A CBS staffer who had access to the Amy Robach hot-mic tape while working at ABC News was reportedly fired after Project Veritas posted the explosive video on Tuesday.
The “female staffer” who left ABC for CBS was dismissed Wednesday “after ABC execs alerted CBS,” according to the New York Post’s Page Six.
Independent journalist Yashar Ali corroborated the Thursday report, saying two sources told him that “CBS News has fired the staffer in question.”
“This comes after ABC informed CBS that they had determined who accessed the footage of Amy Robach expressing her frustrations about the [Jeffrey] Epstein story,” tweeted Mr. Ali.
5. Update: Two sources familiar with the matter tell me that CBS News has fired the staffer in question. This comes after ABC informed CBS that they had determined who accessed the footage of Amy Robach expressing her frustrations about the Epstein story. https://t.co/OHEoyahppY
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) November 7, 2019
Still unclear is whether the staffer reportedly fired by CBS leaked the video to Project Veritas or gave it to others who did.
“As we reported, it is not known whether the woman leaked the tape, recorded in July, to conservative website Project Veritas — or showed it to others who passed it on,” said the Post.
CBS News fires staffer who had access to leaked Amy Robach audio https://t.co/NFyTKfmIHB pic.twitter.com/usX2h7gPEX
— Page Six (@PageSix) November 7, 2019
The Washington Times has reached out to ABC and CBS for comment about the reports.
An ABC spokesperson said in an email Wednesday that the network is “pursing all avenues” to discover the identity of the leaker.
Donald Trump Jr. alluded Thursday to the reported firing on ABC’s “The View,” saying, “ABC is right now chasing down a whistleblower about all of the Epstein stuff because those stories were killed.”
“You worked with CBS to out a whistleblower,” he added.
Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe said that the “extraordinary series of events” reveals collusion between the two networks.
“Journalism execs collude to PUNISH source/Whistleblower (Irony, much?) for helping bring to light coverup of abuse,” tweeted Mr. O’Keefe.
In an earlier post, he said that “we still have insiders—plural—within ABC News.”
You are witnessing an extraordinary series of events. @CBSNews fires employee ’who had access’ to tape from RIVAL company, @ABC. Journalism execs collude to PUNISH source/Whistleblower (Irony, much?) for helping bring to light coverup of abuse. Truth to power? Media IS the power!
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) November 7, 2019
In the leaked video, a frustrated Robach said ABC sat on her exclusive interview with Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre for three years. A convicted sex offender, the billionaire Epstein was found dead Aug. 10 in his New York City jail cell in what was ruled a suicide.
The network said in a Tuesday statement that the story never aired because “we could not obtain sufficient corroborating evidence to meet ABC’s editorial standards about her allegations.”
Ms. Robach said that the hot mic caught her 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,” said Ms. Robach in her Tuesday statement.
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