ABC finally broke its silence, finally mentioning Bill Clinton’s connection to registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a man now accused of new charges of sex trafficking. But the combined mentions on Monday night and Tuesday morning only amounted to 38 seconds. In comparison, the total amount of Epstein coverage since Sunday has been 21 minutes and 3 seconds.
On Good Morning America, Tuesday, Tom Llamas quoted from Clinton’s statement: “President Bill Clinton released a statement overnight.... We want to show you that statement right now. His office says in part, ‘President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago or those with which he has been recently charged with in New York.’”
This amounted to 27 seconds out of 8 minutes and 22 seconds total on Epstein, Tuesday. GMA offered a full report on Donald Trump’s Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta. At the time, he was a U.S. attorney who authorized a plea deal for previous Epstein charges. GMA co-host George Stephanopoulos and reporter Mary Bruce discussed whether Acosta should resign.
On Tuesday, Stephanopoulos, who worked for Bill Clinton in the Democrat’s White House, opened the show by finally referencing Clinton:
Behind bars. Multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein in custody this morning. New video of the raid on his Manhattan mansion and the disturbing discovery. What prosecutors say they found in his home. Now, two of his accusers speaking out exclusively on GMA. And former President Bill Clinton breaking his silence.
In December of 2018, a Vanity Fair piece by T.A Frank identified Stephanopoulos as a dinner guest of Epstein:
Who among these visitors knew what about Epstein’s sexual subjugation of high-school girls? Let me avoid threats from lawyers and just say that, regardless of the answer, Epstein lost fewer friends than you’d think, not to mention very little of his fortune. In 2010, having long since served his time, Epstein was hosting Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, Chelsea Handler, and Woody Allen for dinner.
In comparison to Spanish language media, Univision spent just 3 seconds mentioning Bill Clinton. The total time for the segment was 2 minutes and 24 seconds.
A transcript of the GMA mentions of Epstein can be found below. Click “expand” to read more:
Good Morning America
7/9197am tease:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Behind bars. Multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein in custody this morning. New video of the raid on his Manhattan mansion and the disturbing discovery. What prosecutors say they found in his home. Now, two of his accusers speaking out exclusively on GMA. And former President Bill Clinton breaking his silence.
...
TOM LLAMAS: He's 66 years old, owns at least six homes and two private islands. In the past, he socialized with Prince Andrew and President Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. In a 2002 profile in New York magazine before any allegations surfaced, Trump called Epstein a, quote, terrific guy, adding, “He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do. And many of them are on the younger side.” In 2007 Epstein faced a potential federal indictment in Florida on similar charges. He struck a secret plea deal serving just 13 months in county jail and registering as a sex offender.
The U.S. Attorney who authorized that deal, Alexander Acosta, now the Secretary of Labor. Now, as we mentioned earlier President Bill Clinton released a statement overnight, his office. We want to show you that statement right now. His office says in part, “President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago or those with which he has been recently charged with in New York. In 2002 and in 2003, President Clinton took a total of four trips on Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane.”
