate is his wife, the former Kate Middleton.

Clinton traveled with Epstein after his presidency several times on Epstein’s plane, and the two were acquaintances. Robach, in a statement on Tuesday about the Project Veritas video, indicated that Roberts said she had seen Clinton on Epstein’s private island.

“My comments about Prince Andrew and her allegation that she had seen Bill Clinton on Epstein’s private island were in reference to what Virginia Roberts said in that interview in 2015,” Robach said. “I was referencing her allegations — not what ABC News had verified through our reporting.”

In her statement, Robach largely defended ABC News.

She expressed regret at being “caught in a private moment of frustration” and said her remarks referred to an interview with Roberts that did not meet ABC’s standards.

Robach said that while she was disappointed the interview did not air, she was never told to not report the story.

“I was upset that an important interview I had conducted with Virginia Roberts didn’t air because we could not obtain sufficient corroborating evidence to meet ABC’s editorial standards about her allegations,” Robach said in the statement.

“The interview itself, while I was disappointed it didn’t air, didn’t meet our standards. In the years since, no one ever told me or the team to stop reporting on Jeffrey Epstein, and we have continued to aggressively pursue this important story,” she said.

ABC News in a statement attributed to a spokesman said it had continued to work on the story.

“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,” an ABC News spokesman said in a statement released Tuesday. “That work has led to a two-hour documentary and 6-part podcast that will air in the new year.”

In the Project Veritas video, Robach, who appears to be in ABC’s Times Square “GMA” studio, expresses her frustration that the story did not get on the air.

“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 said. “I’m so pissed right now.”

“There will come a day when we will realize Jeffrey Epstein was the most prolific pedophile this country has ever known. I had it all, three years ago,” she sates.

Project Veritas has released a number of videos targeting members of the media and politicians.

Its videos have sometimes been criticized for being selectively edited.