House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R, Calif.) in Washington, D.C., May 23, 2019. (James Lawler Duggan/Reuters)

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) sent a letter on Sunday to James Goldston, the president of ABC News, demanding an explanation as to why the network’s executives refused to air an interview with one of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims.

On November 5, right-wing undercover journalist outfit Project Veritas released a video of ABC anchor Amy Robach venting over an interview she conducted in 2016 with Epstein victim Virginia Roberts that network executives refused to air. Robach alleged that ABC was afraid it wouldn’t be able to interview Prince William and spouse Kate Middleton if they ran the story on Roberts, so they “quashed the story.”


“The [British royal] Palace found out that we had her whole allegations about Prince Andrew and threatened us a million different ways,” Robach says in the tape. “ . . . She 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.”

McCarthy challenges Goldston over “ABC News’ enabling of Mr. Epstein” for failing to report the story and potentially keeping other victims from coming forward.

“What appears to have been presented to Ms. Robach is first-hand evidence of human trafficking,” McCarthy writes. “I am deeply concerned that this victim, in search of justice, went to ABC News, provided information and an interview, and then ABC News chose to bury the truth. This was a decision that Ms. Robach alluded was due to protecting powerful people or financial interests.”



In the fallout of the released footage, ABC refused to publicly cover the bombshell, but privately hunted down a staffer who had accessed the footage and had her fired from her new job at CBS, despite the woman denying she ever leaked the tape.

On Saturday, Prince Andrew told the BBC in an interview that he has “no recollection” of ever meeting Virginia Roberts, despite a picture showing them together. Prince Andrew also said he regretted his relationship with Epstein. “I kick myself for on a daily basis because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family, and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that,” he said.

"I don't remember this." Prince Andrew says he has wracked his brains but cannot recall any incident involving Virginia Roberts. WATCH: https://t.co/lJ6sZspjcO#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/UskpTdgdQH — BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) November 16, 2019

At the end of his letter, McCarthy lists six demands to Goldston, including a copy of the Robach interview with Roberts, details explaining why ABC never ran the story, and whether or not ABC alerted authorities at the time over the allegations in the interview.

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