A CBS News employee who lost her job for allegedly being the whistleblower on ABC News withholding a story on Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking told former NBC host Megyn Kelly she did not leak the video as alleged.
And Project Veritas printed an open letter from an ABC News staffer identifying as "Ignotus," claiming "Why I, alone, released the Amy Robach Epstein tape."
Ashley Bianco was fired four days into her job at CBS because ABC News had determined she clipped and saved the hot-mic video in the ABC News computer system.
"Did you leak the tape?" Kelly asked her, for a video published on YouTube. "I did not," Bianco responded. "Not to anyone? At any time?" Kelly replied. "No, never," Bianco said.
Bianco did admit to Kelly she "essentially marked it into the system."
"I was watching the comments while I was at my desk, and I had seen what she was saying, and I went to my manager and said, 'Do you see what she's saying? Does she know that she's on a hot mic?'" Bianco said. "The assistant said to us that Amy knew she was on a mic, and she knew she was being broadcast to all the affiliates."
"Everyone in the office was freaked out by what she was saying, and everyone was watching it," Bianco added.
Project Veritas leaked the tape that Bianco was alleged and fired for having access to.
"I didn't touch it after that," Bianco said after marking it in the ABC system. "It stayed in the system. I hadn't even heard of Project Veritas until this."
After a number of apologies to those harmed by the leak, Ignotus called out ABC News for their handling of the revelation and firing of the staffer tied to the clipping of the tape.
"I sit right here with you all in complete shock," Ignotus wrote. "I, like many, are at a loss for words on how this has been handled. Instead of addressing this head-on like the company has in the past, it has spun into a mission of seek-and-destroy.
"Innocent people that have absolutely nothing to do with this are being hunted down as if we are all a sport. I challenge all of you to actually look inwards and remember why this company engages in journalism. We all hold the First Amendment at the foundation of this company, yet forget its history, its purpose, and its reasoning for even coming into existence to begin with.
"How lost we are . . . yearning to be found. I went to Project Veritas for the sole reason that any other media outlet else would have probably shelved this as well. I thank all of them, and James, for seeking truth.
"We are all human and mortal, creatures of mistakes and redemption. The road to redemption favors no soul."
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