ABC News' alleged pass on Epstein story a 'massive missed opportunity,' Howard Kurtz says

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Howard Kurtz reacts to Amy Robach's hot mic comments

Howard Kurtz reacts to Amy Robach's hot mic comments

ABC News missed the opportunity for a potential bombshell by allegedly spiking "Good Morning America" anchor Amy Robach's interview with an accuser of Jeffrey Epstein, according to Howard Kurtz.

"This was such a massive missed opportunity to have the woman, Virginia Giuffre, who turned out to be the chief accuser of one of the wost sexual predators of the modern era -- a man who routinely abused young women -- having her on camera, detailing on-the-record allegations," Kurtz said on "The Story" Wednesday.

"People were saying at [Robach's] network 'Well, nobody knows who this guy is.' Excuse me, he was a wealthy guy who had been a pal of Bill Clinton, who had been a pal of Donald Trump, who operated in very high circles and had earlier gotten a very light sentence in Florida over sexual abuse charges, so people knew damn well who Jeffrey Epstein was."

ABC NEWS' AMY ROBACH CAUGHT ON HOT MIC SAYING NETWORK SPIKED JEFFREY EPSTEIN STORY

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To that extent, host Martha MacCallum said Giuffre expressed shock that ABC News did not air her interview with Robach.

"[S]he believed it could be a game-changer," MacCallum said.

A video released by conservative group Project Veritas showed Robach claiming on a hot mic that higher-ups at ABC killed the story and refused to air the interview with Giuffre, but the news organization says it wasn't up to their standards.

“I’ve had the story for three years ... we would not put it on the air,” Robach said on the hot mic. “It was unbelievable what we had, Clinton, we had everything.”

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Robach quickly admitted the authenticity of the video 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 [Giuffre] didn’t air because we could not obtain sufficient corroborating evidence to meet ABC’s editorial standards about her allegations,” Robach said in a statement provided to Fox News.

Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.