ABC News is back in the spotlight over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal over the years.
The pending release of the Epstein files has been an ongoing controversy for President Donald Trump, who expressed support, after initially opposing it, this week for the DOJ to release documents pertaining to its probe on the deceased convicted sex offender ahead of the House vote demanding their release.
ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce repeatedly confronted Trump on why he had not taken action himself.
“Why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?” Bruce asked.
“It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude,” Trump responded to Bruce. “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions.”
TRUMP ERUPTS ON ABC REPORTER OVER EPSTEIN QUESTIONS, SUGGESTS YANKING NETWORK LICENSE
ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce grilled President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman during an exchange in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.
Trump suggested Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr should consider removing ABC’s broadcast license.
“I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake. And it’s so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman who should look at that,” Trump told the reporter, accusing her network of being biased against him.
The next day, the White House sent out a press release declaring ABC News “fake news,” listing the network’s various controversies and allegations of slanted coverage against Trump.
However, other critics are turning to the explosive 2019 allegation made by then-ABC anchor Amy Robach, who accused the Disney-owned network of burying her reporting on the Epstein scandal in a leaked video obtained by Project Veritas.
“I’ve had the story for three years… we would not put it on the air,” Robach said on a hot mic, referring to reporting that would have taken place in 2016.
“It was unbelievable what we had, Clinton, we had everything,” she added, an apparent reference to former President Bill Clinton. “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. I’m so pissed right now.”
In the clip, Robach is heard telling ABC colleagues that she had landed an interview with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the late Epstein victim who directly implicated the now-disgraced Prince Andrew.
“I’ve had this interview with Virginia Roberts. We would not put it on the air,” Robach said. “First of all, I was told ‘Who’s Jeffrey Epstein? No one knows who that is. This is a stupid story.’ Then, the Palace found out that we had her whole allegations about Prince Andrew and threatened us 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.”
“Like every day, I get more and more pissed ’cause I’m just like, ‘Oh my God… what we had was unreal.’ Other women backing it up… Brad Edwards, the attorney [for Epstein’s victims], three years ago said something like there will come a day, but we will realize Jeffrey Epstein was the most prolific pedophile this country has ever known. I had it all three years ago,” she added.
ABC NEWS’ AMY ROBACH CAUGHT ON HOT MIC SAYING NETWORK SPIKED JEFFREY EPSTEIN STORY BOMBSHELL
Former ABC News anchor Amy Robach said the network wouldn’t air her explosive reporting on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which she said involved former President Bill Clinton.
Robach quickly admitted its authenticity but dismissed the notion of unethical journalism.
“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 [Epstein accuser] 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 a 2019 statement provided to Fox News Digital.
At the time, ABC News also downplayed the significance of the video despite widespread criticism, telling that Robach’s Epstein story wasn’t fit to air.
“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 spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Notably, ABC News was the first to report in December 2023 that Clinton and Prince Andrew were expected to be named in unsealed court documents in the Epstein case. The report noted that “there is no indication the sealed records contain evidence of illegal conduct” by the former president.
EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS RAISE NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP CONDUCT AS HE DENOUNCES DEMOCRATS
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were both indicted on federal sex trafficking charges stemming from Epstein’s years of abuse of underage girls.
Still, Trump’s fiery Oval Office exchange with Bruce revived the infamous Robach clip.
“In 2019, ABC News admitted to deliberately burying a key interview with Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts for three years that would have completely exposed and reshaped the Epstein conversation,” conservative YouTube personality Benny Johnson posted Wednesday while sharing the video on X.
“If ABC had aired it, the victims would have justice and the American people would have answers. Media accountability isn’t optional. ABC should have lost their broadcasting license years ago,” Johnson added.
ABC News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump said on Wednesday evening that he signed legislation green lighting the Justice Department to release files.
Robach left ABC News in 2023 as a result of an exposed extramarital affair she had with her co-host TJ Holmes, who was also dismissed by the network.
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Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.
