On Friday afternoon, Megyn Kelly continued her return to the news business in a bombshell interview with Ashley Bianco, the former ABC News producer who was fired after only four days at CBS News for allegedly being behind the tape of ABC’s Amy Robach admitting that the network quashed her reporting about alleged serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
After Kelly recapped what's transpired thus far in the media's handling of the Epstein case and his alleged suicide, Kelly introduced Bianco by asking if she was the person who leaked the tape.
Bianco repeatedly denied being the person who shared the Robach tape and, later in the interview, added that she had never even heard of the James O’Keefe-led group until this week (click “expand”):
KELLY: Did you leak the tape?
BIANCO: I did not.
KELLY: Not to anyone?
BIANCO: No. Never.
KELLY: At any time?
BIANCO: No.
KELLY: Did you make a clip of the moment?
BIANCO: I did, but I saved — I saved it in the internal system.
(....)
KELLY: Have you ever spoken to James O’Keefe of Project Veritas?
BIANCO: No, never. I didn’t even know who he was until this week.
KELLY: And hadn’t communicated with anybody who works there in any way, shape, or form?
BIANCO: No, yeah, I’ve never communicated with anyone over there.
Bianco explained that, on August 19, she watched Robach’s comments live from her desk and that, according to a colleague, Robach knew her comments were not only broadcasted in-house, but also to “all the affiliates,” so there could be any number of possible suspects.
Questioned about whether this was the first time she had ever clipped an off-air moment, Bianco explained that it was routine for the purposes of gossip, noteworthy moments or even to save clips later for things like blooper reels. In this case, Bianco told Kelly that she never went back to download or watch it.
That said, however, Bianco repeatedly said that Robach’s comments left those listening “freaked out by what she was saying.”
Fast-forwarding to this past week’s events, Bianco grew emotional when retelling her reaction to the clip becoming public and being “devastated” to hear that ABC had called CBS to presumably ensure she was fired (click “expand”)
KELLY: And so this week, you’re sitting at CBS, doing your job —
BIANCO: Yeah.
KELLY: — and you — what happens with Project Veritas.
BIANCO: They released the video, you know, and I was shocked. But I didn’t think anything of it.
KELLY: How many days had you been at CBS?
BIANCO: Only four days. You know, and I begged, I pleaded. I didn’t know what I had done wrong and I just, you know, I didn’t — I wasn’t even given the professional courtesy to defend myself. You know, I didn’t know what I had been accused of. It was, you know, humiliating. It was devastating.
(....)
KELLY: What was your reaction when you found out ABC News had called CBS?
BIANCO: Devastated. I mean, it’s like I’ll never get a job anywhere else. It was devastating.
KELLY: You’ll get a job. You’ll definitely get a job.
Kelly asked Bianco whether the clip should have been aired, but she demurred except to say that Robach “was really upset” and “[c]learly, she felt that she had a strong case.” Bianco had a similar answer to what she believes should happen to the real leaker, asserting that all she’s looking for is to have “my career back.”
And on the topic of whether Robach’s work exposing Epstein should have aired, Bianco disappointingly said she didn’t have any qualms about ABC’s decision-making on that point.
As the interview started to wind down, Kelly inquired about “[w]hat do you want ABC and CBS executives to know” and Bianco tearfully replied:
It wasn’t me. I’m, you know, I’m not the whistleblower. Sorry to ABC, but the leaker is still inside. You know, it’s not — I never did any of that. I may have accessed it, but I never — I never leaked it. I never showed it to anyone. I didn’t talk about the situation outside the company.
Circling back to Bianco's denials that she wasn't the leaker, this squared with a letter released by Project Veritas roughly an hour before Kelly's interview was posted on YouTube. The person described by Project Veritas as an “ABC Insider” writing under the pseudonym “Ignotus.” In the letter, they accepted sole responsibility for sending out the clip.
In a section entitled “To my fellow man,” the anonymous ABC News staffer stated:
I came forward with this information bearing no motives other than to have this information public. I did not and do not seek any personal gain from this information whether it be financial or otherwise and will always decline. When I became aware of this moment, I had the same reaction as many of you did. Anger, confusion and sadness. I care not about petty political quarrels and only hope for the best in all of us.
To see the full transcript of Megyn Kelly's November 8 interview with Ashley Bianco, click “expand.”
The MK Interview
November 8, 2019
1:19 markMEGYN KELLY: ABC did manage to nail down the identity of the employee who accessed, in its system, the Robach hot-mic moment. Within a matter of hours, that staffer that had recently moved to CBS and, two days ago, after a call from ABC, CBS fired her. That young woman is Ashley Bianco and she joins me now for her first interview. [TO BIANCO] Ashley, thank you for joining me. Did you leak the tape?
ASHLEY BIANCO: I did not.
KELLY: Not to anyone?
BIANCO: No. Never.
KELLY: At any time?
BIANCO: No.
KELLY: Did you make a clip of the moment?
BIANCO: I did, but I saved — I saved it in the internal system.
KELLY: So, what was your job at ABC?
BIANCO: I was a crash producer
KELLY: Okay, so a producer?
BIANCO: Yeah.
KELLY: And you were in the control room when Amy made those comments?
BIANCO: I wasn’t in the control room, but 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, “You know, do you see what she’s saying? Does she know that she’s on a hot mic?” The assistant said to us that that Amy knew she was on a mic and that she knew that she was being broadcasted to all the affiliates.
KELLY: Right, so this is a moment she’s off the air — she’s doing taped promos, but she has a mic on people can see and hear her.
BIANCO: Yeah.
KELLY: So what made you — what did you do? You clipped the moment? You sort of marked the moment in the system?
BIANCO: Yeah, I just plucked it off. I essentially marked it in the system. It never left the system. We do it all the time.
KELLY: Did you tell the manager that you had clipped it?
BIANCO: I did not.
KELLY: Did you think it was newsworthy what she was saying?
BIANCO: Everyone in the office was freaked out by what she was saying and everyone was — was watching it.
KELLY: So the purpose for clipping was what? To watch it back later?
BIANCO: Yeah and watch it back later. You know, I did it just for office gossip, you know?
KELLY: Mmhmm. Was there any intention to embarrass her?
BIANCO: No. Not at all.
KELLY: Or ABC?
BIANCO: No. I would never. You know, the three years I’ve spent at ABC — I’ve loved my time there. You know, I’m a good employee. I’ve, you know, I’ve worked seven days a week. You know, I loved my job.
KELLY: Was this the first time you had ever clipped a segment of an anchor off the mic?
BIANCO: No, I mean, we do it all the time. You know, I — part of my job is — I’m like a video editor. You know, I clip off moments all the time. I put together, you know, funny anchor reels of, you know, them off-camera doing funny stuff to use later in the show.
KELLY: Did you go back and watch it later?
BIANCO: I didn’t, no. I didn’t even — I didn’t think about after that day.
KELLY: So, was that the last you had to do with that clip?
BIANCO: Yeah. I didn’t touch it. I didn’t do anything else with that.
KELLY: You never went back to it?
BIANCO: I never went back to it.
KELLY: You didn’t download it? You didn’t e-mail it? You didn’t transfer that file in any way?
BIANCO: No, not at all. I didn’t touch it after that. It stayed in the system. I hadn’t even heard of Project Veritas until this.
KELLY: When was this moment with Amy?
BIANCO: It was in August. August 19.
KELLY: And then in the fall, you decided to leave ABC to go where?
BIANCO: To CBS and I only left purely because CBS offered me a good contract and so I, you know, I left and I was just really excited to start a new job and —
KELLY: And so this week, you’re sitting at CBS, doing your job —
BIANCO: Yeah.
KELLY: — and you — what happens with Project Veritas.
BIANCO: They released the video, you know, and I was shocked. But I didn’t think anything of it.
KELLY: How many days had you been at CBS?
BIANCO: Only four days. You know, and I begged, I pleaded. I didn’t know what I had done wrong and I just, you know, I didn’t — I wasn’t even given the professional courtesy to defend myself. You know, I didn’t know what I had been accused of. It was, you know, humiliating. It was devastating.
KELLY: Have you ever spoken to James O’Keefe of Project Veritas?
BIANCO: No, never. I didn’t even know who he was until this week.
KELLY: And hadn’t communicated with anybody who works there in any way, shape, or form?
BIANCO: No, yeah, I’ve never communicated with anyone over there.
KELLY: What was your reaction when you found out ABC News had called CBS?
BIANCO: Devastated. I mean, it’s like I’ll never get a job anywhere else. It was devastating.
KELLY: You’ll get a job. You’ll definitely get a job. Do you think they should have aired her interview?
BIANCO: I don’t know. I mean, she was really upset. Clearly, she felt that she had a strong case, you know, but I — I have no clue.
KELLY: So you didn’t have outrage over them not airing it.
BIANCO: No.
KELLY: This wasn’t —
BIANCO: No.
KELLY: — this wasn’t you trying to stake a claim?
BIANCO: I loved the company. I didn’t have anything wrong with it. You know, I would never try to do anything to jeopardize that.
KELLY: What do you want ABC and CBS executives to know?
BIANCO: It wasn’t me. I’m, you know, I’m not the whistleblower. Sorry to ABC, but the leaker is still inside. You know, it’s not — I never did any of that. I may have accessed it, but I never — I never leaked it. I never showed it to anyone. I didn’t talk about the situation outside the company.
KELLY: And you say that leaker is still inside, do you have any suspicions about who actually may have leaked it?
BIANCO: This is something that everyone saw.
KELLY: Is that right? So it was a total talked about moment?
BIANCO: Yeah, it was definitely that whole day. Everyone, you know, was — was talking about it, was running around, you know, taking videos of it
KELLY: So do you regret clipping that moment now?
BIANCO: I do. Had I known, I would have never clipped it. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t leak it. Anyone else could have, like, clipped it off.
KELLY: Even James O’Keefe has come out now, saying you are not the leaker, that you were not the insider who gave this to him. What do you think should happen to the insider and what do you hope they’ll do now?
BIANCO: You know, I just want — I just want my career back. You know, I want people to know I didn’t do it, you know? That’s all I want? So —
KELLY: Thank you.
BIANCO: Thanks.
KELLY: Thank you.
