'I HAD THIS FOR YEARS'
ABC News host Amy Robach claims network refused to air her Jeffrey Epstein expose for fear of upsetting Royals
ABC News host Amy Robach has been caught claiming the network refused to air her expose of Jeffrey Epstein - for fear of upsetting the Royal family.
Leaked footage shows the 20/20 co-anchor, 46, telling her producer she "had the story" of the paedophile millionaire's alleged crimes "for three years."
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Her rant, captured in a video obtained by right-wing US activist site Project Veritas, continues: "I've had this interview for years."
She goes on to claim she spoke to Epstein's alleged sex slave Virginia Roberts - who claims she was pimped out to the warped financier's powerful pals as a teenager.
"We would not put it on the air", a frustrated Robach adds, before claiming network bosses silenced her - claims ABC denied on Tuesday.
Epstein was found hanged in jail in August aged 66 as he awaited trial on a string of sex trafficking charges involving girls as young as 14.
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The perv was a close friend of Prince Andrew, who has denied allegations he slept with Roberts - with whom he was pictured in 2001.
Her claims - vehemently denied by Prince Andrew - were struck from a US court in 2015.
Robach continues: "First of all I was told, "Who's Jeffrey Epstein? No one knows who that is this is, this is a stupid story.
"Then the palace found out that we had her whole allegations about Prince Andrew and threatened to sue us a million different ways."
She then suggests her bosses were concerned that Prince William and Kate Middleton would no longer grant the network any interviews.
A Royal spokesperson is yet to respond to requests for comment.
Robach blasts: "We were so afraid we wouldn't be able to interview Kate and Will, so I think that had also quashed the story."
ABC denied silencing Robach - and claimed the story was held back for editorial reasons.
The network said in a 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 six-part podcast that will air in the new year."
Now it's all coming out and it's like these new revelations and I freaking had all of it.
Amy Robach
Robach goes on to detail what the interview with Roberts, 36, who now goes by her married name Giuffre, entailed.
And she mentions former President Bill Clinton - who flew with Epstein on his notorious private jet dubbed "the Lolita express" and denies any wrongdoing in relation to the Wall Street tycoon.
Raging Robach continues: "[Virginia] told me everything.
"She had pictures, she had everything.
"She was in hiding for 12 years, we convinced her to come out. We convinced her to talk to us.
"It was unbelievable what we had. Clinton. We had everything. I tried for three years to get it on to no avail."
Project Veritas says it received the video from an “ABC insider” it didn’t identify.
'MURDER' CONSPIRACY
Robach was speaking after speculation over the nature of Epstein's death - with conspiracy theories suggesting the millionaire was murdered to keep him from implicating famous friends.
Responding to the rumours, Robach said: "So do I think he was killed? 100 per cent yes, I do."
Robach also released a statement on Tuesday responding to the video leak.
She said: "As a journalist, as the Epstein story continued to unfold last summer, I was caught in a private moment of frustration.
"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.
"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.
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"I was referencing her allegations – not what ABC News had verified through our reporting."
She added: "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."
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