Jeffrey Epstein; (R) Virginia Roberts (Giuffre) © Reuters / New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and Shannon Stapleton
ABC News knew the full extent of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes three years ago, but a combination of orders from above and threats from those implicated killed the story before it ever got to air, leaked footage shows.
In a video clip released by conservative group Project Veritas on Tuesday, ABC News anchor Amy Robach is caught on a “hot mic” speaking to colleagues at the news desk. Robach reveals that she had been contacted by Virginia Roberts (Giuffre), who alleges Epstein used her as a sex slave, and pimped her out to his powerful friends, including Britain’s Prince Andrew.
“I’ve had this interview with Virginia Roberts...we would not put it on the air,” Robach says on camera. “First of all, I was told ‘who’s Jeffrey Epstein.’ Then the Palace found out that we had her whole allegations about Prince Andrew and threatened us a million different ways.”
She told me everything. She had pictures, she had everything. It was unbelievable what we had. We had Clinton, we had everything.
Former President Bill Clinton was among those who traveled multiple times on Epstein’s private jet, dubbed the “Lolita Express.” As well as Clinton and Prince Andrew, Robach claims that lawyer Alan Dershowitz was implicated in Roberts’ testimony.
Robach says that she tried to convince her bosses to air her story for three years, but “to no avail.”
“And now it’s all coming out and it’s like these new revelations, and I freaking had all of it. What we had was unreal.”
Epstein was found dead in his cell in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in August, where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide, with the city’s chief medical examiner determining the sex offender hung himself from his bunk bed in the cell.
Reports that Epstein had been taken off suicide watch two days earlier, and that the guards on watch left him unsupervised for longer than usual fuelled rumors that foul play was afoot. Epstein’s connections to high profile political and business figures led many to speculate that the mogul was murdered.
When New York’s former chief medical examiner, Dr. Michael Baden, claimed last month that Epstein’s wounds were more consistent with “homicidal strangulation” than suicide, the mystery was revived again, and the internet was flooded with “Epstein didn’t kill himself” memes and comments.
Robach said she believes “100 percent” Epstein was murdered.
Do I think he was killed? A hundred percent, yes I do. He made his whole living blackmailing people… There were a lot of men in those planes, a lot of men who visited that island, a lot of powerful men who came into that apartment.
When Epstein died, the case against him died too, as the financier was the sole defendant. A group of Epstein’s accusers and alleged victims have called on prosecutors to keep the case open, arguing that his associates - including girlfriend and alleged trafficking partner Ghislaine Maxwell - could also be culprits.
“Please, please finish what you have started ... we all know he did not act alone,” accuser Sarah Ransome told a court hearing in New York in August. “We are all survivors, and the pursuit of justice should not abate."
Several hours after Project Veritas' story broke, ABC News defended its decision not to air Robach's interview with Roberts, claiming the story did not meet its "standards to air." Robach herself said that the footage captured her in "a private moment of frustration," and her story lacked "sufficient corroborating evidence," despite saying on camera that she had "everything."
Though ABC cited journalistic standards as reason for withholding the story, the network has aired uncorroborated stories before. Last year ABC parted ways with investigative journalist Brian Ross, after a false report that President Donald Trump ordered former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to make contact with Russia in the runup to the 2016 election.
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