ABC executives are conducting an internal investigation to discover the identity of the person who leaked footage of anchor Amy Robach saying the network spiked her story on Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual assault accusers in 2015.
The anonymous leaker penned a statement excoriating the network under the alias “Ignotus,” a wizard from the “Harry Potter” franchise, and claiming to still be working at the network.
ABC originally pinned the leak on junior producer Ashley Bianco, who was fired by CBS after her former employer called the rival network to inform them that Bianco had improperly saved the footage of Robach in the network’s internal archive system.
“I sit right here with you all in complete shock on how this has been handled,” the anonymous author wrote. “[The company] 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.”
Project Veritas, which broke the story about the Robach tape, confirmed that “Ignotus” was their ABC source for the tape and released the anonymous statement “in light of the actions taken against those wrongfully identified as involved in the leaking.”
The network has reportedly taken an aggressive approach to its investigation, looking at staff emails, news logs, and questioning and pressuring employees to reveal the identity of the leaker.
ABC executives are also at a loss over what to think of the pen name, an ABC insider said, according to Page Six.
“They are freaking out over the Harry Potter reference. Does this mean the leaker is a Potter fan, likely one of the younger staff members who work the overnight shift? Or is the leaker citing Latin, which means he or she could be an older member of staff. I mean, how many young producers speak Latin these days?” the insider said.
ABC has said the Epstein story did not meet their editorial standards in 2015 but they have “never stopped investigating the story.”