On Friday afternoon, Megyn Kelly continued her return to the news business in a bombshell interview with Ashley Bianco, the former ABC News producer who was fired after only four days at CBS News for allegedly being behind the tape of ABC’s Amy Robach admitting that the network quashed her reporting about alleged serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

After Kelly recapped what's transpired thus far in the media's handling of the Epstein case and his alleged suicide, Kelly introduced Bianco by asking if she was the person who leaked the tape.

Bianco repeatedly denied being the person who shared the Robach tape and, later in the interview, added that she had never even heard of the James O’Keefe-led group until this week (click “expand”):

KELLY: Did you leak the tape? BIANCO: I did not. KELLY: Not to anyone? BIANCO: No. Never. KELLY: At any time? BIANCO: No. KELLY: Did you make a clip of the moment? BIANCO: I did, but I saved — I saved it in the internal system. (....) KELLY: Have you ever spoken to James O’Keefe of Project Veritas? BIANCO: No, never. I didn’t even know who he was until this week. KELLY: And hadn’t communicated with anybody who works there in any way, shape, or form? BIANCO: No, yeah, I’ve never communicated with anyone over there.

Bianco explained that, on August 19, she watched Robach’s comments live from her desk and that, according to a colleague, Robach knew her comments were not only broadcasted in-house, but also to “all the affiliates,” so there could be any number of possible suspects.

Questioned about whether this was the first time she had ever clipped an off-air moment, Bianco explained that it was routine for the purposes of gossip, noteworthy moments or even to save clips later for things like blooper reels. In this case, Bianco told Kelly that she never went back to download or watch it.

That said, however, Bianco repeatedly said that Robach’s comments left those listening “freaked out by what she was saying.”

Fast-forwarding to this past week’s events, Bianco grew emotional when retelling her reaction to the clip becoming public and being “devastated” to hear that ABC had called CBS to presumably ensure she was fired (click “expand”)

KELLY: And so this week, you’re sitting at CBS, doing your job — BIANCO: Yeah. KELLY: — and you — what happens with Project Veritas. BIANCO: They released the video, you know, and I was shocked. But I didn’t think anything of it. KELLY: How many days had you been at CBS? BIANCO: Only four days. You know, and I begged, I pleaded. I didn’t know what I had done wrong and I just, you know, I didn’t — I wasn’t even given the professional courtesy to defend myself. You know, I didn’t know what I had been accused of. It was, you know, humiliating. It was devastating. (....) KELLY: What was your reaction when you found out ABC News had called CBS? BIANCO: Devastated. I mean, it’s like I’ll never get a job anywhere else. It was devastating. KELLY: You’ll get a job. You’ll definitely get a job.

Kelly asked Bianco whether the clip should have been aired, but she demurred except to say that Robach “was really upset” and “[c]learly, she felt that she had a strong case.” Bianco had a similar answer to what she believes should happen to the real leaker, asserting that all she’s looking for is to have “my career back.”

And on the topic of whether Robach’s work exposing Epstein should have aired, Bianco disappointingly said she didn’t have any qualms about ABC’s decision-making on that point.

As the interview started to wind down, Kelly inquired about “[w]hat do you want ABC and CBS executives to know” and Bianco tearfully replied:

It wasn’t me. I’m, you know, I’m not the whistleblower. Sorry to ABC, but the leaker is still inside. You know, it’s not — I never did any of that. I may have accessed it, but I never — I never leaked it. I never showed it to anyone. I didn’t talk about the situation outside the company.

Circling back to Bianco's denials that she wasn't the leaker, this squared with a letter released by Project Veritas roughly an hour before Kelly's interview was posted on YouTube. The person described by Project Veritas as an “ABC Insider” writing under the pseudonym “Ignotus.” In the letter, they accepted sole responsibility for sending out the clip.

In a section entitled “To my fellow man,” the anonymous ABC News staffer stated:

I came forward with this information bearing no motives other than to have this information public. I did not and do not seek any personal gain from this information whether it be financial or otherwise and will always decline. When I became aware of this moment, I had the same reaction as many of you did. Anger, confusion and sadness. I care not about petty political quarrels and only hope for the best in all of us.

To see the full transcript of Megyn Kelly's November 8 interview with Ashley Bianco, click “expand.”